Sekondi Freezone Not Abandoned, Director Assures

THE Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB), Mr. Andy Appiah-Kubi, has stated that his outfit has not abandoned the Sekondi portion of the free zone, saying they have already started negotiations with a foreign banking institution to borrow money to start the development of the enclave.

According to Appiah-Kubi, because of the importance the GFZB attaches to the development of the Sekondi zone, they have decided to locate a foreign investor who intends setting up a petro-chemical industry in Ghana in the zone.

He said the total investment that is expected to go into setting up of the company by the investor is worth $2.7billion.

Appiah-Kubi, who was among the entourage of the deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Boniface Abubakar Siddiq, that toured some selected companies in the Western Region last Tuesday, told reporters that the investor (who he declined to name) had already been taken to the enclave to inspect the site when he visited the country recently.

According to the deputy director, the land in the Sekondi enclave has already been acquired by the government: what is left, he continued, is the necessary compensation which he hinted is being worked out by the Lands Commission.

He further told reporters that many think the project has been abandoned because the petro-chemical company has also requested that GFZB to provide them with additional 1,000 acres of land outside the enclave to put up residential accommodation for its staff since the GFZB laws do not allow them to put up residential houses in the enclave.

"This is our headache now but I can assure you that we are working around the clock to get the said land for the investor to enable him start production as early as possible," he said.

He disclosed that another zone is expected to be established at the proposed site for the construction of the inland port near Kumasi: if this is done, the designated free zones enclave would be brought to three.

He said the funds they were soliciting would be extended to cover the development of the Kumasi zone.

The infrastructural development of the Tema Zone, he continued, has already started and would soon be completed for them to shift attention to Sekondi.