The establishment of a sugar factory under the government's One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative at Fawoman in the Banda District of the Bono Region has begun.
The facility, which is expected to begin full production by the end of 2024 is being done through an equity agreement between the Bui Sugar Limited, a Chinese company, and the Bui Power Authority (BPA).
Under the initiative, BPA has provided a total of 13,000 acres of land to the Bui Sugar Limited for the cultivation of sugarcane plantation to feed the factory when it begins operation.
So far, 250 acres out of the 1,200 acres of land which have been cleared, have been cultivated with sugarcane by the investor.
When the entire 13,000 or 6,000 hectares of land provided under the collaboration is cultivated and the factory starts full operation, it is expected to produce a total of 60,000 metric tonnes of raw sugar annually for local consumption and for export.
These came to light when the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BPA, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, visited the facility to see how it is progressing.
Construction
Shedding light on the operations of the Bui Sugar Limited, the Managing Director of the company, Wan Wei Hua, explained that the actual construction of the factory block would begin in June, this year.
"The construction of factory and installation of equipment is expected to last for one-and-a-half years before the commencement of production," he said.
He explained that currently, the company's focus was on the provision of adequate raw materials and preparations for the construction of the factory block.
Mr Hua said 500 local people had already been employed for the cultivation of the sugarcane plantation for now, adding that about 1000 more people would be added by the time that the factory will start production.
Agreement
For his part, Mr Dzamesi explained that BPA entered into an agreement with Bui Sugar Limited in March 2022 since the Act that established the authority empowered it to enter into such agreements.
He said it was expected that the facility would provide about 1,500 direct employment and more than 5,000 indirect employment when it was in full operation.
<<Print>>