MP interacts with staff of Tomato factory

Mr. John Akolgo Tia, Member of Parliament for Talensi has paid a visit to the Northern Star Tomato Factory (NSTR) at Pwalugu, in the Upper East Region to ascertain the situation at the factory after the rains and the opening of the Bagre Dam.

Mr. Tia said his visit during the weekend followed media reports of recent heavy rains and flooding of the premises of the factory, which he said conveyed a frightening situation.

He indicated that heavy rains around this time of the year was a surprise and added that it superseded floods experienced in 2007.

Mr Samuel Adu, Accounts Officer of NSTC, who briefed the MP and his entourage, said the water entered the factory through the waste gutters.

He said the staffs were quick to switch off electricity supply to the factory to avert other dangers of electrocution, saying that, the Volta River Authority (VRA) had confirmed there was safety at the factory.

Asked what measures had been put in place to prevent such re-occurrence in future, Mr Adu said sand bags had been placed at all entry points to help reduce the amount of water that gushed into the premises.

Answering questions on why the factory was not producing, Mr Adu responded that the factory lacked vacuum pumps to facilitate the process of canning the tomato puree, which was stored in over 350 drums.

To forestall problems encountered and to address continuous supply of the raw material, Mr Adu said meetings were being held with tomato farmers in the region to ensure smooth business transactions throughout the year.

He appealed to government to help the farmers with improved seed supply to address the supply of quality produce.

Earlier, the MP visited an area near the White Volta, where maize and millet farms had been submerged in water.

The river overflowed its banks into communities in Pwalugu, Namengyala yinduri, Tulaa, Pingu and Datoku.

At Namengyala Community, the MP interacted with Mr David Dakabela, a seasoned farmer whose farms were affected by the floods.