Plant for starch under PSI to be built at Obuasi

A three-million dollar starch processing plant under the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on cassava is to be built at Obuasi, Mr Dominic Yeboah, Adansi East District Chief Executive, announced at Bodwesango on Friday.

Mr Yeboah, who announced this at the launching of the PSI, said the plant, which would produce about 20,000 tonnes of industrial starch for export, would be managed by a company - the Sika Starch Company.

The company, he said, would be owned by about 2,500 farmers from six districts- Assin, Upper Denkyira, Adansi East and West and Amanaise East and West.

The DCE said the project would bring to five the number of job opening projects for the unemployed youth in the district and that already the mass cocoa spraying project, gari processing for women farmers, the root and tuber improvement project and the President's afforestation programme have been put in place.

Mr Yeboah disclosed that the assembly had earmarked about 60 million cedis for poverty alleviation from which the youth, who would be committed to go into the cassava project could be given the necessary assistannce.

He explained that the request to farmers to be committed to the project was not meant to put undue burden on them but was meant to create a sense of ownership to ensure honesty and the prudent management of the project.

The DCE therefore, implored cassava farmers to demonstrate absolute commitment to the successful implementation of the project.

Mr Osei Owusu Agyemang, National Co-ordinator of the project, told the farmers that since the plant would need large tonnage of cassava to be able to operate fully and successfully, they needed to cultivate large hectares of the crop.

He debunked the notion that the cassava produced under the initiative was not edible and appealed to the unemployed youth roaming the cities and urban centres to return to their localities and go into the cultivation of cassava for the project.

Nana Adu Amponti-Dwaah II, Krontihene of Adansi-Bodwesango, who chaired the function, expressed the appreciation of the chief, elders and people to the assembly for launching the initiative in the town.

He encouraged those who had started the cultivation of cassava towards the project to continue and asked those who had not started to go into the cultivation of cassava to feed the plant when constructed.