The Komenda Sugar Factory has been closed down for maintenance six months, two days after it was commissioned by President John Mahama.
In an interview with Joy News, Ricketts Hagan, Central Regional Minister explained that in order for the plant to operate properly, there are certain steps that must be followed and the closure for maintenance is just one.
“The plant will be in the production phase from October – November to May-June then the maintenance cycle will be between May-June until October again when the production starts.
“The plant has a maintenance cycle where a lot of things like cleaning up will be done. One of the things we’ve not been good at in this country and it is not surprising that we have run down all the factories that were built during Nkrumah days”.
He said the commissioning of the plant therefore coincided with the time it was supposed to be maintained, hence the need for it to be closed.
President John Mahama on Monday May 30, 2016 re-commissioned the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region.
The factory, which was established decades ago by the first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was left to deteriorate after it run into some technical and operational challenges.
The factory, according to government, is expected to create over 7000 jobs.
However, the newly commissioned factory according to the Regional Minister has been closed down for maintenance and other issues to be addressed just 48 hours after the re-commissioning.
Source: myjoyonline