Managers of the Ayensu Starch Factory have suggested Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen lied on the true state of the factory when he appeared before parliament to answer some questions pertaining to its operations last week.
The minister had told the parliamentarians that Tiberias Ghana Limited, which in 2016 acquired 70 per cent shares in the factory, has failed to meet is contractual obligations, including payment of the 4,450,000 dollars it was required make to government.
According to Mr Kyerematen, Tiberias has so far paid only 2,269,500 dollars representing 51 per cent, and that the company has currently been abandoned, for which reason he said government was taking steps to take over from the private operators.
But these claims have been rejected by the Ayensu Starch Factory, claiming they do not paint a “true picture of the facts on the grounds in terms of the operations”.
What’s happening at Ayensu Starch Factory?
A statement from the managers said several overtures made to the government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the smooth running of the factory have been rejected, leaving all the burden on Tiberias.
Tiberias, which is a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, said it has so far paid 2.4 million dollars of the contract sum, adding the plant of the factory had some operational challenges, which the Ministry was on several occasions informed about.
It said there were “major mechanical problems due to some fundamental mistakes at the inception of the project”.
Tiberias said it consequently requested for a stimulus package as was being done for other companies, but that was rejected by the government.
What’s next?
It has since then “invested over 20 million cedis into re-engineering, refurbishing and, retooling of the plant to make it fully operational. This process is expected to be completed by August, 2019”.
Notwithstanding the challenges, Tiberias said it went on “great lengths to ensure that the plant is running and workers were paid their salaries from 2016 to June 2018” when government took up some of the payment without recourse to the majority shareholder.
Also, it said government and Tiberias were required to put in place a board to oversee the operations of the factory, but according to the latter, the government was yet to make its available its members for the board to be constituted.
“Two international companies; one from Denmark and the other a Dutch company based in Thailand, have been engaged to undertake thorough investigations into the frequent breakdown of the plant which has resulted in the dormant nature of the company,” Tiberias said.
In the coming weeks, Tiberias said it will roll out a programme that will reach out to critical stakeholders such as out growers and customers to provide a road map for the resumption of full operations.
The company said it has also acquired over 10,000 acres of land to ensure that once the mechanical problems were resolved, there will be constant supply of the raw cassava to feed the factory.
“Support from the Ministry has however not been forthcoming as the Ministry ceases every opportunity to denigrate Tiberias and its owners with no consideration for the huge investments the company has made to restore full operations,” the company claimed.
The company said despite everything, the managers will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Trade and Industry “to build a viable company and contribute our quota to the development of a vibrant starch industry in Ghana”.