Government is ready to assist in reviving the defunct Kumasi Jute Factory because of its potential to create employment and impact positively on cocoa production and the economy as a whole, Chairman of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), has stated.
Hackman Owusu Agyemang says Cocobod is poised to assist any entity, particularly a local company, which has genuine intention to bring back to life the jute sacks manufacturing company that ceased operation in 1991 under the management of the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC).
Addressing the media after a tour of the facility at Ahinsan – an industrial town in Kumasi – to inspect on-going revamping works spearheaded by the Kumasi Jute Mills Company, the Cocobod chairman indicated that the collapse of the sack-producing factory cost the nation a fortune, with negative effects on the economy.
Mr. Owusu Agyemang was accompanied by other members of the board. They were conducted round by the Managing Director of Kumasi Jute Mills Company Limited, Alakesh Karmakar.
The Kumasi Jute factory was established in 1960 as part of the government’s industrialization drive shortly after independence, giving a direct employment to about 2,000 people in Kumasi then.
Mr. Owusu Agyemang noted that the factory, when revived, would boost Ghana’s foreign exchange earnings and the cocoa sub-sector because the demise of it compelled the country to rely on other nations for the jute sacks at the expense of the local economy.
Mr. Alakesh Karmakar said the company needs full cooperation and assistance of the government to bring the factory back to its original state.
For him, there is no gainsaying the fact that the operation of the jute company would contribute greatly to the national economic growth and in particular, the cocoa sector.
According to him, about US$200,000 is still needed to be spent on the importation of additional manufacturing machines, new spare parts, road construction and clinic, to complete the revamping works.
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