Taraba state governor, Darius Ishaku has
expressed his administration’s commitment to construct additional 330
KW power plant at Kakara in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state
to boost the operations of Mambilla Beverages Limited.
This is coming barely six months after
he commissioned a 414 KW hydro power plant constructed for the company
in conjunction with United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Besides the Mambilla Beverages Company
which is the first indigenous tea producing company in Nigeria, the
power plant, when completed, would also provide electricity to all the
surrounding communities of the factory.
Ishaku, who made the disclosure while
commissioning the Cut Tear and Curl (CTC) machine he procured for the
company to boost its production capacity by over 500 percent, stated
that the power plant would be completed by the end of 2016.
Already, according to the Coordinator,
UNIDO Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power in Africa, Dr. Donald
Adgidzi, the mapped out plans for the construction of the dam and the
feasibility studies has been concluded, including the bankable report
which has been completed, adding that ‘the project is now at
implementation stage.’
Dr. Adgidzi, who noted that the only
obstacle that could hinder the project from coming on board before the
end of the year is adequate funding, however, stressed that with the
commitment shown so far by Ishaku, the job would be completed within
nine months.
And in furtherance of his commitment to
turn the fortunes of the Company around, the governor equally disclosed
that arrangements are being made to send some staff of the company to
overseas for training and retraining on modern production techniques
that would enhance the profitability of the company.
Besides increasing the production
capacity of the Company, the newly installed and commissioned (CTC)
machine, according to Ishaku, would produce better quality tea than what
the former machine known as the Lawrie’s Tea Processor (LTP) produces.
Speaking on the occasion, Managing
Director of the company, Mallam Ibrahim Nunga, appealed to the governor
to pave ways for core investors to come in to enable the company move to
greater heights.
Credit: DailyTimes
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