The Trade and Industry Minister, K.T Hammond, has defended the government’s decision to lease the Komenda Sugar Factory to West Africa Agro Limited, an Indian-based firm.
This decision has been met with criticism from the Minority in Parliament.
On August 1, Mr Hammond disclosed that the government’s decision to lease the sugar processing company was aimed at reviving the company’s operations to meet domestic demand.
In an interview with Nana Tuffuor Boateng on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, the Minister explained that the company would be paying the country over a million dollars annually, but would not profit from the produce of their operations.
“I5 years time it is for the government of Ghana…The company will be paying us a yearly rent. I have said that it is over a million. We’ve agreed on a figure which for now is a little more than one million USD a year.
“They will pay us for the period that they will be leasing it. At the end of it, there is a clause in there, they could extend it and keep on paying the yearly rent until they give it back to us. It’s as simple as that.”
“…They are doing us a massive favour. I am afraid [if] they are listening to this news. If they hear it and they come back to say that they are no longer interested that thing will be sitting down there for good,” he stated.
