COFFEE stakeholders have been irked by a recent report in The National on Jan 14 revealing that half of the K300,000 funds allocated for the setting up of coffee nurseries in Eastern Highlands province had been diverted to acquiring vehicles.
Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) chief executive officer Ricky Mitio said CIC had been kept in the dark since this commitment by the provincial government was made known to them by the PDAL.
“We (CIC) had gone to the extent of expanding our limited funds to carry out field assessments and organising farmer groups in anticipation for the allocated money,” Mr Mitio said.
CIC urged EHP Governor Malcolm Smith and his government to institute an investigation into the matter and take disciplinary action against those who were involved in it and who saw it fit to hijack such funds to spend on items that did not directly benefit the people.
CIC also called on the Eastern Highlands provincial government to go ahead with using the funds to assist the coffee sector which supports 200,000 coffee growers in the province.