The General Manager of Arul Trading Sierra Leone Limited Hon. Jolly-Boy Lavalie of Constituency 82 Moyamba District has said that his company expects about 50,000 bags of milled rice from this year’s harvest.
Arul is cultivating 1,325 acres of rice on a seven miles long and six miles wide land in Gbonje Village in the Kori Chiefdom, with a planned increase of the cultivated area to 1,600 acres for the next planting season. This includes 200 acres of Nerica rice.
Speaking to Awoko in his base in Taiama, Hon. Jolly-Boy Lavalie who is the general manager of Arul Trading Sierra Leone said that the company has employed 100 casual workers, 31 field officers with 87 holiday workers to work on the farm.
He explained that the land they are cultivating has been lying fallow for the past thirty to forty years and it was bought with the consent of the Paramount Chief and the Chiefdom people for Le 250million.
Out of the 1,325 acres acquired the MD disclosed that the company has also given out 325 acres to local farmers in Taiama along with seedling support. Apart from the 1,325 acres Arul also have another 115 acre land along the Taiama to Bo highway.
Explaining how Arul came about, he said he went on a visit to England and while there he met Mr. and Mrs. Sylvanus Davies whom he persuaded to swap tourism for farming. He said when the Davies’ visited the proposed site, they were convinced they should swap tourism for farming.
Lavalie says Le 25million is spent every month since operations started in March this year and that the whole project costs Le 5billion. Presently the three tractors being utilized by the company were bought in Pakistan for $11,000 each (totaling $33,000) and there are plans he said to increase the number to ten for the next planting season. Hon. Lavalie disclosed that the whole venture is being made possible through a Rokel Commercial Bank loan of $700,000.
At the farm, construction work is on-going for the storage facility, milling center and staff quarters. There are also four Honda bikes and a 25kva generator.
One of the beneficiaries of Arul, Haja Fatmata Mansaray said she was allocated with a 2 acre land and with seedlings and the use of tractors from Arul. She further said they as farmers only receive assistance from the private company.
By Ishmael Bayoh and Poindexter Sama