GREL pays GH¢1.35m bonus to 790 rubber farmers

The Ghana Rubber Estate (GREL) has paid GH¢1.35 million to 790 rubber farmers as fidelity bonus for their loyalty as out-growers for the company.

The Managing Director of GREL, Lionel Barre, told the Daily Graphic, after the presentation of cheques to the beneficiary rubber growers, that the company introduced the fidelity bonus to reward out-grower rubber farmers who demonstrated loyalty to the company over the years.

The beneficiary farmers, he said, were selected for delivering to the weighbridges for at least eight successive months during the 2022/2023 agriculture season.

Mr Barre added that the introduction of the fidelity bonus was a way of appreciating the continuous loyalty to GREL over the years, and in the context of creating value and sharing the benefits with its stakeholders.

The company supports its out-grower farmers with inputs and technical support, and in return, it off-takes all their produce.

Recently, however, some out-grower farmers diverted their harvests to neighbouring countries after receiving the support.

Mr Barre added that GREL had now positioned well-tested weighbridges close to the farmers.

That, he explained, was to make for easy transportation of the rubber cup-lumps to designated places, as well as to the factory, at a lesser cost to the farmer.

Hitherto, the company had weighbridges at the processing factories at Apimanim and Tsibu in the Western Region, and went further to build others approved by the Ghana Standard Authority, with certified equipment, to ensure transparency.

Those new weighbridges, in addition to the two existing ones at the factories, are located at Awodua, Subri and Allabokazo, all in the Western Region, while in the Central Region, the weighbridges are located at Abriem Agona and Assin Adubiase.

Mr Barre explained that the weighbridges at Assin Adubiase and Allabokazo were expected to be completed and operational by the end of this month.

He said the additions were to make it easy to get the products of the farmers to reach the designated weighbridges on time for a quicker turnaround.

Mr Barre expressed the commitment of management to sustainable and organic production of rubber for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders along the rubber value chain, especially to create jobs and wealth for the country.
 
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Some of the rubber farmers described the new addition to the existing weighbridges as a great relief to rubber out-grower farmers who would no longer travel long distances to deliver the rubber cup-lumps when they were ready.

The farmers said they were really appreciative of the long-standing relationship between them and GREL, and that the payment of the fidelity bonus came as a morale booster for farmers to do more for themselves and the country.