LIBERIA: Eco Timbers To Build Modern Wood Processing Factory In Buchanan
By: Augustine N. Myers – An Investment Company operating in the Forestry Sector of the Country “Eco Timbers Liberia Limited”, has disclosed that it will shortly construct a modern Wood Processing Factory in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
- Mr. Ashraf Hammad, Eco Timbers’ MD
According to the Managing Director of Eco Timbers Liberia Limited, Ashraf Hammad, the new modern factory will be constructed over a period if six months, with an approximate value of 1.5 million United States dollars.
He said the modern wood processing plant which will be considered a medium size will specialize in the lumbers, and that they will purchase the logs from local contractors of local Companies, and transform the logs into finished products.
Mr. Hammad further said they are hoping that the Port of Sinoe will be dredged and ready by March 15 this year. According to him, once the Port is active once more, it will reduce cost on the Company dramatically, instead of going through Zwedru and Tappita to get to Buchanan which is about 450km long.
According to him, the Company will save cost by a reduction of 150km once the Company is directly going through the Port of Greenville, in Sinoe County. Logistically, he said the Port of
- Men at Work
Sinoe is very important and strategic when it comes to the boost of economic activities and the empowerment of the locals.
Mr. Hammad also disclosed that Eco Timbers Liberia Limited will in the near future, decentralize its activities across the Country, and that the Company will invest in other areas, including Agriculture.
With respect to the activities of Eco Timbers in Liberia, Mr. Hammad said they are presently focusing on the logging industry with comprehensive machineries in the Sinoe area, where they are managing a local Company with about 155 persons, and another local Company near the sequen River with about 55 persons respectively benefiting employment.
Mr. Hammad speaking in an interview at the Company’s Central Office on the Somalia Drive in Paynesville, said the area they are operating is about 131,000 hectares, and that they also have a portion to manage for a certain period of
- Logging Activities, Felling of Trees
time.
With respect to their employment capacity, he said 98 percent of the Company’s workforce are Liberians, and said the Company is partnering with the Liberian Government in job creation, empowerment and poverty reduction.
He said their focus is on the local Communities where the Company’s operations are taking place, considered as the affected areas. According to him, everything is being done to improve the welfare of the people.
Mr. Hammad used the occasion to call for mechanisms that will ensure an improved Port and Banking Systems, and the reduction of taxes in line with other Countries to enhance economic growth and speedy development.
As part of Social Agreements signed with the locals, the Eco
- Logs From Africa
Timbers’ Managing Director disclosed that the Company is presently constructing a bridge in one of the affected areas that has been cutoff, and at the same time constructing hand pumps to provide save water, all intended to improve the level of life for the people.
He further disclosed that the shipment of logs will take place in March of this year from the Port of Buchanan, and that the second shipment will hopefully be through the Port of Sinoe.
Mr. Hammad pledged his Company’s commitment and partnership in the peace, growth and development of post-conflict Liberia. He also assured Liberians of job opportunities as a means of empowerment, and as part of Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
According to him, they started activities three years ago with
- Logs Taken from the Bush
about 50 people, and today as the Company begins full activities in the Country, it has about 270 persons in its employ that come from the affected Communities that Eco Timbers Liberia Limited is operating.
Eco Timbers Liberia Limited is a subsidiary of the Logs & Lumbers Limited (LLL) based in Ghana. LLL is a Free Zone Enterprise and one of the leading timber logging and processing Companies in Ghana and in the West African sub-Region. Situated on the Lake road in the Kumasi Metropolis, the company was incorporated as Private Limited Liability Company in 1967.
It produces varieties of wood products that meet international standards and adhere to good environmental practices. The quality of its products is said to be second to none and that Customer’s satisfaction is their hallmark.
It also produces high quality products like lumber, veneer and mouldings for export, and has significant capacity to produce timber products for the export and local markets.
LOGS & LUMBER LIMITED was incorporated as Private Limited Liability Company on 17th June 1967 and commenced business on 10th July 1967. It was a sawmill purchased from Messrs. Anglo African Timbers. The Directors initiated the installation of Veneer and Plywood Mills, which were completed in 1972.
The expansion programme continued till 1999 when the Company became the leading producer and exporter of wood products in Ghana.
The company provides gainful employment for Expatriates and Ghanaians through its activities of operations with a current labour force of about 1,500. Usually, it provides numerous job opportunities for a wide range of professionals across the globe and thus making our company a blend of multicultural professionals.
The Company also provides opportunities for students from tertiary institutions both local and international to sharpen their skills and tailor them into the job market.
Logs & Lumber Limited plans to increase production in Lumber, Mouldings, Veneer and Plywood for both domestic and international markets so as to take advantage of the increasing government efforts to stimulate downstream processing of timber and also to promote sustainable forest management in Ghana.
