Former Trade Minister Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah has waded into the controversy surrounding the Komenda Sugar Factory calling on the NPP government not to abandon the company.
The factory which was commissioned under former John Mahama has not been working since May 2016.
The Central regional minister Kwamena Duncan has described the factory as an albatross around the neck of the new government due to the poor implementation of the project under the erstwhile NDC administration.
The factory, he explained, was not well thought out as the previous government did not put in place concrete measures in getting the necessary raw materials for the sugar factory to run .
Speaking to Starr News in an interview, Mr. Spio-Gabrah who is aiming to lead the NDC in the 2020 elections, appealed to the government not to let the factory “rot” simply because it was not started under them.
The government, he explained, should adopt the factory into its flagship one-district-one-factory policy to make it viable not only in reducing the country’s sugar importation of $24 million annually, but to also create job avenues for the people in the area.
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.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour