BE VIGILANT TO AVERT ILLEGALITY IN FREE COCOA INPUTS SUPPLY-COCOBOD URGES BENEFICIARIES

-


The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board in charge of Operations, James Kofi Kutsoati has inaugurated the first of several Taskforces to implement and manage COCOBOD’s free cocoa production interventions for this year in the Ashanti region with a call on all stakeholders, particularly community members and cocoa farmers to exercise extra vigilance in the work of the Taskforce to avert any illegality in its work. 

Inaugurating the Asante Akyem District Taskforce at Konongo, Mr. Kutsoati disclosed that management of COCOBOD has enhanced the structure and composition of the Taskforce with the inclusion of personnel from the Ghana Police Service and Bureau of National Investigations as well as the National Disaster Management Organization, NADMO as part of security measures to prevent or detect any underhand dealings in the management and distribution of the free cocoa inputs. 

Additionally, the COCOBOD Officer responsible for the respective district will now head the Taskforce with the District Chief Executive given an over sight responsibility over the work of the Taskforce and distribution of the agro inputs. 

The Taskforce is employed to receive, distribute and secure all the cocoa production inputs provided by the COCOBOD to cocoa farmers for their production for the 2016 season. 

The inputs, which are to be distributed to the farmers at no cost include seedlings, the liquid and granular fertilizers as well as free spraying of the cocoa farms of the beneficiary farmers. 

The Deputy COCOBOD CEO warned that no room has been made for protocol in the management of the inputs. 

He therefore cautioned the Taskforce against party politics, nepotism and favouritism. 

The Executive Director of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division of COCOBOD, Dr. Francis Baah, said the inputs will be released to the various Taskforces very soon for the distribution and spraying. 

Dr. Baah explained to ensure fairness in the distribution, all interested cocoa farmers must first register with the Taskforce in person after which their holdings will be inspected and measured to determine the sizes and their respective production needs. Dr. Baah stressed that cocoa farms with trees aged 30 years and above do not qualify the intervention. 

Instead, owners of such old farms will benefit from free supply of hi-tech seedlings to replace their aging trees for improved yield.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JUTE FACTORY IS BACK

-
Image
the administrative block under rehabilitation At long last, the much talked about defunct GIHOC Fibre manufacturing Company popularly known as the Jute Factory, is to be back in operations very soon.  Ashanti Today can confirm that work is feverishly ongoing towards the revival of the once golden sacks manufacturing company with the first production expected in the first quarter of next year.  It is a public-private partnership with a wholly Ghanaian company, Jute Mills Ghana Limited being the operator and has already sunk about five million Ghana Cedis to revamp the company.  The Jute Factory is located within the industrial area of Kaase.  It has been on divestiture for about 20 years now with successive governments paying lip-service to revamp it.   The old machinery at main factory to be replaced soon  It is one project that is dear to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who has used almost every opportunity with business people and investors wh
Read more

THE STATE OF KUMASI'S 'INDUSTRIAL AREA

-
The once Industrial enclave of the Ashanti region within the Kumasi metropolis is fast losing its status as the nerve centre of jobs for the people.     This is due to the collapse of most of the companies in quick succession in  the last few years for various reasons. Background Industrialization was a key component of the first wholly indigenous government of Ghana led by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. The Ashanti region was not left out in this drive which was meant to create decent jobs for the residents, particularly the youth.  Asokwa, Ahinsan, Kaase, Atonsu and Kyirapatre were the communities that became what is known as the ‘Industrial Area’ of Ashanti from the early 60s.  The christening of this enclave as the ‘Industrial Area’ was the people’s appreciation of the numerous state and privately owned companies that were sited there.  These communities fall within present day Asokwa Constituency which is in the western part of the metropolis from the Accra d
Read more

KWAMANG SHS NEEDS URGENT HELP

-
Image
New Campus of the Kwamang Presby SHS The Kwamang Presby Senior High/Technical School in the Sekyere Central district of Ashanti needs an urgent external intervention to address some of its pressing basic needs to function very well.  A visit by Ashanti Today to the school’s premises revealed that the school does not have an administrative block to administer affairs of the school for which reason the Headmistress, the Bursar and another staff are sharing one room which has been partitioned, while the Assistant Headmaster, the rest of the Accounts staff among other administrative officers are also working from an improvised classroom. Anybody who visits the Kwamang Presby Senior High Technical school for the first time will unavoidably take it for a basic school.  This is more so when it appears to be perching on the premises of the local Junior High School as its old site.  The school is wallowing in a myriad of challenges that are seriously militating against
Read more