Workers of Panbros on site
PANBROS SALT Industries Limited, a wholly-Ghanaian owned salt company, is raising concerns over the construction of a cement factory near its concession.
According to the company, a developer has forcibly taken part of its legally acquired concession in an effort to construct a cement factory.
The Managing Director of the company, Michael Odartey-Wellington, who spoke to the media, noted that sometime in 2013, the Ngleshie Alata Stool, the allodial title holders of the Panbros concession, asked the company to release five acres of its 498 acres leased to the company, which it obliged to.
Mr. Odartey-Wellington alleged that the stool subsequently sold the released land to a private person.
He further alleged that the private individual had “taken an additional 17 acres of land which is the only area available for a planned expansion of saltworks by Panbros to develop a cement factory.”
“As a law-abiding company, we have restrained our workers from having a confrontation with the developer who has deployed land guards, as we do not want to have any bloodshed. We have, therefore, petitioned relevant authorities to intervene and stop the developer. Our worry is that to date the developer is still constructing without a permit,” the MD of Panbros alleged.
“The Panbros area is an environmentally protected Ramsar site. The location of a cement factory in this area will harm the ecology of this sensitive area and destroy the ability of the company to produce large quantities of edible salt,” he pointed out.
The MD continued, “From our checks, with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Secretariat of the 1D1F and the GIPC, these institutions have no knowledge of any such project. So who is behind this?”
However, when contacted, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Cement Manufacturers, George Dawson-Ahmoah, denied knowledge of any new cement company.
Rev. Dr. Dawson-Ahmoah, who doubles as the Chairman of the Tema Branch of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), commended Panbros Industries Ltd for actively supporting local industries to produce liquid soap during the ongoing Covid-19 period as the salt serves as a raw material.
“We should not sit back and destroy activities of a pioneer local company that feeds the economy. I, therefore, call on the relevant authorities to stop the construction of the cement factory,” Mr. Dawson-Ahmoah said.