“Blood Timber” For Sale! - Stop the practice says Greenpeace

Fiona Musana, Greenpeace Africa communications manager

Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and her government should stop the
flow of azobè timber from a country recovering from decades-long
conflict. Marred by a bloody history, many Liberians not only lost
their lives but also resources like diamonds, and timber that was
illegally logged during the conflict, and shipped to Italy in February
2009. This timber is planned for use in maintenance of Rome’s Metro
system.

A detailed history of how the timber, abandoned after the war, got to
Italy can be found in a March 2009 Sustainable Development Institute
(SDI) briefing paper “The Hunter’s Whistle.” The paper finds that the
Liberian Forest Development Agency (FDA) authorised the shipment of
timber, despite several illegal activities that occurred during the
auction and sale of the logs. (1)

While the FDA is the manager and regulator of the forests, reports
including by the UN Panel of Experts in Liberia, in its December 2008
noted that the “high level of discretion being used by senior FDA
management in implementation of some aspects of the National Forestry
Reform Law and FDA regulations is of concern” (2)

With diamonds banned on the international market, the then president
Taylor turned to timber, doling out large chunks of forests in
exchange for money and arms. Most of the cargo was bought by Italian
company Interwood Srl, which recently won a €720,000 contract with
Me.Tro Roma Spa, the company responsible for upgrading Rome’s metro
system.

“This blood timber they plan to use in our train tracks has fuelled
destruction, war and climate change” said Chiara Campione, Greenpeace
Italy forest campaigner. “As one of the biggest gateways in Europe for
illegally logged timber, Italy is a disgrace. It is way past time the
Italian government stopped funding the illegal timber trade, and
instead started doing something to save the climate by committing to
fund forest protection.”

Tropical deforestation is responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas
emissions. Ending forest destruction is one of the fastest and easiest
ways to avert catastrophic climate change.

Although President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf scrapped all timber
concessions issued under previous regimes as her first executive act
upon election in 2005, three forest management contracts were recently
presented to parliament for ratification.

Greenpeace warns that a decision by the Liberian Legislature to ratify
these and subsequent contracts will have disastrous consequences for
the country’s development and the long-term sustainability of forest
resources. An overhaul of the system and personnel in FDA is critical
and public dialogue on alternative use of the remaining forests
essential.

This potential disaster must be stopped now, before the country and
other African nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo commit
themselves to long, large scale logging agreements on false and
illegal premises.

Nurses Owe Patients Their Care

The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma has called on nurses to change their attitudes toward patients in their care.
The First lady made this statement during the launching of the Health for All Coalition Sierra Leone at the PCM Hospital on Wednesday, also stating, “We owe the patients their care. Our attitudes as nurses should change,” she said.
She said her focus on health is borne out of the commitment to make a difference in the lives and children and women in the country, stating that her office want to examine the role that people who are entrusted with roles to perform do so in the best interest of the people.
Duties
She said most nurses in reproductive health care are not up to their duties and that their attitudes toward pregnant women are poor and therefore called upon all to realize their roles in society as crucial to society.
A representative of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Magnus Gborie, said Sierra Leone has the highest of child death in the world and that 1300 women died of pregnancy related causes out of 100,000 reported cases.
“We are not happy about this development. In England the best performing doctors are Sierra Leoneans. But where are we today; this is a very serious situation,” he lamented.
Poor capacity
He said one of the obstacles is poor human resource management strategy and that the Ministry has realized that if Sierra Leone should achieve the Millennium Development Goals, they should focus to improving this strategy.
Gborie also disclosed that the National Health Service Commission has been approved by Parliament and that its purpose is to improve the health sector to reach the people with medical care.
He said the Ministry is please to have HFAC as partners in the campaign for health for all in Sierra Leone and that he believes that monitoring health service sector around the country will ensure good service delivery.
A pregnant woman admitted at the PCM Hospital, Aminata Samura, said women are suffering in Sierra Leone and that some patients admitted in hospitals died due to fear of demands for more payment by doctors for treatment.
Late Clinics
“Some pregnant women repot late in clinics because they cannot afford to pay to hospitals and ended dying in their homes,” she said, adding that many of these women are responsible for their homes.
The Chairman of HFAC, Charles Mambu, said Sierra Leoneans should not be dying for curable illnesses if they could not afford to pay the fees.
“The idea of money before treatment should stop. Sierra Leoneans should be provided with the medical care they needed,” he noted.
Meanwhile the coalition is to monitor all health sector providers to ensure that Sierra Leoneans receive medical treatment, especially pregnant women and children.