Authorities in South Sudan’s Aweil State said large timber quantities have been seized from a private company in the area.

The unnamed company, agriculture ministry officials said, had sought permission to prepare agricultural land before rainy seasons.

The director general in the agriculture ministry, Samuel Ajiing Uguak, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that they apprehended a vehicle that was carrying more than 200 pieces of huge timber as it traveled on Aroyo- Aweil road, last week.

“The company produced more than two hundred timbers, a move that violates state government’s order of preventing private companies from producing timber and other forestry products,” he said.

The seized timbers, Uguak said, were cheaply sold out to the public.

The official declined to disclose the private company’s name, but confirmed that its owners were freed without any preconditions.

In December last year, Agriculture and Animal Resources Ministry in Aweil state said it revoked operation licenses from private companies engaged in timber production within the area.

South Sudan currently has no forestry policy and its authorities are worried they could lose the country's tropical forests, unless stringent measures are put in place to curb rampant rates of illegal logging.