Employees protest against illegal activities

MORE than 150 employees of the Wau-Bulolo Forest Service staged a peaceful protest against illegal activities in its plantations last Thursday.
The protest began at the Wau-Bulolo Forest Service headquarters with Bulolo police leading a convoy of vehicles carrying employees.
They called for a stop to the unnecessary cutting down of trees or setting fire to trees.
Wau-Bulolo Forest Service manager Peter Damba said illegal activities included gardening, alluvial mining, cutting of trees, building of houses and setting fire to trees.
He said they affected the productivity of trees in the plantations they managed.
“All these illegal activities are results of influx of people due to mining activities and economic boom,” Damba said.
He said many people had come to find jobs but were unsuccessful.
“Thus they resort to the plantations for survival. This really concerns the management and employees. We managed 10,000 hectares of trees planted at Bulolo and Wau,” Damba said.
Plantation harvesting officer Nelson Matamatam said money was involved at every stage of developing the trees.