DCE WORRIED OVER COCOA SMUGGLING (PAGE 36, NOV 10, 2010)

THE District Chief Executive (DCE) for Juabeso, Mr Solomon Fuachie, has expressed concern over the smuggling of cocoa by some unscrupulous people across the borders of Ghana.
He observed that the smuggling of tonnes of cocoa beans to neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire over the years had been a big loss to the national economy.
He, therefore, appealed to the economic saboteurs to think about their country first before their selfish and parochial interests.
Mr Fuachie expressed the concern in his opening remarks at a ceremony where OLAM Ghana Limited, a licensed buying company (LBC) in the country presented three motorbikes valued at GH¢20,000 to an anti-cocoa smuggling squad of the security agencies at Sefwi Essam, the capital of the Bia District in the Western Region.
He noted that cocoa had been the backbone of the Ghanaian economy from time immemorial but noted with regret that some people did not seem to appreciate that fact and had rather resorted to undermining what the resource could do to sustain the economy.
‘‘We should be proud of the commodity and respect the producer price being offered by the government,’’ he said.
Mr Fuachie emphasised that by law it was only the government, through the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), that had the sole responsibility to export cocoa beans for sale.
“We need to educate the people about the law and the consequences of smuggling. Let us condemn the act and the perpetrators in the strictest terms and in totality,” he emphasised.
He commended OLAM Ghana for the gesture.
Mr Fuachie appealed to the security agencies to work harder than before to stop the menace of cocoa smuggling in the area once and for all, stressing that the logistics they had received should be a morale booster for them to act swiftly on the smugglers in the district.
The Head of Business of OLAM Ghana Limited, Mr John Andre, disclosed that Ghana produced 650,000 metric tonnes of cocoa last year but lost about 100,000 tonnes of the commodity through smuggling, adding that the money that was lost could have been used to construct roads in the area.
According to him, his company had donated 100 hospital beds to the Dunkwa Health Assistants Training School and also presented a quantity of rice to its customers during the celebration of COPAL Day last year..
He added that the company had created many jobs and for the people to help improve their living conditions.
He said as the fourth largest LBC in the country, OLAM was operating in all the cocoa producing regions, except Volta.