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May 30, 2023
DRC- Forestry: The Ministry of the Environment Under Bazaiba Has “Strong Leadership” (Yves Kitumba) (French)
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A group of journalists will conduct a counter-inquiry into the government's investigation into the...
This article is one of a series produced as part of the investigation into the conditions under which logging concessions are allocated, exploited, and marketed.
In the face of criticism, notably from the Fédération des industriels du bois and civil society, Yves Kitumba, Eve Bazaiba's cabinet director, defends his ministry's record. In particular, he welcomes the timber sector's participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) process.
While the Fédération des industriels du bois feels that "the sector is in a very bad way at the moment, with everything that's going on at the Ministry of the Environment," Yves Kitumba believes, on the contrary, that great progress is being made to improve the sector's management.
"You've heard that the timber sector is now included in the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) transparency process, and all this is a result of reforms and efforts to ensure transparency in the timber sector," explained Yves Kitumba, Eve Bazaiba's cabinet director, in an interview with ACTUALITE.CD on Thursday May 11, 2023.
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Before adding:
"You have just followed the President of the Republic setting up special economic zones where there will be timber processing operations. You've also heard that the Minister of State and the whole government have decided that the law must be respected, in particular that 30% of permanent production can be exported in its unprocessed state, with the remaining 70% processed locally, all to bring order to the sector. In legal terms, we have all the instruments, but it's in terms of feasibility that we need to push. As I told you, the timber sector must contribute to increasing the State budget, the timber sector must be transparent, and now we've included it in the EITI process," he said.