By Ogar Monday; House of Assembly Correspondent
The Cross River State Government has revealed that plans are in top gear to actualize the 500,000 metric tons per annum for cocoa production rates.
The chairman of the house assembly committee on Public accounts and member representing Obudu, Stephen Ukpukpen made this known recently when the committee met with the commissioner for agriculture, Professor Augustine Eneji and Special Adviser Coco development, Oscar Ofuka at the assembly complex in Calabar where he disclosed that he has sponsored a bill that aims at establishing a board to help in Cocoa policy implementation.
“we have seen that cocoa has the potential to generate so much and create jobs, the cocoa board will assist the government in the implementation of its cocoa policies and also achieve the government’s set cocoa target” Ukpukpen said at the meeting which CrossRiverWatch gathered aimed to sort out the dust raised from the recent cocoa allocation in the state.
Eneji said his ministry is committed towards the actualization of government’s cocoa target saying, the potential in that sub-sector is huge and that the stat needs to tap into it.
Also, decrying the state of the state’s cocoa plantations, Eneji said the government has instituted the cocoa allocation commitee to utilize the farms for the betterment of the state.
Mr. Ofuka who also serves as the Chairman of the State Cocoa Management Team said that subsequently the state will look into the planting of cocoa in other local governments in the northern senatorial district as it has been discovered that the whole of the state is capable of growing cocoa.
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