Tono (U/E), Feb.7, GNA - Bureaucracy at the Irrigation Company of Uppe= r Region (ICOUR), M-Trade, a company that deals in buying seeds from farmers and the management of Bullock Farming Project has left over 10,000 bags of rice in silos in Tono. The non payment of farmers' money, inadequate weighing scales, inaccurate record keeping and submission of returns have been identified as the problems that have led to the prolonged storage of rice in the silos. Mr Francis Xavier Adam, a representative of M-Trade, blamed the seed inspectorate for the delay in making the seed analysis before commencement of the weighing of the produce.

This was revealed when the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, paid a visit to the rice silos where farmers have waited since November last year to be paid for their produce. Mr. Adam said vouchers supposed to be prepared by ICOUR for M-Trade before payments are made into ICOUR's account for onward disbursement to farmers were incomplete and so payment could not be effected. Mr. Thomas Sumbo, Deputy Director of ICOUR, said inputs had been made and vouchers taken to M-Trade but no positive response had been received from them. Madam Salamatu Osman, a farmer, said she had on three occasions changed sacks for her thirty bags of rice at the silo as the kept tearing. "On each occasion, I had to pay 09 Ghana cedis for labour, apart from the cost of empty sacks that I used in the past three months that my produc= e has been here," she said.

Mr Danlogo Frank Atiu, the farmers' representative, said farmers di= d not go through that experience during the last farming season and called fo= r immediate solution to the problem. Mr Woyongo asked M-Trade to expedite action at acquiring more scales and labour to ensure work on the rice was done and farmers' money paid to them since any rainfall within the period could be detrimental as the produce was not under shelter.