President Akufo-Addo has announced that the Komenda Sugar Factory will be commissioned this year.
Speaking after touring the Komenda Sugar Factory as part of his two-day tour of the Central Region, President Akufo-Addo stated, “The factory has been on my heart. It is left with a bit. Great works are going on there. The commissioning will come in a little while.”
To confirm the readiness of the factory to produce sugar for the whole country and export, the Former Director General of the State Interest and Governance Authority, Stephen Asamoah Boateng mentioned that works on the Komenda Sugar Factory was 95 percent completed.
He indicated that plans are in place to ensure raw materials are available to feed the factory.
He explained that the state in which they met the old factory has been changed to an ultramodern one, adding that the story of the factory must be told since it is a good one.
“These are very new machines. These are not the old ones we are continuing with… I am very happy that the NPP government led by Nana Akufo-Addo promised to deliver, and he has done it.”
The Factory that once was fool of life and a huge beneficiary to the nation in terms of producing sugar to reduce the rate at which the country imported sugar and also as a mean of creating more jobs for the people in the community, went out of business leaving it machines rusting and wearing out. Community members, including Ghanaians, have been calling on government for years to help keep the factory in shape to begin operations.
According to the President his desire is to commisison the factory to create the needed employment since the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government failed to revive the factory.
Background
The factory, established in 1964, was revamped in 2016 with a $35-million Indian Export-Import (EXIM) Bank loan facility and an additional $24 million to bolster the activities of sugarcane out growers.
Operations of the factory came to a halt owing to a plethora of challenges after being commissioned by former President John Dramani Mahama in May 2016.
The factory began to deteriorate until the Government, in November 2019, signed a partnership agreement with a Ghanaian-Indian company; Park Agrotech Ghana Limited, expected to pump some $28 million into the project to revive it.
Source: Daily guide
