Tension is said to be mounting in one of the cocoa growing villages in the Sewfi area of the Western Region. The tension is as a result of an ongoing destruction of hundreds of farms located in a forest reserve. The Forestry Services Commission has over the last couple of months been cutting down cocoa trees in the Tana Suraw Forest Reserve in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai district. The move is to reclaim a large portion of the reserve which the farmers have encroached upon. The cocoa farmers accuse their local chief of selling them state lands and have threatened to assault him. Reports indicate that the chief is currently under police protection in the nearby town of Bibiani. Some of the affected farmers, who spoke to Joy News about their frustrations, said their children have dropped out of school as a result of their inability to pay their fees. A teacher in the local primary there confirmed this, saying about 65 per cent of children in the school come from parents who are mainly cocoa farmers. The farmers said they had spent decades nursing their cocoa trees and that now that they were about to enjoy the fruits of their labour, the trees had been cut down. But District Chief Executive, Moses Armah said the exercise will continue. He said his own grandmother had lost her cocoa farm and there was nothing he could do about it. “Government going there to sympathise with them means we are also going to condone the wrong doing,” he stressed. Joy News’ Cyrus deGraft Johnson asked G.N.A. Agana, Forestry Manager at Bibiani whether it makes sense to cut the cocoa trees and consequently create an economic problem for the affected farmers all in the name of forest preservation? Responding, the Manager of the Bibiani District Forestry Services said this was not the first time the reserve was being reclaimed. Source: Joy News/Ghana