It could be recalled that the impression was given that the Ministry of Trade and Industry would make a public statement on the state of the Northern Star Tomato Factory in Pwalugu in the Upper East Region. While it was unclear the exact day the statement would be made, the statement was expected to give clarity on the current state of the facility and all the processes that had been undertaken to revitalise the factory.
On Friday, November 19, 2021, the Upper East Regional Director of Business Resource Centre (BRC), Michael Abogoro, speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show explained that plans are far advanced to ensure the operationalization of the said factory in 2022.
He said the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) had sought the services of a transaction advisor to ensure the revitalization of the Northern Star Tomato Factory in Pwalugu in the Upper East Region. The Advisor had undertaken all feasibility studies while financial considerations have been settled and added that all things being equal, the Northern Star Tomato Factory will be operational this year.
Speaking about the state of the factory, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, on the same platform, Mr. Abogoro said he was unable to divulge information relevant to the state of the factory as MoTI would make public statements about the facility soon.
“Since November last year when I made that pronouncement, the Ministry’s attention was drawn to that publication and so that Ministry would officially be speaking to that in their capacity as Ministry of Trade and Industry. I do know that they are working round the clock.”
“I do not want to share any information regarding that one as the Ministry would be making an official pronouncement on it,” he said.
The Regional Manager of the BRC continued to say he was unable to tell when the Ministry would make the statement but gave the assurance that “as soon as practicable, the Ministry would make a statement on that.”
In a recent interview, the Upper East Regional Communication Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) urged private investors to sink their money into revamping the Northern Star Tomato Factory, Pwalugu. Mr. Ayinbisa argued the government had created an enabling environment to help a private investor adequately run the factory. His comments were in connection to portions of the budget that stated the government’s commitment to boosting local productive capacity.
It looks like in the near future, the Northern Star Tomato Factory in Pwalugu may be given the attention. Thomas Duanab Wuni-Pearson, speaking on A1 Radio in a recent interview said the group has begun experimenting with improved varieties of tomatoes. Should they succeed in growing these in commercial quantities, they would turn their attention to the tomato processing factory.
It is still unclear however in which way the group would invest in the factory.
“I have had a group from the Netherlands. They attempted a pilot in the rainy season around Santeng close to the White Volta. They had a pilot farm [and] unfortunately, the floods washed everything away. [This happened] just this year. Fortunately for us, they are back again and are trying it again this dry season. My understanding from the investor is to see whether they can have an outgrowers group. Once that outgrower group has been mobilised, then, they would look into the processing. We are still on track. They are trying some improved seeds to see how they would respond to our environment. Once the response then they can move into large scale production and move into revamping the production mill and the factory.”
According to Mr. Wuni Pearson, the Assembly’s role is to provide a conducive environment for the investors to succeed.
“Our role is to provide an enabling environment. That we are doing now. They have access to land and they are experimenting. Once it meets their standard, that’s it. Then, we would move to the next level and facilitate whatever, whether the outright purchase or renting of the facility to produce.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
