A citrus factory would be established for Eguafo – Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has pledged to establish a juice factory for the people of Eguafo in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) District of the Central Region during his second term as president.
Addressing residents on the second day of his campaign tour in the Central Region, President Mahama said establishing a citrus factory in the municipality was not a promise his government could not fulfill.
The President’s promise followed a request by the Omanhen of Eguafo Traditional Area, Nana Kwamena Ansah III, when he paid a courtesy call on him at his palace on Tuesday.
President Mahama said the KEEA was a very important agricultural area where oranges and other fruits were grown but due to the unavailability of a ready market for their produce, people come from Ivory Coast to the purchase fruits.
He said in some cases the fruits were left to rot because there was no ready market but emphasised that, that dilemma would be a thing of the past when the citrus factory is established for them.
He said government would not hesitate to resuscitate the citrus factory built by Kwame Nkrumah in the area as it has done with the Komenda sugar factory.
President Mahama said the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) criticised him for building the Komenda Sugar Factory adding that but stressed that borrowing to build a citrus factory was not a waste of the tax payer’s money.
He said he was not perturbed by those criticisms because Dr Kwame Nkrumah suffered a similar fate in the hands of the Danquah- Busia tradition but persisted to establish many factories during his time as president.
President Mahama urged to the people in the area to vote massively for him and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 polls to ensure that his vision for them becomes a reality.
Nana Ansah III expressed unhappiness with the situation whereby a lot of focus was given to the fishing communities in the constituency while those who engaged in farming were neglected.
Source: GNA