{"id":5373,"date":"2024-08-30T18:29:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T18:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/?p=5373"},"modified":"2024-08-31T11:37:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T11:37:02","slug":"case-confirms-companies-link-to-illegal-loggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.thedaylight.org\/wp68\/2024\/08\/30\/case-confirms-companies-link-to-illegal-loggers\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Confirms Companies\u2019 Link to Illegal Loggers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Top: In September 2022, The DayLight documented its first-ever evidence of kpokolo pictured.  Afterward, the newspaper published several other investigations, leading to a ban on that illegal logging activity. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By James Harding Giahyue  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

MONROVIA \u2013 Court documents in a case against four suspected timber smugglers<\/a> have established reports of collusion between certain illegal loggers and legitimate forestry companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four suspected timber smugglers who operated a sawmill at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) told the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga they bought logs from Alpha Logging and Wood Company<\/a>. The company operated a concession in Lofa and Gbarpolu, which it has abandoned<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Forestry Development Authority (FDA) is seeking a prison term and US$25,000 for two Chinese men Chaolong and Guoping Zang, a Turkish national Mehmet Onder Erem and a Liberian Terrentius Tidiboh Collins (also known as Terrence Collins).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FDA has petitioned the court to confiscate and auction thousands of timber the suspects left at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko, Bong County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accused men deny wrongdoing, arguing Alpha was a legal concessioner. They presented the sale contract showing Alpha selling 3,000 cubic meters of logs to a company for US$200,000 in 2021. It was unclear how the suspects were linked to the company in the sale contract.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the FDA counterargued that the transactions were done outside of Liberia\u2019s timber-tracking system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A court document shows Alpha Logging Company sold logs to kpokolo loggers, supporting reports of the link between concessioners and illegal logging. The DayLight\/James Harding Giahyue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Arguments aside, the documents are likely the first evidence of the connection between kpokolo operatives and legitimate loggers. Kpokolo loggers produced boxlike timber to fit neatly into a container for smuggling. It has dampened the prospects of a forestry sector plagued by decades of illegal activities and mismanagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The documents corroborate previous reports about the collaboration. An April investigation<\/a> by the DayLight, sparking the case, cited a resident of Zorzor who said he was aware of Alpha\u2019s deal with the suspects. Likewise, a report<\/a> by the US-based Forest Trends<\/a> found that large-scale companies were involved in Kpokolo transactions, citing community sources and small-scale loggers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DayLight first happened upon kpokolo<\/a> in September 2022. From then on, it would publish several investigations, exposing the illegality of the activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February last year, the FDA said it had banned the activities, which have reemerged<\/a> amid the lack of publicity on the ban. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This story was a production of the Community of Forest and Environmental Journalists (CoFEJ).     <\/em><\/strong>  <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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