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Stop wasting money on the sugar factory, Kofi Bentsil tells gov't

The Vice-President policy think-tank of IMANI Ghana Kofi Bentil said he was convinced there is “no way that factory is going to produce sugar at a commercial price.”

This factory has been shut down for close to two years.

In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, Kofi Bentil said he was convinced there is “no way that factory is going to produce sugar at a commercial price.”

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“This government should not spend one dollar more on that factory at Komenda...any dollar you spend on that factory is wasted.”

He argued that the world is gradually getting tired of sugar due to its associated health issues.

He questioned the rationale of entering into a venture which others like Brazil are leaving.

Mills in Brazil are shutting down because of falling sugar prices on the international market.

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Kofi Bentil’s position on the Komenda Sugar Factory has not changed when the erstwhile Mahama government announced the revamp of the company.

When in May 2016 President John Mahama commissioned the factory, Kofi Bentil predicted it would produce more propaganda than sugar because there were no feasibility studies backing the viability of the project.

In a case of I-told-you-so, the factory built through a $35million Indian bank facility has not been running for the last two years.

Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have indicated that the factory may not begin operation soon.

The management of the factory could muster only16,000 tonnes of sugar cane to feed a facility that needs 300,000-tonnes to run on an annual basis, the researchers found.

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The factory when it begins operating at full capacity will provide 7,300 jobs

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