Huambo – The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis, appealed, in Huambo, to the patriotism of Angolans to preserve forests, by combating the indiscriminate felling of trees.
The government official was speaking during the beginning of the wheat harvesting campaign, which took place on Monday at the Luvili farm, Luvemba commune, Bailundo municipality, in the North corridor of Huambo province.
For the government official, the fight against the indiscriminate felling of trees in the country does not involve increasing forestry inspectors or technical means, but rather changing the awareness and behavior of Angolans, who have facilitated foreigners in the invasion of forests throughout the national territory. .
The governor admitted that there are provinces such as Benguela, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza-Norte and Moxico with a more complex and delicate situation, from the point of view of the destruction of native forests.
He said that this action requires intervention from everyone in society, from the community, traditional authorities to defense and security bodies in monitoring the country's perimeters, to save the Homeland that is being “decimated” with the direct involvement of the people themselves. Angolans.
He explained that only in this way will it be possible to punish all infractions that are registered and committed by individuals and companies authorized or not to exploit wood in the country, as correcting bad behavior on the part of citizens cannot be the task of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. of inspectors, but rather joint action.
António Francisco de Assis recalled that in the forestry law, foreigners do not have the right to forestry exploration licenses, which are only granted to Angolan companies.
He recalled that work is underway to reorganize the sector, with some measures being taken, such as seizing equipment, imposing fines and taking offenders to court. JSV/ALH/DOJ
