Prioritise salt production - Government told

Adams Mensahhe, Public Relations Officer of a salt production firm, Seven Seas Salt Limited, in Adina within the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region, has asked the government to invest in salt mining.

According to him, salt as a mineral has the potential of producing other chemicals such as soda ash, caustic soda, sodium chlorine, chlorine, hence the need to “take time to develop the salt sector”.

Speaking during a press engagement on Thursday, 21 January 2021 as part of the factory’s activities to educate the public on the importance of prioritising local businesses, he said there’s a need to identify the importance of salt.

“As a country, we do not identify the importance of salt, we need the right policy that can propel salt to take its rightful position. We have reached a stage where as a country, we need to turn to salt so that we can derive a lot of benefit from it” because “salt can give you so many things. If we are talking about cement without gypsum component there is no cement, but gypsum is a product from salt so let’s put salt at its rightful position so that as a country, we can get up”.

He lamented that mining salt with local processes will not encourage the production of other components from it therefore there is a need to review salt mining.

“Salt is the basis, this is what our people need to understand that we have an important mineral which we need to tap but by way of this local mining it can’t take us anywhere” adding that “if we can harness our salt very well, we can get the caustic soda plant, if we can do it very well, we can get soda ash, and soda ash is useful for the production of these PVC pipes and others”.

Mr. Adams, however, advised residents of Adina, and its environs where the factory is located to cooperate with the firm in other to benefit from the factory.

“There are a lot of benefits that they can get, as for social cooperate responsibilities, we’ve not even started yet, they have a lot to benefit from the company and if they cooperate and we are making a meaningful profit, part of that profit will be a channel to the social corporate responsibilities."

He then emphasised that “government alone cannot do it, cooperate bodies like us need to come in and we need their (residents) assistance.”

The company is licensed under the Ghana Minerals Commission, with three concessions located in the Ketu South area and these are; Adina Concession, comprising of Adina, Amutinu, Salakakope, Agbevekope, and Kpedzakope; Agavedzi-Blekusu Concession.

Agavedzi, Blekusu, Dogbekope, Sonuto, Taskcorner, Tsavanya and, White D’Or Concession whilst the third, Hedzranawo, Adafienu, Tetekope and Agorkor are yet to be developed.