Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson
The Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Mavis Hawa Koomson, has detailed why the 2021 Best Fish Farmer is yet to be awarded his two bedroom house.
According to her, the winner was under investigation for almost a year, hence the delay in the completion and handing over of his two bedroom house.
“… there was an issue with that award winner, so we took almost 8 months to one year to do investigation to make sure that the fisher had no problem before we allow the construction. We have done the major part of the project and left with touches to be completed so we hand it over,” she told parliament.
The Ranking Member on the Agriculture Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, had expressed disappointment over the government's failure to fulfil its promise of building a two-bedroom house for the Best Fish Farmer in 2021.
Eric Opoku criticized the Ministry of Agriculture for demanding an additional amount of GH¢50,000 three years on, in order to complete the house.
Opoku, during the discussion of the Committee on Agric and Cocoa Affairs on the 2024 budget estimates of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, said;
"… Mr. Speaker, Farmers Day. This is a very important celebration that every Ghanaian must have heard. Unfortunately, during the celebration, the best fish farmer is not given the award. In 2021, the best fish farmer was to be given a two-bedroom house. The ceremony, attended by the President and all state apparatus, was widely publicized. However, as we speak, the house has not been completed, and the ministry is now asking for five hundred thousand cedis to be able to complete the building and hand it over to the best fish farmer. Mr. Speaker, this is something that must not be told anywhere. We don’t have to allow this to happen."
However, the ministry, as revealed in the report, has abandoned the decision to award the Best Fish Farmer a house due to financial constraints.
Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
NAY/AE
