The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Lands and Forestry, Benito Owusu-Bio has commissioned 70 Yamaha cross-country motorbikes to be distributed to forest range supervisors and forest guards in the various forest districts in Ghana.

The motorbikes, procured by the Forestry Commission are to support the transportation needs of the guards and also to monitor illegal activities in the deep parts of the forest reserves.

The Deputy Minister indicated that forest guards are faced with challenges every day and it has become necessary that they are given all the logistics needed to help their patrols in the forest reserves.

"We don't have the full compliment of staff to man all the forest reserves and so the few there must be assisted as much as possible for them to do their best," he said during the Commissioning of the motorbikes on Wednesday, October 26.

He further lauded the Forestry Commission for procuring the motorbikes from their internally generated funds while charging them to use the bikes for their intended purposes and also ensure regular maintenance.

Mr. Sulemana Nyadia, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission receiving the keys to the bikes, expressed the Commission's gratitude to the Deputy Minister while noting that the logistics received will go a long way to support their operations.

He asserted that traditional forestry work is faced with new challenges such as illegal mining and illegal logging and the tools have come timely to ease their work.

The team also took the opportunity to pay a working visit to the Accra Zoo to inspect the progress of work on preparations towards re-opening the tourist attraction.