The government has suspended issuance of new timber licences following regulation concerns that have emerged. The suspension is with immediate effect.
Minister of Environment, Energy and Natural Resources, Bright Msaka, has confirmed the development saying government wants to protect the forest cover which is currently under threat of depletion.
Timber is one of the growing sectors in the country with most of the timber being exported to neighbouring countries and China.
Msaka said government also plans to review old licences to ensure that the agreements made are in the best interests of the country.
‘We will also monitor the harvesting periods. What you should know is that timber production is not cheap. For years, as a nation we have been selling our timber at a loss. We pegged our prices lower than the production cost and with the limited budget the department has, it meant the government had to continue pumping more money to maintain the forests,” he said.
Msaka further said the suspension will also give room to a review of the pricing structure Malawi adopted for the industry.
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