At the Komenda Sugar Factory (KSF), the retooling and repair work is 98 percent finished.
Alan Kyerematen, the minister of trade and industry, revealed this to Parliament yesterday and promised a production test run by the end of the next month.
On the floor of the legislature, Yusif Sulemana, the MP for Bole-Bamboi, asked the minister a question on the condition of the plant.
Other projects, according to Mr. Kyerematen, were either finished or were nearing completion.
He designated the projects as refractories and the development of a new pipeline to and from the facility to the molasses storage.
Additionally, the boiler furnace and chimneys still need some finishing touches.
Another was the completion of the boiler house's vacuum and water testing facility, which had begun operations and was undergoing steam pressure testing in preparation for the turbine's three megawatts (MW) of energy production.
Mr. Kyerematen described the remaining work as the completion of raw sugar refining, which increased production from eight to ten tonnes per hour to between sixteen and twenty tonnes per hour, while the machinery and equipment at the Mill House, the boiling house, the boiler and powerhouse sections had all been thoroughly inspected, repaired, and, where necessary, replaced.
Other pieces
The Trade and Industry Minister said that all of the motors and boilers in the electrical installation work had been maintained and serviced, and that work was still being done on a new warehouse to accommodate gigantic bags of raw sugar weighing between one and 5,000 tonnes.
The building of a new canteen, a new chemical storage warehouse, and new restrooms for both sexes was proceeding, he said, while a new water reservoir with a capacity of two million litres had been built to supplement the current 150,000 litre reservoir.
In order to protect the integrity of all metal surfaces at the facility, Mr. Kyerematen stated that the turbine used to produce power had been refurbished and was now being tested.
The raw material warehouse, as well as the facility's fencing, are now being built, he added, adding that the whole factory building and the warehouse have had their roofs replaced to prevent leaks and corrosion.
sugarcane expansion
Four acres of nursery ground have been prepared for cultivation, according to Mr. Kyerematen, to assist the growth of sugarcane in the catchment region.
After activities began, he said there were plans to increase the land's size to 500 acres.
Along with the aforementioned, the minister said that the company's board was finalising talks with traditional authorities to obtain the approximately 20,000 acres of land needed for plantation growth at the Sekyere Obuasi and Sekyere Hemang regions in the Central Region.