Imo palm plantation grounded, reptiles take over bushy compound

The popular Adapalm Plantation, now renamed Imo Palm Plantation by the present government, is completely grounded, after being abandoned by both the state government and Roche Group -an Irish company managing the establishment. A visit to the establishment at Ohaji/Egbema and Agwa in Oguta LGA reveals that nothing is happening there any longer. The compound […]

The popular Adapalm Plantation, now renamed Imo Palm Plantation by the present government, is completely grounded, after being abandoned by both the state government and Roche Group -an Irish company managing the establishment.
A visit to the establishment at Ohaji/Egbema and Agwa in Oguta LGA reveals that nothing is happening there any longer.
The compound has been taken over by weeds and grasses, giving rise to the emergence of dangerous reptiles and rodents among other animals.
Daily Trust observed that operations at the milling section of the company as well as the usual daily work routine at the company are no more in existence. Only security men comprising of the Army, Niger Delta Security network set up by Governor Rochas Okorocha and men of the Nigeria Police were sighted guarding the company.
The nine mile square, 4319 hectares of plantation was established in 1962 as Ohaji Farm settlement by the then Premier of Eastern Region Michael I. Okpara, with the planting of the palms trees done by Ukpabi Asika in 1976 while the first civilian governor of Imo State, the late Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe built the mill in 1983.
The plantation was in 2011 leased out to Roche Group and from that time till five months ago when it was grounded, production and the entire operation of the company had been going on amidst crises among the staff, youth as well as the Landlords Association.
Speaking with our correspondent in Owerri, a staff of the plantation, and the Secretary of Agricultural and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria,  Imo Palm Plantation, Mr. Opara Simeon, said before the takeover of the plantation by Roche Group, the place was moving at snail speed.
He said that trouble started when the new managers of the company – Roche Group, said they were not going to work with the existing staff and as a result, workers started demanding for payment of severance allowance.
Opara said the situation lingered till 2013 when agitation by workers started over unpaid allowances and salaries. He said that workers are till date being owed 14 months salaries.
He regretted that the managers of the plantation never showed capacity to manage the plantation, adding that it was the reason why they failed to manage the place effectively.
He said that the workers, 80 percent of whom are from Ohaji/Egbema and Agwa in Oguta LGAs, are finding it hard to send their children to schools or even cope with the present economic situation in the country.
The union secretary insisted that the remaining staff in the four villages which has 123 buildings and 200 in the nucleus including churches, would not move out of the place until they are paid their severance benefits and salaries.
He pointed out that the plantation has the capacity of employing 3,000 persons, adding that if the abandoned downstream which is at 75% completion stage was achieved, it can produce soap and other items.
When contacted, the immediate past vice chairman of Landlord Association, Mr. Cyrian Orjiaku, said there was peace when Roche Group first took over the plantation.
He said trouble actually started in the plantation when the former caretaker committee chairman of the Landlord Association, Gideon Mefor, refused to hand over to the elected executive members after an election.
Reacting, the Head Legal Unit of Roche Group Ltd. Mr. Peters Nyitni, said that their initial plans was to buy a palm plantation in Ghana but along the line they changed their mind to purchase Ada Palm plantation, adding that immediately the process was completed, they moved in with all their staff and management team including their expatriates.
He expressed regret that within the period they were operational, they were faced with arrows of crisis from both the landlords and the youths who from time to time disrupt the activities of the company.
He said most of their managers who are foreigners had to leave the state to other plantations in Rivers State and other states in the country because of kidnapping and attacks.
Nyitni said that one of the issues in the lease agreement was payment of severance benefits of workers which ordinarily was not their responsibilities, stressing that they even paid some staff that were severed before the crises that led to abandonment of the place following an order by the labour union in the place.
He said that they had all it takes to turn the place around, adding that it was why the place was effectively booming before trouble started, and if they have continued till date, the place would have become more vibrant.
The former general manager of Palm Plantation, Mr. Don Okwu, said that he was surprised to hear that the plantation was no more functioning.
He stressed that the money to run the plantation without allocation from the government could be sourced from the plantation and regretted that it would be left to go moribund.
He said while he was there, government did not give him money for staff salary for two years but he was able to pay salaries of workers for 30 months.
According to him, in 2006, the mill was producing about 40,000 tons of fresh fruits. He said the plantation could be replicated in other parts of the state if the will is there.
Commenting on the situation, Governor Rochas Okorocha, though without visiting the plantation in the past five years, agreed that staff of the company are still being owed salaries amounting to N27m.
The governor, however, said he had asked the affected workers to do the right thing for them to get paid.