Rhodes Oil plants: the Task Force catching in Antananarivo

The weekend has been juicy for the Task Force. Thanks to data provided by various sources, detectives had been carefully patching the puzzle up. As a result, each search operation has led to a seizure of Rhodes Island Plants stocks hidden in several locations in Antananarivo. Operating all at a time in a single day has been particularly favoured in order to take advantage from the surprise effect. The subsequent seizure of some 200 logs has, in the end, proved to be a clear success. The wood is being stored in a military camp in Fiadanana to be “secured “. 

Paradoxically, the biggest catch has been completed in Nanisana, in the Task Force’s headquarters directed by the environment ministry, and moreover in a State owned hangar. Rented by a private operator, the facility served as a hideaway for 75 logs. The Rhodes Oil Plants’ owner has been identified, but not yet arrested. On Saturday, the Task Force started its operation in Ivato. A raid of police forces and militaries led to the arrest of a workshop owner. 32 logs of Rhodes Oil Plant and some half processed planks have been recovered, some more than 5 tons of wood.  

The Task Force got an even bigger catch downtown. By the end of the day, 8 tons of Rhodes Oil Plants have been recovered in a hideaway somewhere around the Ny havana building. A search operation in Sambaina had, shortly before, led to the discovery of 32 logs. A warden working for the Tiko corporation has actually driven detectives up to the hideaway. The Rhodes Oil Plant has, then, been unearthed, and sent to Antananarivo by truck. 

Most the seized wood is not part of recent cut downs. Whether authorized exploitation or traffic, the political regime change and the struggle against the depredation of Madagascar’s wild forests have granted the same fate to everyone. From fear of being forbidden to export, the hideaway has turned into a very seducing solution, in spite of its illegal statute. 

The case of the seizures in Antananarivo and its suburbs is raising the question if the wood’s destination. Is it dimmed to be processed in view of manufactured product export? The local market also exists, although in a quite reduced scale. On the national market, one ton of Rhodes Oil Plant amounts to 10 000 euros, or more than 30 millions of ariary. This precious wood has a very important density; three mere 2m long logs easily make a ton of wood.