The Minority Caucus in Parliament has rebutted assertions made by Mr. Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Minister for Works and Housing, regarding the delay in operationalizing the Komenda Sugar Factory in the Central Region. In a statement endorsed by Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader in Parliament, and distributed to the Ghana News Agency in Takoradi, the Minority refuted claims that they were responsible for the factory's non-operation.
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah allegedly attributed the delay to the Minority's opposition to specific tax waivers before Parliament. However, the Minority emphasized that there were no current requests for tax waivers pertaining to the Komenda Sugar Factory. They pointed out that the Finance Committee of Parliament had pending applications for tax waivers amounting to over GHS5.5 billion but none related to the factory, according to the statement.
The Minority asserted that the blame for the factory's stagnation should be placed on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP administration. They highlighted that the factory was refurbished in 2016 by the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, utilizing a $35 million Indian Export-Import (EXIM) Bank facility, with an additional $24 million secured to support sugar cane out-growers.
The statement underscored the factory's potential to generate employment, with expectations of creating over 7000 jobs and significantly reducing Ghana's sugar importation. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had pledged during a 2021 visit to open the factory by March 2022. However, subsequent promises by the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyeremanteng, during a 2022 visit, failed to materialize, the statement lamented.
