Trade Minister Pledges To Revamp Komenda Sugar Factory

The ban on foreign travels due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the processes of getting the Komenda Sugar Factory back to life, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has said.

The Factory has not been fully operational after it was commissioned by in 2016 by then-President John Mahama.

In June 2019, Cabinet approved Park Agrotech as the strategic investor to revive the factory after a technical audit by Price Waterhouse Coopers.

In response to a question in Parliament on Wednesday, June 3, 202, Alan Kyerematen said the investors will roll out comprehensive actions to revamp the factory in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“I wish to assure this august House that as soon as the restrictions on foreign travels arising from the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted and after all the necessary and relevant protocols and approvals have been secured, the technical partners of Park Agrotech will begin a comprehensive program of action to bring the Komenda Sugar Factory back to life. This will bring prosperity to the people of Komenda and its adjoining communities,” he remarked.

The Deputy Ranking Member on the Trade and Industry Committee of Parliament, Yusif Sulemana, last year, noted that the State will be shortchanged with the latest arrangements for the revamping of the Komenda Sugar Factory.

This was after Park Agrotech was named as the strategic investor in the project with a financial commitment of US$28 million over the next four years.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Sulemana, alleged that the government had deliberately devalued the factory.

In his view, the state had not maintained the factory well enough.

---citinewsroom