THE Ghana Food Distribution Corporation owes financial institutions and other allied organisations a total of over ?13 billion.

Retailers and staff of the corporation also owe it ?3 billion. Some of the debts are between five and 10 years old. Others could be classified as bad debts.

Dr Kwabena Adjei, Minister of Food and Agriculture who made this known in Accra yesterday said the corporation is on the verge of bankruptcy.

The minister, painted this sordid picture of the corporation when he inaugurated a six-member committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the inability of the corporation to meet its mandate of providing a ready, regular and stable market for producers and farmers as an incentive for them to produce more food.

It was also to buy and distribute locally produced foodstuff and make them available to Ghanaians at reasonable prices all-year round.

He attributed the indebtedness to mainly financial mismanagement, poor calibre of staff, incompetence and corruption.

He said added to the difficulties of the GFDC, were persistent labour disturbances resulting from the inability of the corporation to pay its workers the periodic increases in wages announced by government over the past five years.

Dr Adjei said the committee has four weeks to submit its report on appropriate recommendations on specific and pragmatic steps that must be taken in the short, medium and long terms to strengthen the GFDC to be able to carry out its mandate.

He said the Ministry is about to initiate an Accelerated Agricultural Sector Growth and Development Programme, under which agricultural growth is expected to increase between four to six per cent.The Minister said under the programme, considerable increases in production of local staples, especially cereals and legumes, are envisaged.

He underlined that the GFDC will have to play a lead and critical role if the aim of the programme is to be achieved.

The Committee is chaired by Mr Collins Dauda, Member of Parliament for Asutifi South and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Forestry.

Other members are Mr Victor H. Asante, Senior Manager(Operations) of the Ghana National Procurement Agency; Mr Felix Biga, Principal Consultant, FYB Commercial and Financial Services Ltd; Mr S. Takyi Asiedu, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana; Lt. Col Cephas Yeguo, Supplies Department, Ministry of

Defence and Mr Henry Wood, Assistant Director of the Agriculture Ministry.Mr Dauda in response, said the committee will discharge its functions with firmness and expressed the hope that the board of governors, and staff of the corporation and the general public will cooperate with it to enable it come out with workable recommendations for the good of the country.