The Ministry of Agriculture has launched an investigation into allegations of fraud involving the distribution of the government’s cash grants to flood-affected farmers.
Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha called for the probe after receiving scores of reports that there were persons who received the financial assistance and others who are listed to receive the financial assistance although they were not affected by the floods.
There have been reports of padded lists and poor verification of claims. Minister Mustapha said the issue must be fully investigated.
“When this process commenced, I made it very clear that anyone found guilty of malpractices or “padding the list” so to speak would be dealt with. We also made an appeal to farmers to be honest because this is taxpayers’ monies we are dealing with and we cannot be reckless but it seems as though persons didn’t heed our warning and now we have to take a step back to carry out an investigation to see if there is any truth to these allegations”, the Agriculture Minister said.
Hundreds of farmers have already received millions of dollars in flood-relief aid and from the onset of the distribution exercise, complaints arose about padded lists and unaffected farmers making claims and benefiting from the relief.
“When people are dishonest and we have these things occurring, we have to go back and correct them. Because of these claims, we have to review and redo some areas which are resulting in delays in the entire process but we have to ensure things are done the right way,” Minister Mustapha said.
The Agriculture Ministry started the flood-relief distribution for farmers in Regions Five, Six, and Ten. This weekend, farmers in the Region Two communities are expected to receive their relief.
The Agriculture Minister said there must be proper accountability in the distribution of the relief money and he welcomes any information that will aid in the investigations.
Back in July, President Irfaan Ali announced more than $3 Billion in financial aid to assist farmers across the country who were badly affected by the heavy rains and flooding.
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