We can’t allow Komenda Sugar Factory to rot away - Former Board Secretary

A former secretary and member of the Board for the Komenda Sugar Factory, Ransford Chatman Vanni-Amoah, has expressed pain at the inability of the factory to begin commercial operations.

In an interview with Kwabena Agyapong on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said the way and manner the factory is rotting away, is unfortunate, a situation he blamed on party politics.

He said, management prepared for production to start on November 29th, 2017 but the Minister of Trade directed that we hold on with commercial production until the 2016 polls ends.

However, a new government took over but all the preparations for commercial production to start had been done by the previous management.

He urged the current administration to revive the factory and prevent it from rotting away. He also asked the current government to put aside the political colourization and rather focus on how best we can make the factory work so the unemployed youth would have something to do.

The $35 million factory built with an Indian Exim Bank facility has been left dormant in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem municipality of the Central Region despite the fact that it was opened for use by the Mahama administration in May 2016, ahead of the December elections in that year.

He also slammed Ahomka-Lindsay Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and Kwame Duncan, the Central regional minister for peddling falsehood about the factory and any claims by the government that, the previous failed to initiative due process are all false.

He said, the regional minister should rather find ways to make the factory work instead of criticizing it.

Mr. Vanni-Amoah noted that the factory went through a series of test runs between May 30 and June 30, 2016, to enable the machines to be tested and for operational staff to understand operations of the sugar processing plant.

He also maintained that due to the excellent contract delivery by Perrilines Limited, the Seftech Management recommended to the Management of the Komenda Sugar Development Company Limited and a Five (5) year contract was signed between the factory and Perrilines Limited.

He stressed, ‘’it would better to employ only NPP members to work at the factory than to allow the factory to rot away.’’