Paul Amaning (middle) addressing the media. With him are members of the Association
Members of the Ghana Small Scale Oil Palm Producers Association (GSSOPPA) have appealed to government to extend their contract with the State for the supply of palm oil to Senior High Schools (SHS) under the free SHS policy.
GSSOPPA’s contract with the State is expected to expire in September 2018, but the Association in an interaction with journalists on Wednesday in Accra said the contract must be extended to enable them control the oil palm prices on the market.
Spokesperson for the Association, Amaning Paul, indicated that since his outfit commenced its contract with the State on September 7, 2017, over 70 percent of Senior High Schools across the country received their full delivery of palm oil for the first term of the 2017/2018 academic year.
Giving the regional breakdown of the distribution, he said the Volta Region had received 50 percent, Central, 30 percent, Ashanti 80 percent, Eastern 60 percent, and Northern Region, 5 percent, among others.
“We are confident that by 15th November, 2017 every senior high school in Ghana would have received its full supply for the term,” he said.
“Plans are far advanced in expanding 10 existing and new local factories within the belt and equipping our members with managerial skills to manage effectively these facilities,” he disclosed.
According to him, the Association has partnered three Japanese investors- CDC, KMC and Pro Seed- to assist in the production of palm oil to a daily production rate of 400 gallons and that within six months, 80,000 gallons will be produced to meet our demands.
An estimated 625 metric tons of oil palm is to be distributed by the association to schools nationwide per term.
Estimated Jobs
“Per our projections with government assistance, GSSOPPA will create about 50,000 direct jobs and 350,000 indirect jobs and support farmers with seedlings and the right technology for maximum palm nut yield,” Mr. Paul indicated.
The Association has also appealed to the various headmasters and authorities in all secondary schools to cooperate with its distributors nationwide to make the policy effective.
By Melvin Tarlue