The operations of Sea-Freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana (SPEG) received a boost with an injection of 2.17 million dollars grant by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) to support the construction of communal pack houses on the farms and acquisition of pre-cooler equipments.

Initially, seven companies out of 27, which are members of SPEG, will benefit from the revolving grant.

An agreement on the grant has been signed between the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin and Dr Korang Amoako, Chairman of SPEG on behalf of their respective organisations.

The agreement followed the inauguration of a five million-dollar fruit terminal at the Tema Harbour funded by the World Bank and a similar facility at the Kotoka International Airport financed by the Millennium Challenge Account.

Both projects aim at upgrading the cold chain infrastructure at the ports in order to support the operations of SPEG.

Mr Eson-Benjamin said acquisition of vital pre-cooler equipment would ensure that the quality of exported fruits was maintained from the farms to the final consumer in Europe.

He said support for the industry was important in view of the potential contribution it could make to the foreign earnings of the country.

In 2007, Ghana earned 80 million euros through export of 90,000 tonnes of fresh fruits to the European Union.

Mr Eson-Benjamin hoped the funds would be used well so that other members of the group could benefit from it.

Dr Korang Amoako, Chairman of SPEG, said the support was timely and said the cold chain equipment would ensure better prices for their produce.


Source: GNA