Ghana’s yet to be constructed largest sugar producing factory is speculated to produce about 60,000 tonnes of sugar for export and domestic use on completion.
The building of Ghana’s largest sugar-producing factory is set to commence with the project financiers – the Chinese, set to kick start the project, which will be around the Bui dam enclave in the Banda District of the Bono Region.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bui Power Authority (BPA), Mr. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, together with the managers of the Bui Dam Hydro Power Generation Station (BGS) said the Authority had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese investors to build the factory.
According to Mr. Dzamesi, the actual construction work on the factory will commence in June this year, 2023 and completed in the following year, 2024. To this end, the Authority released about 13,000 acres of land to the Bui Sugar Limited, the investors’ company at Fawoman in the district, Mr. Dzamesi added.
The BPA CEO further noted that the company had already planted about 250 hectares of sugarcane to provide raw materials to feed the factory.
While leading Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister around the project site at Fawoman, as part of the Minister’s two-day working visit to the Bui Dam site, Mr. Dzamesi noted that; “in fact, under the MoU, the BPA is an equity holder”.
Madam Owusu-Banahene’s visit was to get herself acclimatized with the operations of the 400 megawatts hydro-electric power generation dam. She was accompanied by some members of the Bono Regional Security Council as well as some Municipal and District Chief Executives in the region with the purpose of the visit.
In his interactions with the visitors, Mr. Dzamesi noted that the project has created jobs for about 500 people in the area, while even more confident the completion of the factory will add to the statistics of employed people, creating more than 5,000 indirect jobs for the local people.
Describing the project as another great national asset, which would open up the area for rapid economic growth, Mr. Dzamesi expressed appreciation to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Banda District Assembly and the local people for their immense support and cooperation, which according to him, paved way for the construction to begin.
He therefore thanked the traditional authorities in the area for their massive support and cooperation.
On his part, Mr. Wet Hua, Managing Director of Bui Sugar Limited, opined that ploughing is still ongoing for the company to cultivate more sugarcane to feed the factory.
According to him, the project also constructed a dam and was building irrigation facilities to improve water supply and expand the sugarcane plantation. Mr. Hua further lauded the relationship between the company and the BPA and the local people and expressed hope it would be strengthened for mutual benefit.
The visiting Regional Minister, Madam Owusu-Banahene said she was highly impressed about the project, thus, encouraged the company to endeavor to employ more of the locals, adding; that would put a sense of ownership in the minds of the local people.
She said culture and tradition reflected the identity of the people and, urged the Chinese workers to respect the culture and dignity of the locals to make their stay happy and comfortable in the enclave.
Sugar producing factory to increase revenue mobilization in Banda
Mr. Emmanuel Akoneh, the Banda District Chief Executive (DCE), said the area was among the poorest revenue generation districts in the country, saying the factory would, help to improve on its revenue mobilization.
Pointing out some challenges confronting the District, Mr. Akoneh mentioned perennial bushfires and influx of nomadic Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.
The Banda DCE bemoaned the unscrupulous activities of the nomads, who left their animals to graze, and as a result, destroyed people’s farms and crops, threatening the security of the district. He therefore stressed on the need to tackle it in a more proactive manner.
Mr. Akonneh also called on the traditional authorities and all stakeholders in the district to support the Assembly to strictly enforce the anti-bushfire bye-laws to tame the recurring fire outbreaks which had become an annual ritual in the area.
