Disagreement over Peki-Agbate project will be resolved - Togbe

Peki-Agbate (V/R), Nov. 25, GNA - Togbe Ayim V, Adontenhene of the Peki Traditional Area, on Monday reassured stakeholders in the multi-million cedi Equatorial Farms at Peki-Agbate that the disagreement over the right of entry into the land would be resolved for the investment to flourish.

He said investors should regard litigation over the land as a "teething problem", which was surmountable and urged them to persevere.

Togbe Ayim, who is also the chief of Peki-Avetile, was speaking at a dur bar attended by Major Courage Quashigah, Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), chiefs and opinion leaders of Peki and Mr Jeffrey Katz, an American investor who set up the project.

Mr Peter Peterson, Commodity Consultant of the Farms, established under the Ghana Free Zones system to crop vegetables for export, said over a million dollars had been invested in the project, located at a facility formerly operated by the Germans as an Agricultural Experimental Station.

Mr Peterson said the project currently produced three shipments of vegetables a week and that this could quadruple when a 50,000-dollar irrigation equipment, which had just arrived at the port was installed to crop additional 20,000 hectares.

He said litigation over the right of entry into the land was diverting the attention of the company, which had employed 170 local people and pays 50 million cedis in wages monthly to stimulate economic activity in the area.

Dr Katz said the Equatorial Ventures could grow to become the best agro-business in West Africa since there were vast markets in the world to be accessed to the benefit of the company and the traditional area.

He said the venture could transform Peki and its environs economically as it would increase the income of out-growers and also provide jobs in shipping and transportation.

Major Quashigah said MOFA had initiated action to identify and document all lands acquired by government for agricultural ventures but had been left fallow and in many cases encroached upon by private developers.

The Minister explained that the Free Zones tag on the Farm only meant that it was an export zone, which was not meant to deny the ownership of the land.

Mama Kofi Bra, Queen Mother of the Peki Traditional Area, implored those who attended the function to explain issues involved in the investment to others.

During an open forum, contributors suggested that maize and cassava be incorporated into the project since the two crops are staple foods in the area.