Mr Enoch .T. Mensah, acting Minister of Food and Agriculture has given warned Landing Beach Committee members in charge of premix fuel, whom he said some have turned themselves into desk despots, to render account of their stewardship or face the law.
He said some of the Committees that were supposed to collect and keep revenues from the sale of the premix fuel supply to the landing beaches, have mismanaged and looted the resources to the detriment of their communities.
Speaking during a tour of the some of the landing beaches at Tema and Prampram on Thursday in the Greater Region, Mr Mensah, therefore, directed District and Municipal Chief Executives to audit the accounts of the Landing Beach Committees and submit reports within seven days.
He said government would not gloss over the matter but would ensure that any person found to have "touch" the communities' monies were brought
to book.
"Government is serious about the issue and will not compromise or condone any wrong doing," Mr Mensah, who is the Minister of Employment and
Social Welfare, said.
At Tema, the Minister raised a number a number of issues on the distribution and sale of premix such as connivance between premix fuel
lifters and Committee members and indicated that such acts did not augur well for the good intensions of the Mills' government.
"If everybody is doing his or her work well, party youth or people at the grassroots will not have a cause to stage demonstration against anybody that is placed in an office," he said.
He also directed the district assemblies to set up monitoring teams for the Landing Beach Committees who would ensure that the distribution, sale and use of the revenues from the premix were properly done.
"People are 'eating' the monies and we have to identify and exposed them among us so that the law will deal with them," Mr Mensah said.
Reports gathered by the Ghana News Agency during a similar tour at Chorkor landing beach showed mismanagement of the revenue by the Landing Beach Committees that were formed June in 2009.
Allegations reported include gross looting of the proceeds either by Committee members or in connivance with premix lifters and under supply of the premix at the beaches.
Meanwhile, Nii Adjieteh Mator, the Chief Fisherman at the Tema Harbour said contrary to remours of allegation of corruption, the Tema Landing Beach Committee had far exceeded the revenue target from the sale of the premix.
He said so far the Committee had realised over GH¢50,000 in its account and were currently planning to spend the revenue on development projects.
One major option, he said they were considering was the purchase of a tanker truck that would supply them the premix in order to remove all forms of corruption through connivance between premix lifters and Committee members.