Investment in Komenda sugar industry: CPP demands better particulars
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The youth of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has called on the Minister of Trade and Industries, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, to make full disclosure of the US$35 million Indian government loan to build a new sugar processing plant at Komenda in the Central Region to revive the sugar industry in the area.
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A statement issued in Accra by the party emphasised that “the youth of the CPP demand proper and better particulars of this investment for our further action and intervention on the policy direction of this important and strategic investment.’’
The statement was signed by Messrs Kadri Rauf and Ernesto Yeboah, the National Youth Organiser and the Deputy National Youth Organiser of the party respectively.
According to the youth of the CPP, the type of loan would give the tax-payer, who bears the repayment responsibility, an informed opportunity to evaluate the economic and financial benefits in the utilisation of the loan.
The statement stressed that the full disclosure of the type of loan that was secured by the government - whether it is commercial, concessionary, tied and whether the repayment terms, interest rate and the repayment period would be beneficial to the ordinary Ghanaian - were issues that needed to be known fully.
It also urged the minister to disclose the manner in which the contractor for the project was selected and further demanded to know who would own, manage and operate the investment?
The youth cited a report in the Daily Graphic of September 6, 2013 which stated that the government had "secured a US$35 million Indian government loan to build a new sugar processing plant at Komenda in the Central Region to revive the sugar industry in the area"
According to the same report "another US$24 million loan had been secured for irrigation for the cultivation of sugar cane on the 1500 acre land while a US$1 million local component had been released by the government for the project."
The Minister of Trade and Industries, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who was quoted by the Daily Graphic report, said the project would be constructed by SEFTECH India PVT Limited, a Mumbai-based Indian company".
