He says, there has been a renewed commitment on the part of the Akufo-Addo administration to revive the defunct factory and that is worth commending.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that the Komenda Sugar Factory will be fully operationalized in April 2022 following some civil works currently ongoing at the factory site.

The President promised that, by the end of March, all those activities will be completed to pave way for production.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Ransford Vanni-Amoah hailed the decision by the government.

“I have listened to the President and I will say that it is welcoming news. This is what we have been advocating for, that this factory should not be allowed to rot away. Now that they have listened to us, and they want to revive it, it is in the right direction. It is better late than never because what they are doing now, should have been done long ago.”

“I have been to the factory and I have seen that they are doing some paintings to the part that is rusting away, and they are correcting the defects. I believe that they could start operation in April, as the President has said. I don’t doubt it at all”, he added.

But Vanni-Amoah was quick to ask if enough provisions have been made for easy sourcing of raw materials.

“The question that we need to ask is are they going to depend on the existing out-growers, as we planned in the short term that the out-growers within the catchment area are going to supply the sugarcane to be used for the production. This government accused the previous government of planning without raw materials. So have they grown sugar cane now? That is the question we need to ask.”

The Komenda Sugar Factory was built at a cost of $35 million from an Indian EXIM Bank facility.

It was inaugurated by then-President John Mahama in May 2016, but stopped operations no long after.

The factory is expected to employ 7,300 people along the value chain, boosting employment prospects in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem municipality.