Dipale, (N/R), Jan. 7, GNA - Fire has destroyed about three hectares of a 63 hectare plantation of the Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC) causing financial lost of over 139 million cedis to the company.
The ITFC is one of the private investment ventures, which attracted the attention of the US government and formed part of the motivating factors for the selection of the Northern Region as a beneficiary of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).
Mr Joseph Ahiadzegbe, Farm Manager of the ITFC, narrating the cause of the fire outbreak to Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister at the farm in Dipale in the Savelugu/Nanton District on Saturday said the incident occurred at about 12:15 am on December 28 last year.
In a related incident a fire out break in an out growers farm at Dinge has destroyed about three hectares of mango plantation with the extent of damage estimated at more than 232 million cedis. Mr Ahiadzegbe said most of the mango trees, which were not severely burnt, would soon come back to life while measures had also been taken to protect the farm by fencing around it to avoid future fire outbreaks. He said workers on the farm would now also be subjected to searches to ensure that smokers did not carry matches in the farm.
Alhaji Idris told workers of the farm to be very vigilant and always raise the alarm for assistance from the community in the event of any fire outbreak and also appealed to the chiefs and people to show concern in the activities of the company since it was to their advantage.
