Nine persons have been arrested by a combined team of military and forest task force for their alleged involvement in the destruction of the Kokoasua Forest Reserves in the Juaboso District in the Western Region.

According to the Forestry Commission Manager for Juaboso and Bia Districts, Clement Amo Omari, the suspects were apprehended in the reserves during a normal routine exercise aimed at clamping down on illegal farming activities in the reserve which have led to destruction of about 100 acres of cocoa farms.

Mr Omari who declined to name the suspects for procedural reasons disclosed that the suspects were caught at the Juaboso Nkwanta forset where they had gone to embark on what he described as "their usual destructive activities."

He said the practice had become rampant of late in the District and needed to be checked before things got out of hand. The forestry manager warned that the commission will do everything within its means to bring perpetrators to book.

He further stressed that other illegal activities such as chain saw operations are on the rise and called on  the public to assist the commission in tracking down people destroying the environment.

Those arrested, he said would be arraigned before court within the week.

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