The community in Katire area has threatened to expel a logging company for allegedly failing to give back to the community, the Commissioner of Geria County in Imatong State has said.

However, the Techna Teak Company has denied any wrongdoing.

County Commissioner Dominic Onyu has told Eye Radio the company had promised to build a school and repair roads in the area when it signed an agreement with the state government in 2014.

Mr Onyu says the firm has been operating but has not fully implemented the agreement since then.

He says the state government is also investigating a fire incident that was caused during one of the operations of the teak company.

He told Eye Radio that once the findings are out, they may determine whether to expel the company or fine it for losses incurred by the community.

“We are trying to work on what the community said about the company,” Mr Onyu said. “If the company cannot, the government can see ways of finding solutions to the problem.”

The Managing Director of Techna Teak Company, John Kafela, says his organization has not been able to implement the agreement to give back to the community because “the project is moving forward but it is moving at a slow pace due to the general insecurity in the country”.

He also accused other competing companies of inciting the community to threaten expulsion of his company.

“There are a lot of competitors who are instigating some of these things,” Mr Kafela told Eye Radio.

A 2007 assessment by the United Nations Environment Program indicated that the existing teak plantations in South Sudan alone could potentially generate up to$ 50 million per year in export revenues.