By HELEN ZULU –

TIMBER producers and suppliers have called on the Government to facilitate the issuance of timber licences to local people to grow their business.
A timber supplier Jack Musole said Government should facilitate the issuance of timber licences particularly for Mukula tree and allow the local people to grow their businesses.
Mr Musole said the Mukula tree was on high demand on the international market and was being cut indiscriminately in most parts of the country by villagers who were selling it to traders who later on exported the commodity.
He noted that timber producers and suppliers had continued recording poor business as a result of export hitches to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mr Musole said Government’s issuance of licences to some foreign nationals disadvantaged the local people from contributing to the country’s economic growth.
He said the timber industry was currently dominated by foreign investors, hence the need for Government to sort out the issuance of licences to bring sanity in the industry.
He said Zambia could realise revenue from the export of timber if the necessary measures were put in place for the industry to positively contribute to the country’s economy.
According to the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection’s Revised Timber Licence Conditions and Issuance Procedures (provisional), the forest concession licence is issued to persons, companies, community groups, or cooperatives that are involved in primary harvesting/extraction of trees from the natural forests.