The Ghana Timber Association (GTA) on Tuesday issued a communiqué at its executive meeting in which it asked members who were indebted to the Forestry Commission in stumpage fees to settle their debts by Febraury. The debts date from October 2006. According to the National Vice-Chairman of the GTA, Mr. Alexander K. Dadzie, the request stemmed from an agreement signed between the GTA and the Forestry Commission (FC) to cover the unpaid debts. Under the agreement, members of the GTA are expected to pay the arrears in three installments. The Association therefore urged its members to take advantage of the agreement to pay the remaining arrears in 40 percent installments by March 31 and June 30 in fulfillment of the agreements with the FC. The communiqué said receipts of the payments from the FC should be sent to the GTA for renewal and warned that members who failed to settle their indebtedness to the FC by the deadline would be charged an additional five percent penalty. It asked the Forestry Services Division (FSD) to renew Property Marks of the GTA members who posses recommendation from the association and urged the FC to re-visit the quota system of the GTA to prevent members from accumulating their bills due to insufficient logs. Source: GNA