Make the Komenda sugar factory work, do not sell it – Mahama tells the government

Sunday, April 14, 2019 Policy

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-04-14

The government's decision to sell the Komenda sugar plant to a new investor was reprimanded by former president John Mahama, under whose leadership the plant was built.

Mahama said the decision was inappropriate and that Ghanaians' interest would not be served if the Akufo-Addo government followed up on the plan.

"It is unacceptable to sell the factory. it's an investment the government has made. We can get the expertise and technology to make this factory work. Sugar is one of the products we import so much – almost $ 200 million a year – and if we produced some of that sugar here, we reduced the foreign exchange we had to import to import sugar.

"I urge the government to follow the path taken," he said in addressing the residents of Komenda during a tour in the central region.

The sugar refinery, built at a cost of $ 35 million from a facility of the Indian bank Exim Bank, was inaugurated by Mr. Mahama in May 2016, with great fanfare.

With a milling capacity of 1,250 tonnes of sugar cane per day, the plant is expected to change Ghana's dependence on sugar imports. In 2016, Ghana's annual sugar requirements were estimated at 375 000 tonnes.

The plant was also expected to generate energy for its production activities and produce by-products such as molbades for the liquor industry.

However, many problems, including the unreliable supply of sugar cane for continuous processing after the preliminary test, stifled the company's core business and led to its closure a few weeks after its inauguration.

In November 2017, the government launched processes to revive plant activities.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, told the Parliament that a $ 24.5 million credit facility of the Indian Exim Bank was being put in place. place to develop and implement a program of planting and cultivating subcontractors to provide raw materials at the factory.

The program provided for the cultivation of some 14,100 acres of sugarcane to feed the plant.

But delays in unlocking funds for growing sugar cane turned the plant into a white elephant, not producing sugar and making job seekers desperate and disappointed.

The trade minister has returned to Parliament, this time to announce the government's decision to sell the plant to a new strategic investor by the end of April.

This angered the minority who accused the government of deliberately undervaluing the factory so that it could be sold at a lower cost.

Mr. Mahama is also unhappy.

Undoing his claims that he also wanted to sell the plant, he said his government was only seeking to establish a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement to help the plant run smoothly.

"There was never a plan; As the former president under which this factory was built, I can say unequivocally that it has never been considered to sell it. There is still about 3,000 acres of land available for sugarcane planting for the plant.

"The loan from the Indian EXIM is still available, so the government has more than just to take that money and to implement the second phase of the project. Once done, this plant will work, "he added.