Cocoa couriers in Western Region resume work

Cocoa loading boys at the Cocoa Marketing Company warehouse at Beahu, near Apowa, in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region have finally resumed work.

The aggrieved cocoa couriers stopped work about two weeks ago in protest over low wages and poor working conditions.

Mauvi Mawuto, spokesperson of the workers, told the media in Takoradi on Friday that they resumed work on Thursday, January 16.

He said Mr Stephen Opuni, Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, held a meeting with the aggrieved workers and had agreed to increase each bag of cocoa offloaded from 10 pesewas to 30 pesewas.

The CEO of COCOBOD also agreed to impress upon the contractors who employed the cocoa porters to register them under the Social Security and National Insurance Trust and the National Health Insurance Scheme, Mr Mawuto said.

In addition, COCOBOD had assured them of potable water and a vehicle to convey cocoa porters to and from the Commodity Village warehousing facility at Beahu every day.

The cocoa couriers are made up of gangs of sixteen and each gang offloaded 2,880 bags of cocoa from the haulage trucks to the warehouse every day.