Government to establish Alumina Industry – Prez Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday announced that government would soon come out with a declaration on the establishment of an Alumina industry.

He said the establishment of the industry would not only add value to the production of bauxite for export, but would also create a number of job opportunities for teeming youth in the country.

President Mahama announced this when he addressed members of the Western Region House of Chiefs at Sekondi, as part of his three-day working visit of the Region.

The President had earlier on inspected major on-going projects in the region and addressed durbars at Adabokrom in the Bia East District and Enchi both in the western Region.

President Mahama said the transformation of the economy entailed the concentration on finished products than the conventional exportation of raw materials that had drained the resources of the country.

The President said the western region contributed tremendously to the Gross Domestic Product of the country on account of the numerous mineral and natural resources in the region.

He named some of the resources in the region as gold, bauxite, manganese and recently the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas that could become the bedrock of socio-economic development.

Before exploring those resources to the fullest potentials, President Mahama said government would work on all link roads to make them motorable to cart foodstuff and minerals to the commercial centres.

He said government would also revive the railways sector to facilitate the movement of goods to other cities and ease congestion in the road transport system.

The President said government would also dispatch a team to work on the release of the Chinese Development Bank loan to step up construction works in the energy sector and bring lasting solutions to the perennial electricity fluctuations in the country.

Dr Henry Seidu Danaa, Minister for Chieftaincy, Culture and Traditional Affairs said dialogue between traditional authorities and government were necessary to bring development to the masses.

Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX, appealed to government to construct roads in the area and support the fishing communities to step up their activities to attract international markets.