General News of Wednesday, 21 June 2017

Source: starrfmonline.com

Cocoa prices yet to be fixed – Hackman

Mr. Owusu-Agyeman said the price of the next cocoa season is yet to be determined Mr. Owusu-Agyeman said the price of the next cocoa season is yet to be determined

The board chairman of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has discredited rumours about cocoa pricing for the next season.

Mr. Owusu-Agyeman said the price of the next cocoa season is yet to be determined.

“I think that issue is yet to be looked up again because there are two schools of thought; one saying that, if the fertilisers are given free of charge, then they are smuggled out, they are sold across the border… I have not at any point in time made any pronouncement on the cocoa pricing situation,” the former MP told Starr News’ Parliamentary Correspondent Ibrahim Alhassan Wednesday.

“I am aware that there is a committee that normally handles this,” he added. “The board will come to the board and we will take a look at it, as far as I know, nothing of that nature has happened.”

He stressed, “nobody has made any statement to the effect that, there will be no increases or there will be increases.”

He noted: “It is true the price of cocoa has fallen since last six, seven months and nobody has said anything with regards to that.”

According to him, COCOBOD will issue an official statement to clear the air since others want to score political points over the issue.

The minority spokesperson on agriculture Eric Opoku at a news conference Wednesday said the government must revert to the free fertiliser distribution policy implemented by the John Mahama administration.