Cocoa sector deserves robust protective legislation – Dr Abbey

The Chief Exec­utive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCO­BOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has called connected the Attorney General and Parliament to instrumentality much stringent authorities to safeguard cocoa trees from the destructive activities of amerciable miners and chainsaw operators.

Speaking during International Labour Day celebrations with cocoa farmers successful Nkawie successful the Ashanti Region, Dr Abbey high­lighted the catastrophic nonaccomplishment of thousands of cocoa trees to amerciable mining and logging operations, pos­ing an existential menace to Ghana’s captious cocoa sector.

“The existent ineligible model protecting our cocoa trees lacks capable punitive measures, effec­tively emboldening amerciable operators to proceed destroying our nationalist treasure.

“After implicit a period of cocoa serving arsenic the backbone of Ghana’s economy, this assets deserves robust legislative protection,” Dr Abbey stated.

COCOBOD, helium said, was actively collaborating with the Attorney General’s Office and Parliament to draught broad authorities specifically designed to support cocoa trees from unautho­rised destruction.

Dr Abbey assured farmers that his medication was committed to halting the illicit demolition of cocoa plantations and establish­ing a collaborative model for effectual assemblage management.

The CEO besides revealed con­cerning fiscal mismanagement wrong the sector, noting that a $263 cardinal money intended for rehabilitating 156,000 hectares of cocoa farms had been improperly utilised by the erstwhile adminis­tration.

Despite allocating $223 cardinal for rehabilitation and $40 cardinal for irrigation, the full magnitude was channelled solely toward reha­bilitation efforts, resulting successful lone 40,000 hectares being restored, a important shortfall from the targeted area.

According to him, the rehabili­tation programme was initiated af­ter it was determined that astir 40 percent of the country’s cocoa farms were severely impacted by disease, necessitating urgent intervention.

While the volition down the task was commendable, the existent execution had travel nether scrutiny.

In summation to the $263 cardinal loan, Dr Abbey revealed that a further GH¢700 cardinal was pumped into the programme, rais­ing further questions astir money utilisation and task outcomes.

He said COCOBOD had since referred the substance to the due authorities for a afloat investigation.

“This represents a captious missed accidental to substan­tially summation our cocoa yields,” Dr Abbey lamented during his address.

He further emphasized that COCOBOD’s existent finan­cial constraints were hampering efforts to amended cocoa roadworthy in­frastructure and instrumentality different indispensable interventions.

Despite these challenges, Dr Abbey reaffirmed his adminis­tration’s dedication to addressing the sector’s problems, pledging to negociate resources prudently arsenic directed by President Mahama.

He urged cocoa farmers to enactment successful adjacent concern with COCOBOD to flooded the industry’s obstacles and unafraid the aboriginal of Ghana’s cocoa produc­tion.

Ebenezer Kwabena Agyin, Ashanti Regional Manager, CO­COBOD, commended the farmers for their tremendous contribu­tions to cocoa accumulation successful the country.