The 2021 “Best Fish Farmer” has still not received his two-bedroom house reward from the Ministry, the Minority Spokesperson of the Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku revealed.
According to him, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture is now requesting funds to put up the building two years after the award ceremonies.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, he said, “ 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 was attended by His Excellency, the President, and all the state apparatus.
“Mr Speaker, it was all over the country, that the Best Fish Farmer was going to be given a two-bedroom house. As we speak, the house has not been completed and the Ministry is now asking for GH₵500,000 to be able to complete the building and then hand it over to the best fish farmer.”
Mr Opoku stressed that this was wrong and should not be happening because it shows the country is not committed to rewarding the efforts of her hard-working citizens.
“Mr Speaker, this is something that must not be told anywhere. We don’t have to allow this to happen. Somebody had worked very hard to put food on our tables and as a nation, we want to recognise his contribution and we are saying that we are giving you this house; an award. We are now doing the 2024 budget and we are now looking for ₵500,000 to complete the facility and hand it over to the person.
Meanwhile, the Fisheries Minister, Hawa Koomson, said the delay in putting up the building was because the Ministry had to conduct investigations into the award winner since there were some allegations about the farmer.
“There was an issue with that award winner so we took almost eight months to one year to do investigations to make sure that the fisher had no problem before we allowed the construction to go on,” she said.
She stressed that the ministry requesting only GH₵500,000 implied that the major parts of the building had been completed but it was left with some finishing touches.
