Data Description.

The data type to be collected in this research is the Panel data by the use of the Panel Analysis. The study is about gathering information about Forest Levies. Forest Levied are defined as the charges that are paid for a person to hold the rights to harvest timber publically. The Ministry of Natural Resources is usually the one who sets them on behalf of the government. The Panel Data analysis thus becomes essential in this research as we can use and analyse data from a certain period of time.

The data sources will be mostly primary data. The choice of the primary data is so that it would be easier to analyse data that we observe and to maintain the accuracy.  The collection of primary data will be through observation, some interviews/ questionnaires, and surveys.  The most convenient method used was an observation. The data collection was mostly carried out through microeconomic. The analysing and collection of data is at an individual level, companies and communities. It was then divided into production levels of individual firms; the rate of productivity, cost and price structures. Unit figures are essential in forestry policy analyst as they help in examining the wide range of factor that affects the sector.

The use of observation to collect the data comes with a lot of inconsistency.  For instance, observing the saw miller may indicate that the production is significantly above capacity while the product output is higher than the log input volume. Similarly, the saw miller might report their product prices far below the log inputs. Also, an assumption is made that the wage rate paid for a particular type of a worker to be similar, but there product recovery rates might be expected to vary considerably.

The data was collected on the labour cost. The average wage for managers is $20000, the administrator is $25000, the team leader is $12000, Tree spotter is $10000, Compass man is $10,000, Assistant $5000, cook $5000, and Driver $6000. The median wage is $10000.  The variance is $11,625. The information could not be validated against any other source.

The cost of Consumable items which include the fuels, oils and grease, filters, undercarriage and tyres; winch cables and chokers; batteries and other was calculated as; Petroleum $ 20/l, Diesel $18/l, Oil for Petrol engine $81.2/l, Grease $148.8/l, hydraulic fluid $ 72.4/l, Transmission fluid $106.8/l, Gear oil $84.8/l . Information about the spare parts was challenging to collect. The local suppliers of the spare parts, could not supply replacements part information without the serial number which we lacked.

The cost of filters and tyres was as follow; oil filter $300-$500 per unit, Fuel filter $ 600 – $ 800 per unit, Air filter $ 600 – $ 800 per unit, Battery (150 amp) $ 5800, Winch cable (250M) $112500. The average cost that was incurred by the companies on the filter was $25000 as per the period of research.  After that the minor prices includes measuring tapes (30m) at $796, Chain saw at $1240, chain spark plug at $120, Axe at $74, Nails (Kg) $50, safety helmet at $400.