Fears of job loss are rife in commercial tree planting businesses as the effects of a Government ban on extraction of tree products continue to be felt.
Farmers engaged in commercial planting of eucalyptus trees for electricity and fencing poles as well as firewood in parts of the North Rift region said the ban had adversely affected their operations.
“Operations have been at standstill and it will be difficult to pay workers. We have a workforce of about 100 in two wood treatment plants,” said Christopher Yego, a commercial tree farmer in Nandi County.
Mr Yego, who has been in the tree planting and wood treatment business for several years, said he leased farms for production and that the interruption of operations had a negative financial effect.
He faulted the Government ban, saying there should have been no restrictions on tree harvesting on private farms.
He said the blanket ban was hurting the private sector that also contributed to boosting the national forest cover as well as creating jobs.
Paul Kerich, a resident of Kikaren in Nandi North, said farmers should not be victimised for the mistakes of unscrupulous loggers in regions where forests had been decimated.
The ban came into effect about a month ago following concerns on the state of the country's forest cover.
