By: Alusine Rehme Wilson
The high rate of illegal timber logging in Sierra Leone is not only the root cause for massive deforestation but also a prime factor for child labor and efforts to curtail it has been a daunting task for successive governments.
Since 2007 trucks, trailers and other heavy duty vehicles flock villages and towns in the northern districts of Sierra Leone to transport logged timbers to the port of the country’s capital Freetown and some smuggled to neighboring countries. These are mostly illegally logged timbers sourced from a number of remote villages.
Conversely, both Koinadugu and Falaba district in the northern part of Sierra Leone recently take center stage of such illegal activity. This has exposed both promoters and laborers involved in the trade to a number of casualties and letting children abandoned school for what they refer to as “the fast cash earning trade.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Recommendation 466 states that, “Effective monitoring by government authorities and civil society, is required to tackle the scourge of child labour in the diamond mines. The main responsibility for enforcing the child labour standards should remain with the Government and its different organs – the Sierra Leone Police, the Mine Wardens and Ministry of Social Welfare. Child Protection Agencies should play a supportive role by conducting “spot check” visits to mining sites to ensure that no children are employed.
Although this story does not focus on child labour in the diamond mines, it strives to shed light on child labour in the timber trade which is having a negative impact on children especially in the area of education. In this regard, the Media Reform Coordinating Group-(MRCG) with support from Africa Transitional Justice Legislative Fund-(ATJLF) find out why?
Sounded voices of teachers, parents, power-saw operators and laborers in the districts of Falaba and Koinadugu have highlighted a number of consequences of illegal timber logging on children, livelihood and the underdeveloped status of their districts.
Mohamed Manso Kamara, the Head Teacher of Missionary Church of Africa Primary School at Kamadugu Badala explained how the attendance of school going pupils has been hugely affected by activities of illegal timber trade in the District.
Painting the reality of timber trade in the district, Mr Kamara said the activity has a negative effect on children as it has influence them to abandon schools and focus on the fast money they make from illegal timber logging.
“Pupils from our school have ventured into thick forests with their ears wide open to locate the sound of power-saw machines from illegal timber loggers. These loggers normally offer pittances to these children to discover timber locations, transport logs, and do related work as laborers thereby exposing them to child labour,” Kamara revealed.
Parents in the district also described the situation as a reoccurring sad reality, which is highly aided and mostly abated by governmental officials who normally instruct key duty bearers at local levels to allow unknown persons disguised as investors to ravage the forests. These loggers usually cut down countless number of trees with little or no cooperate social service offered to the residents of their operational areas. Consequently, their children have abandoned school and farm work for employment in the timber trade.
41-year-old renowned timber cutter and operator, who preferred to be called Kallay admitted that he is usually paid per log but reveals that the work is very tedious and involves phenomenal strength and skill at some point to be able to cut down a timber tree in the forest.
“I’m doing this job because it’s the most available way for me to survive.
“As operators, sometimes we are paid well but mostly cheated by our masters who can even part ways with us overnight and leave us in the wilderness. Their dishonest behaviors as timber masters have forced several of our colleagues to stay in remote areas permanently to enrich themselves through the pawer-saw’’, he stated.
Child Labour
He admitted that children have been recruited at various levels in the timber trade, from identifying timber location in the forest to transporting and loading logs.
The situation in Falaba and Koinadugu districts are a reflection of what is experienced at mines in Kono and other parts of the country, thus raising eyebrows whether the Government of Sierra Leone is paying attention to the imperative recommendation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendation 466.
To reduce economic deprivations and child labour in mining areas by way of promoting Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Child Protection Agency Network and the Ministry of Social Welfare should work towards the fulfillment of recommendation 466.
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