Forestry Commission Making Gov’t Unpopular?

…As Youth In Afforestation Declare Sit-Down Strike Over Unpaid Allowances

Personnel of the Youth-in-Afforestation program have embarked on a sit-down strike in protest over unpaid allowances which have been in arrears for the past five months.

According to them, several efforts to get the allowances paid have proven futile, reports Citi News.

But this paper is informed, the decision by the personnel to embark on the strike was largely due to failure by officials of the Forestry Commission to grant audience to leadership of the aggrieved workers and listen to their grievances for a dialogue.

Sources told The Anchor on condition of anonymity, after news about the sit-down strike broke that leadership of the workers have been trying for a very long time, to reach out to management of Forestry Commission to have their issues address, without success.

Some have argued that, the unaccommodating attitude of Management, led by the Chief Executive, Mr. John Allotey, is partly to be blamed for the sit-down strike being declared.

The development, if not handled well and aggrieved personnel paid on time, could embarrass the government, relating to its innovative Green Ghana project.

Already, the national leader for the Youth in Afforestation programme, Rev. Clement Asare, who spoke to Citi News indicated that his members will also not partake in the upcoming Green Ghana tree planting project as a result of the arrears, stressing that they will only resume their work after the monies hit their accounts.

“If the government doesn’t pay us, we will not take part in the Green Ghana project. Our sit-down strike started today. The work that we were doing to prepare for the Green Ghana, we have stopped. We are not going to work until the government pays us. This morning I spoke with the Deputy CEO of the Forestry Commission and according to her, they are doing all they can, and it is left with the Finance Ministry to pay us,” he said.

In March 2022, the group made a similar demand for their allowances.

A month earlier, the group protested over their allowances, which had been in arrears for five months, prompting authorities to make two months’ payments.

The Green Ghana project was launched by the government with the aim of restoring the forest cover of the country.

The government is hoping to plant 20 million trees this year through the project.