By: Christopher Pappoe | Voltaonlinegh.com |

There was a sod cutting ceremony on Tuesday for the commencement of a 5,000-acre banana farm at Kpotame in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region.

Speaking at the ceremony, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Louis Emmanuel Agama disclosed that the project which is under the flagship 1 District-1 Factory (1D1F) initiative, will see over 600 locals employed for the first phase which will be mainly for export purposes.

The DCE added that the district will soon get a banana processing plant which will process the farm produce for export.

He therefore advised citizens of South Tongu, Central Tongu and Ada East districts, the catchment areas of the project to take advantage and get jobs on the farm.

Thomas Moore Zonyrah, District Chief Executive for Central Tongu urged the investors to engage more locals than expatriates since the youth of the district need jobs.

He also asked for a peaceful coexistence between the locals and the investors in order to attract more investors to the area.

Togbega Nakakpo Dugbaza VIII, President of Tongu Council of Chiefs urged the investors to treat the locals with respect and not look down upon them since that could spark riot.

He also promised on behalf of the Tongu Traditional Council to release land to any investor who would want to invest in the area.

A resident, Kofi Sam who is the youth leader of Tefle Kpotame said he was happy about the project since it would create jobs for the youth of his area.

The company, RADIKAL India earlier visited the district on August 18, 2018 to familiarize with the elders and chiefs of Tongu Traditional Area with the promise to come back for investment. It said the banana processing plant will process the banana from the farm into chewing gum among others for export and local consumption.

Source: www.voltaonlinegh.com