By Rachel Kakraba
The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has pledged her ministry’s commitment to look into issues surrounding compensation packages and other related matters for Tropo Farms, producers of Volta Catch tilapia. This has become necessary following the construction of the New Akrade – Mpakadan section of the Tema – Mpakadan railway line which has affected sections of the company’s land.
To this effect, Madam Koomson has asked management of the company to furnish her ministry with details of relevant information on the development to enable her to act on it. Madam Koomson, was on a familiarization tour of the farm at Mpakadan, in the Eastern Region. She said her ministry is committed to the welfare of industry players and will expedite work on the matter to avert job losses.
The 97 point nine kilometre Tema-Mpakadan Railway meanders through the main tilapia production point of Tropo Farms. The company says an initial agreement to compensate it as a result of the compulsory acquisition of its property by the government is yet to materialize, two years after the agreement was reached. Last month the contractor for the Railway project, Afcons Infrastructure Limited, reportedly invaded part of its Farms, to clear a portion of land close to the production site of the company, with heavy equipment and armed security personnel. This, according to the company, led to the destruction of electricity and water supply. Senior Manager Corporate Strategy and PRO, Francis Zimmaleh, said series of engagements with relevant stakeholders have not yielded much. He said a collapse of the company will lead to massive unemployment and appealed for the intervention of the sector minister.
“The last meeting we had with the Railway Authority they assured us that they were going to make follow-up on the Land Commission Evaluation Division so that the compensation issue will be resolved, well we were taken aback on the 8th of October , when they came in with armed men with excavators to invade. They are just encroaching upon the road that leads to our main operational area and when that happens it will be difficult for our vehicles to move. It will be difficult for our trucks to be moving. Our concern is the ability to sustain the jobs that we have created so far, we don’t want a situation whereby livelihoods will be lost because are not able to relocate, so we will plead with you and urge you to help us out”
The Chief Operations Officer of the company, Andries Zwaga, indicated that his outfit is not against the Railway project, however, compensation due the company must be expedited as any attempt at relocation will come with huge cost.
He said to successfully relocate, his outfit would require some substantial time, a reason some closure must be brought to the issue early enough for adequate preparations.
“The size of tilapia takes about six months to grow to a commercial size, so it’s not like somebody says ok tomorrow you should leave and you park and leave. No! Because you have to grow all the fish, you have to harvest them, you have to process them, and then be able to relocate. So its quite a long process and it’s a shame we haven’t been able to talk about this before, because they are now very close, at least they are quite in a hurry to start work on our land”
Reacting to the concerns, the sector minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson, said she was unaware of the development and directed management of the company to communicate officially with her office for amicable resolution.
“You write to me and put down all the issues, when there are emergencies we can quickly engage ourselves. We are not only going to talk about the compensation, we are talking about the fast encroachment. Also let us know the number of people you have employed and if this place should collapse the number of people who will go unemployed”
Madam Koomson, said the government under the Aquaculture farming for Food and Job initiative will empower more people into the fish farming industry. She said there is support for groups and individuals desirous of venturing into the industry and encouraged them to take advantage of available resources.
“We all understand that even the fish in the marines are depleting and also in the rivers are depleting, what do we do to recover all these stocks, when we bring on Aquaculture, it will help us.”
Tropo Farms has since 1997 been supporting the Ghanaian economy through the production of fish. The company provides eight hundred direct jobs and an additional two thousand indirect jobs through the tilapia retail business, mainly women.
