Keynote speaker and Guest of Honour, Olivier Chassang
The Fairtrade Premium Committee of Golden Exotics Limited posted an amount of €4,337,128.75 as its overall cash balance for the year 2021.
These included its premium income received, interests on investments, and income generated from its staff bussing project which were subsequently budgeted for the implementation of its projects for the year.
These were disclosed during the Committee’s 8th Annual Delegates Meeting held at the Starr Villa Hotel near Kpong in the Eastern Region which also marked the Committee’s tenth anniversary.
Detailing the various projects the Committee intends rolling out during the year 2022 in the annual report, Mr. Felix Isuor Amekudzi, chairman of the Fairtrade Premium Committee stated that an amount of €313,510 being 20% of its Fairtrade premium cash distribution was equitably distributed in April 2021 to the entire membership of the Golden Exotics Limited (GEL) workers and retirees.
With education emerging as utmost priority projects in the needs assessment exercises conducted by the Fairtrade Premium Committee, an amount of GHc573, 052.30 was spent on its educational subsidies of 201 staff, noted Mr. Amekudzi.
Additionally, an amount of GHC363, 301.48 was spent on school materials including exercise books, pens, supplementary reading materials, school bags, etc. for 1,315 wards of its workers.
The chairman furthered that as part of efforts to provide care for the children of nursing mothers of the farm, a crèche and nursery facility together with a bus were built and procured at a cost of Ghc1, 060,000.
Also, an amount of GHC2, 075,755.12 was spent on a canteen project described as “one of the successfully implemented projects of the FPC since 2014 which directly benefits all workers by providing a subsidized lunch on daily basis.”
To boost the staff transport project designed to improve the transportation of workers as well as generate additional income for the FPC to undertake more socio-economic projects, a total amount of GHC2013872.07, the chairman of the FPC added, was spent on the purchase, insurance and maintenance of two new buses.
The addition of the two buses also designed to continue with ongoing projects in the event of unforeseen circumstances brings the total number of buses to 14, generating an income of GHC1827884.32 during the year under review.
Mr. Amekudzi said GHC253,210.84 ultra-modern water filtration system together with water tanks were installed at Ayiborm to provide water for the community.
Other projects included the Fairtrade awareness project, environmental projects, loan project, women empowerment project and an office building.
Keynote Speaker and Guest of Honour, Mr. Olivier Chassang urged the workers to work extra hard to mitigate the impact of any unforeseen circumstances on the production and sales of the company’s products on the international market.
“When we’re trading with Fairtrade, there’s one part from us and one part from the rest of the world…two years ago, we wouldn’t have thought of COVID-19, one month ago we wouldn’t have talked about the war in Ukraine and Russia and all those have an impact on our activities. With covid, we had a lot of issues with transportation, no more ships” said the CEO.
He furthered: “As we don’t know how the world is going to move around what we do, the one thing we know is to do the best we can.”
Mr. Twum in an interview outlined a number of success stories chalked by the FPC over its ten year success.
These include a six unit classroom block and KG for the Ketum-Atrobinya DA Basic School, a ten-unit teachers and nurse’s bungalow at Volivo, an ultra-modern science lab at the Osudoku Senior High Technical School, a vocational school at Osuwem, potable water facilities at Ayiborm and Kasunya, etc.
He added that the Committee was determined to do more for both the community and its staff to make life comfortable for them.
New FPC members and executives were also sworn into office by Mr. Olivier Chassang.
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