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The Timber and Wood Workers Union (TWU) has called for the government to put in place urgent measures to salvage the collapsing timber industry.

It said there was the need for review of existing policies and strategies to restore the health of the industry.

General Secretary of the Union, Joshua Ansah, urged strict enforcement of the policy, requiring that timber used for all government projects came from legal sources.

He was addressing the ninth quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Union in Kumasi.

He catalogued challenges crippling the industry, mentioning among these the escalating cost of production due to high cost of fuel, raw material and energy cost.

There were also problems of unsustainable timber supply to meet both domestic and export demands, deforestation, obsolete equipment and inconsistent government policies.

He underlined the important contribution of the industry to the economy – currently, it is rated the fourth largest foreign exchange earner, contributing about seven per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 11 per cent of export earnings.

Additionally, it is offering direct employment to over 100,000 people and more than two million others indirectly depend on it for their livelihood.

Mr. Ansah said these made it necessary for the government to take steps to create an enabling environment for it to thrive.

There should be incentive packages to encourage individuals and groups to undertake massive afforestation and plantation development.

He again called on industry players to invest part of their corporate profits in afforestation programmes to provide raw materials to sustain their businesses.

The Union on its part, had established a 240-hectare afforestation project in Kokoago, near Wenchi, as its contribution to efforts at sustaining the industry and to assure its members of job security.

He pledged the readiness of the Union to support every initiative that would help to grow the industry.