Owusu Akyaw Asamoah, the newly elected chairman of the Ghana Sawn Timber Sellers Association, GSTSA, has stated that, criminal activities, inadequate toilet facilities, deplorable road networks linking the various communities to the wood village and others are the major challenges confronting the residents and the wood sellers in the village.
He said, ever since the establishment of the village, there has not been any maintenance, neither the facilities nor the roads linking various communities to the village.
Mr Owusu Akyaw stated this during the elections of the executives of the Ghana Sawn Timber Sellers Association, at Wood Village, Sokoban, Kumasi.
He maintained that, the Forestry commission staffs and the security agents at the various check points always harass their customers when transporting the woods to their various destinations in the country.
According to him, those who transport the woods overland, thus to Burkina, Mali and others do not encounter confrontations at the various barriers along their routes.
He advised the members of the Association to comply with the rules and regulations, and pay their taxes to enable government mobilize funds to finance the economic development of the nation.
Nana Saforo Koto, the patron of the said Association who doubles up as the chief of Abodom, in the Bekwai Municipal Assembly, appealed to the city authorities and the government to come to their aid and develop the rest of the reserved land for the wood sellers.
He stressed that, should the authorities accede to their request and expand the market, more revues would be generated for the government.