The High Court (Lands Division) in Accra on Friday declared Jowak Sawmills Limited as the company rightfully allocated a number of disputed timber concessions in the Western Region (Ghana/Cote d'Ivoire Boundary Teak Trees) Forest Reserve. The court consequently ordered the Attorney General & Minister of Justice as well as the Forestry Commission to issue an entry permit to Jowak, a timber company, for the Forest Reserve. The decision by the court, which also slapped a cost of GH￠50,000 against the A-G, the Forestry Commission and another timber company, Fort Williams, followed a suit by Mr. John Owusu Amankwa, Managing Director of JOWAK Sawmills Limited. Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu, who presided, also placed a restraining order on the Attorney General & Minister of Justice as well as the Forestry Commission from granting Fort Williams or any other person or company, entry to the Forest Reserve. The court heard that in 2007, the Forestry Commission allocated boundary teak trees in seventeen (17) specified forest reserves to Jowak Sawmills Limited for the sum of GH￠1,338,883.84 in addition to 15% VAT. Jowak Sawmills Limited complied with the terms and conditions of the allocation of the concessions, including the payment of the consideration fee, however the Forestry Commission managed to re-allocate portions of the concessions to other companies. Jowak Sawmills protested against the reallocation, following which it met with the Forestry Commission and the Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines for negotiations. The Minister and the Commission subsequently approved the replacement of the affected concessions. According to Jowak Sawmills, the Forestry Commission issued it with entry permits to enter some of the replacement forest reserves but failed to issue entry permit to Jowak to enable it enter the Western Region (Ghana/Cote d'Ivoire) Boundary Teak Trees Forest Reserves. Rather, the Forestry Commission allocated and issued entry permit to Fort Williams Company to enter the forest reserve in September 2008. It was against this background that Jowak, led by the MD Mr. John Owusu Amankwa, went to court to seek justice. Fort Williams had counter-claimed that the grant of concessions to Jowak was null and void and had sought a declaration to that effect on the grounds that the purported grant or allocation of the disputed area was contrary to law (the Timber Resources Management Act 1997 (Act 547) as amended by Timber Resources Management Amendment Act, 2002 (Act 617) and Timber Resources Management Regulations Amendment Regulations, 2003 (LI 1721).) The company also prayed an order of perpetual injunction restraining Jowak from laying any claims to the disputed area and engaging in any acts preparatory to entering onto the lands for the purposes of operating therein. After the ruling however, Mr. K. Peasah Boadu, counsel for Jowak Company, said his client was elated at the decision, particularly so because it involved corporate institutions, asserting that it was victory for due process. Story by Myjoyonline.com/Ghana