Investigations by TV3 have revealed that the canned fish with the brand name ‘Asahi’ intercepted by the police from the Mile 7 District on Tuesday, is not a registered product and was not originally meant to be consumed in Ghana.
The Food and Drugs Authority has been investigating the circumstances under which the product was imported and cleared from the port.
But TV3’s Peter Quao Adattor who has been following the story reports that the product packed in four 20-footer containers was earmarked for the Togo market.
It is however curious how the product was intercepted at Ofankor in Accra several miles away from the Togo direction as it left the Tema port with two containers already emptied.
Checks by Peter again revealed that the two emptied containers and two others might have arrived in Kumasi already with products named ‘so nice mackerel.
In TV3’s determination to unravel the mystery surrounding the containers of unwholesome sardines, it was discovered that the total containers involved were actually six, two more than the four we encountered at Ofankor two different products, Asahi and So Nice mackerels.
3news.com on Wednesday broke the story on the unwholesome sardines. Read more
Further investigations revealed that the product was imported by a general merchant operating under the company name, Dokyisco Ventures, owned by one Kofi Dokyi.
Peter Adattor’s checks at the Tema port revealed that the containers containing the mackerel arrived at the port about a month ago and were moved from there only on Tuesday, October 3.
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority could not inspect or taxed the product because it was supposed to be transiting to neighbouring Togo, whose authorities have control over the product.
It is however the responsibility of the Ghana Community Network Services Ltd (GCNET) to track such items and ensure that transit goods end up at the final destination.
It is also not clear the monitoring role played by GCNET with regards to the mackerel and why the importer, who has been given a police inquiry bail, failed to send the containers straight to Togo.
Our sources have also expressed dismay over why the GCNET automatic tracking systems could not detect that the goods were diverted from its original route, by dodging the Aflao road at the Tema motorway roundabout and ended up in Ofankor.
Read also: FDA investigates how rotten ‘Asahi’ mackerel entered Ghana
Source: 3news.com | Ghana