The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated the government’s resolve for the effective and efficient operationalisation of the Komenda Sugar Factory by the first quarter of 2022.
He explained that, as leader of the nation, his administration would ensure that, the nation’s resources were well managed.
He said, a technical partner would be selected to ensure the opening of the factory that had generated some comment from former President John Mahama.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking in an interview on Eagle FM, a campus radio station at the Cape Coast Technical University during the first day of his two-day tour to the Central Region.
The tour was to express his appreciation to the people in the region for their support during the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
According to the President, the Strategic partner appointed to work towards the operationalisation of the Komenda Sugar Factory could not meet the condition set out by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in that area.
He stated that, the NPP administration would not look on unconcerned for the money spent in constructing the factory to go down the drain.
President Akufo-Addo indicated that, moving around as President, he was appreciative of the work being done by his administration.
Some areas, he said, could be improved as he champions an agenda to ensure the transformation of the country.
The President further said, a lot of development projects were truncated due to the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which affected the global business environment.
The government he said, was committed to improving the gains made during the first term of his administration.
President Akufo-Addo reaffirmed his position towards the election of Metropolitan Municipal District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) based on political party consideration.
He argued that, the happenings in the country with reference to the confirmation of MMDCEs which witnessed some confrontationswere not the best.
He stated that the position of the NPP on the election of MMDCEs had not changed, saying, “We still stand by our commitment for direct election
At any time, the NPP had not changed the position of MMDCEs.”
He explained that, there was an overwhelming national position for the election of local Chief Executives at the local level and said; the shift of position of the NDC to vote against the position changed the focus.
President Akufo-Addo further said that, he was ready to bring the matter up once the other political parties, especially the NDC decides to support the agenda.
The President indicated that, construction of a landing site to boost the fishery sector in Cape Coast would commence in 2022.
On the construction of an airport for the Central Region, he said, there had been a number of consultations and deliberations with respect to the project.
According to him, the options for the construction of an airport include separate airports for the Central and Western regions, or construction of an airport to be located within the two regions.
Feasibility studies for the airport, he said, was currently ongoing said, commitment towards it
The President later inspected progress of work on the Ministry of Education/ Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) laboratory at the Cape Coast Technical University.
The multi-purpose support facility is designed to support government’s efforts within the context of the Human Capital Development priorities and to resolve key development challenge of low quality of skills produced by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training subsector in the country.
FROM DAVID O. YARBOI-TETTEH, CAPE COAST
