C/River Revenue Drops As Cocoa Allocation Delays

The Special Adviser to the Cross River State Governor on Cocoa Development, Mr Oscar Ofuka disclosed that the state is losing millions of Naira due to the delay in the release of the cocoa allocation list.

Ofuka,who revealed this on Wednesday in Calabar in preparation for the farming season, immediately directed the state’s Cocoa Allocation Committee to release, without delay, a revised list of cocoa allocation for the 2016 farming season.

He said that the directive had become necessary as the continued delay in the release of the allocation list was costing the state millions of naira in revenue.

He urged members of the committee to bury their individual interests and work for the benefit of the generality of the people of the state.

Ofuka, who is also the chairman of the state’s Cocoa Technical Management Team, disclosed that some of the cocoa estates were being destroyed daily by unpatriotic elements.

He blamed such incidents on the continued delay in the release of the allocation list, adding that farmers would start planting as soon as they got their farmlands.

“You cannot witness destruction of any kind if cocoa season is on because everybody will be busy in their farms,” he said.

He warned those perpetrating such acts to desist or the long arm of the law would descend on them.

According to him, the state government is determined to make cocoa the mainstay of its economy in view of the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account.