Komenda sugar factory is now the topic of discussion in the country, since formal president John Mahama on an interview said He wasnt folish in put up the factory with raw material.
In a reply today, from the current and incumbent president Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo in his central regional Tour which begins today, have also on an interview with Eagle FM in Cape Coast Today reply the formal president.
“It is like building a house, and say you are going to start from the roof, before you have a foundation. How does the house get built? You going to start from the roof, when you haven’t built the foundation?” President Akufo-Addo asked.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “You would think that every industrial activity would begin with, first of all, what you want to do, what you want to produce. Once you identify that, then clearly, your next step has to be what are the inputs, what are the things that you need to be able to feed into your factory, to get to your outputs and you are therefore to be satisfied when you start producing your production, those inputs are there.
”But this, he said, is not John Mahama’s way of doing things, as “he will rather build the roof, once the roof has been built then he will come down and then build the foundation. You know that a house built on that principle will collapse, just as Komenda collapsed.”
Ghana’s veteran Journalist Abdul Malik Baako, on his verge to expose out the inequality in the operation of the Komenda Suagarar Factory
read below.
The Nursery Development Processes
Excerpts Of Executive Summary Of Technical Audit Report Commissioned By The Ministry Of Trade & Industry In September 2017 & Dated 10th October, 2017(Part Two).
” The total fenced area earmarked for the nursery development is 63.4 Ha (158 acres) .
The Cropped area is 49.9 Ha and out of this, 0.5.Ha is SALINE. The remaining land area is covered by the roads in the nursery. Some of the plants showed stunted growth and empty patches.
There was a wide variation in the height of sugarcane on the same plot. The empty spaces were not filled thus reducing the expected plant population per hectare.
However, other parts of the nursery showed strong and vigorous growth. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT NONE OF THE SUGARCANES IN THE PLOTS CAN BE PLANTED AS CANE THIS YEAR SINCE THE PLANTING DATE (MAY-JUNE-JULY) IS ALREADY PAST.
“About 97% (48.8Ha) of the cropped area is composed of the B41227 variety which is prevalent in the Komenda area.
INVESTIGATIONS SHOW THAT NO VARIETY SELECTION WAS CONDUCTED SINCE A PERIOD OF 7-8 MONTHS WAS GIVEN AS THE DURATION FOR THE NURSERY OPERATION WHICH WAS NOT ENOUGH FOR PROPER CROP SELECTION.
Brix levels which were taken at the time of the study, the B41227 variety was 17.5% whiles, CO2014-001, CO86032, KI, K2 had brix levels of 22.5% , 19.1%, 21.8%, 21.6%, respectively.
Fertilizer Application And Training of Farmer
“The main fertilizers being applied in the nursery are compound fertilizer NPK 15-15-15 and Urea (42% N).
GENERALLY, THE SOIL FERTILITY STATUS OF THE LAND IS NOT GOOD SO BOTH ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZER APPLICATOON WOULD BE NEEDED TO IMPROVE YIELDS.
“THERE WAS NO OUT-GROWER SCHEME IN PLACE AND HENCE NO TRAINING OF FARMERS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AS STIPULATED IN THE CONTRACT.
ALSO THE LOCAL GHANAIAN STAFF ATTACHED TO THE NURSERY HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED AS STATED IN THE CONTRACT.
“ALL FARM EQUIPMENT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO IRRIGATION SYSTEM IN PLACE AS REQUIRED BY THE CONTRACT DOCUMENT.(See Table 1 in 6.0 below).
“There is hot water cane treatment plant provided by SEFTECH but electricity supply as stated in the contract, was yet to be provided. No farm shed has been provided as per the contract.
There is urgent need to erect a shed to cover the equipment and to stop them from deteriorating. Barbed wire fencing has been provided as stated in the contract”.
PS: Please stay tuned for more factual records on the Komenda Sugar Factory saga from multiple sources and varied perspectives.
