The Cross River state House of Assembly has called on Governor Bassey Otu to suspend recruitment of forest rangers brought in to police the state’s forest reserves against illegal logging, poaching and other criminal activities.
The assembly said the call became necessary over allegation of lopsidedness in the recruitment exercise. Reports say the State Forestry Commission had, weeks ago, concluded a recruitment exercise of over 300 rangers following the dearth of staff in the commission.
In a response to a matter of urgent public interest raised by Mr Kingsley Isong, member representing Etung State Constituency, the House also demanded that Dr. George Oben-Etchi, chairman of Cross River Forestry Commission, should appear before its special committee to offer public explanation on activities of the commission.
Isong had informed his colleagues that the forestry commission’s list of over 350 hires was not distributed equally among the 18 local government areas of the state.
He said: “The appointment was lopsided by the house’s latest moratorium on logging with the bill providing employment opportunities for indigenes of Cross River to be employed.
“The Forestry Commission has derailed by considering what should be for everybody for only their friends and family members. It is a thing of necessity to have appointments distributed equally throughout the state to boost equity.”
Unanimously, the law makers agreed that every indigene of Cross River should have an equal opportunity to apply for jobs and be contacted for interviews.
Consequently, the assembly constituted an eight-man committee, headed by Mr Francis Bassey, member representing Odukpani state constituency, to look into the forestry commission’s operations, particularly the hiring process, which according to them was unfair and biased.