The Komenda sugar factory was taken over by reptiles and rodents. Komenda MP Edina Eguafo Abirem MP Samuel Atta Mills told Charles Akrofi about the maiden edition of the Hansard program on Class91.3FM.
The brother of the late President John Atta Mills expressed disappointment at the replies of Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen before Parliament on Thursday, July 22, 2021, regarding the delayed commissioning of the factory:, has no intention of moving the Komenda sugar factory into To put into operation. “
He explained, “I’m saying this because the minister gave us the answers and kept moving the goal post.”
“I don’t think they take care of the Komenda sugar factory,” he hinted, illustrating: “Look how much it has deteriorated since 2016? Didn’t you hear the same minister say when you came to power that the sugar factory never produced sugar? What happened during his second term review that he admitted they were producing sugar? My goodness! There is a big difference between day and night. “
He said the factory in his constituency was “now being invaded by snakes and rats”.
It was also at the mercy of the weather, he complained.
“Everything is open to the sky and things are just as we left them in 2016. Nothing was done, ”complained Mr. Mills.
“But do you know the sad part? This factory has the potential to directly and indirectly employ 7,500 people, ”he noted.
In his opinion, the Akufo-Addo government has made a policy of the factory.
“It’s sad that we try to make politics on things like this. But guess what? They brought the same president into my constituency to break the ground for a One District-One Factory Company that makes pure water. At that time the company had 25 employees. You are leaving a factory with 7,500 jobs just to break the ground for a factory that employs over 25 people. “
What Mr Alan Kyerematen said to Parliament
On Thursday July 22, 2021, Mr Kyerematen announced to Parliament that the factory would be operational before the end of 2021.
“I have hired the transaction advisor to ensure that the condition precedent of the concession agreement and the timetable for the opening of the plant are finalized by the end of August 2021 so that operations can begin before the end of the year,” said Mr. Kyerematen.
Park Agrotech Ghana Limited, a Ghanaian-Indian company, is the new investor to run the factory.
The Ghana-based company is a subsidiary of the Skylark Group of Companies of India, one of the largest integrated farming companies in India.
A few weeks ago a group, Affected Citizens of the traditional Komenda area, wrote to the police about their intention to march in connection with what they believed to be the abandoned Komenda sugar factory in the central region.
The group planned their march for Tuesday, July 6, 2021 but later abandoned the move.
Alleged sale of the factory
In 2019, former President John Mahama described Akufo-Addo government’s plans to sell the Komenda sugar factory for a private interest as “unacceptable” and also denied allegations that as president he had planned to sell the factory.
“It is unacceptable to sell the factory; This is a government investment, ”said Mahama, adding,“ We can get the know-how and technology to make this factory work ”.
Mr. Mahama argued, “Sugar is one of the products we import a lot – nearly $ 200 million a year – so if we produce some of that sugar here, it reduces the foreign exchange we put out to import sugar have to.”
“I urge the government to follow the path we have chosen,” he said to the residents of Komenda during a tour of the central region at the weekend.
Mr Mahama’s concerns were linked to those of Mr Mills, who on Friday, April 12, 2019, expressed his anger over the Akufo government’s devaluation of the $ 35 million factory to a $ 12 million facility -Addo expressed.
The factory, which was built by an Indian Exim bank for $ 35 million, was rebuilt and inaugurated by the former Mahama government in 2016 and closed in June of that year and has been idle ever since.
It has the capacity to shred 1,250 tons of sugar cane per day.
The Akufo-Addo government cited a number of reasons for the factory shutdown, including an improper implementation plan and insufficient raw materials to supply the factory.
However, the late President Mills’ brother wondered at the time how the factory’s value could fall by $ 23 million in a year, given that it was planned to be handed over to the strategic investor by the end of April 2019.
According to Mr. Mills, the Auditor-General and the Special Prosecutor needed to investigate the matter.
“We can’t sit down for these things to happen. If someone stole two goats and a chicken, we all know how many years that person will get [in jail]but I base my conclusion on this: if it is true that it was valued at $ 12 million, we must be very worried in this country, ”he said.
“Why should it always be about making riches illegally?” asked he.
In November 2017, the government began measures to revitalize the factory.
Mr Kyerematen told Parliament at the time that a $ 24.5 million loan facility from India’s Exim Bank should be secured to develop and implement a plantation and outgrower program to provide raw materials for the factory.
It was supposed to grow around 14,100 hectares of sugar cane to feed the plant, but that never happened, which resulted in Mr Kyerematen returning to Parliament to announce the government’s plans to move the factory to a new one by the end of the year strategic investor to hand over April this year.
Mr Kyerematen informed Parliament on April 4, 2019 that the shutdown of the factory was due to technical and financial challenges.
In response to questions from Mr Atta Mills, Mr Kyerematen said that when he took office a technical review of the facility was carried out which, among other things, found that the soil was not favorable for the production of high quality sugar cane, and added that the government was taking steps to attract a new investor and expects a decision to be made by April this year.
In addition, he stated: “A test run was never completed before the factory was commissioned because there was not enough sugar cane available”.
According to him, when the factory was inaugurated by the previous government, it was “unable to produce the necessary refined white sugar due to the lack of some processing components” that were “not fully installed during the test run”.
He said: “Around 35 items were not yet installed when commissioning, although they are crucial for the production of sulfur-free white sugar”.
In addition, he found that the land area available for sugar cane cultivation is well below the 6,000 hectares required to supply sugar cane to operate the factory at full capacity.
He emphasized: “There was no out-grower program for smallholders to support a nucleus plantation for the factory”.
It is worth remembering that the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government took out around GHS 35 million to rebuild the Komenda sugar factory.
However, the minister noted that a decision has been made not to trigger the loan until all challenges have been resolved. However, the minister did not provide figures on the cost to the nation of the delay in activating the loan.
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