Yussif Sulemana, the Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi, has launched a scathing accusation against the government, claiming they caused a significant financial loss to the state.
The MP alleges that the government imported semi-processed sugar, overlooking an approved $24 million budget in 2016 for cultivating sugarcane to provide raw materials for the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region.
Shockingly, the approved funds were never utilized, leaving the factory idle and defunct. Addressing the media after the Minister for Trade and Industry, KT Hammond, faced questions about the factory in Parliament, Sulemana emphasized that the government’s inaction has deprived young people of potential job opportunities.
“Today, you are importing semi-processed sugar. Isn’t that a loss for us? Parliament approved the facility and asked that you should draw down the funds. You arrogantly refused to draw down the money. Today, we are unable to give the needed resources for the farmers to be able to cultivate the sugarcane.”
“So, what you are now doing is to import semi-processed sugar. What you are doing is denying the people a source of livelihood. What you are doing is that you are denying people the needed jobs that we had wanted to create for them,” he added.
Background
In May 2022, the Board of the Komenda Sugar Factory announced that it will import raw sugar to support what will be produced locally in order to operationalize the Komenda Sugar Factory.
Tis comes after President Akufo-Addo assured the chiefs and people of Komenda that the factory would be operational in April 2022.
In an interview on JoyNews Tracker, Solomon Ebo Appiah, the Board Member and Municipal Chief Executive for the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Municipality, unveiled the strategy for the revival of the Komenda Sugar Factory.
The ambitious plan entails importing raw sugar in a non-consumable state to complement the output of local farmers.
“We are doing something differently from what the erstwhile administration did. We are importing raw sugar that is not in a consumable state to support what the local farmers will produce to run the factory,” he indicated.
