Paramount Chief of Ada, Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III has appealed to his chiefs and people to help him leave a lasting and enviable legacy for Ada by supporting the ongoing development of the Songor Salt project by Electrochem Ghana Limited.
He made the appeal when he led other community chiefs to visit the Songor Salt development project site.
According to him, himself and his elders are overwhelmed by the progress of work at the Lagoon.
“We’ll ensure we leave a long-lasting legacy with the project as chiefs,” he said.
He praised McDan and his group for effectively developing the Songor Salt and indicated that, what they have seen is actually the true reflection of the many promises the company made when it first stepped on their water.
According to Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku the Songor Salt Project is a big project that has the potential of changing the lives of the people especially the youth, hence every effort must be made to support whoever is given the lease to develop the facility.
He averred that indeed, Electrochem Gh. is the best thing to have happened to them and therefore, any attempt by some individuals to scuttle the ongoing Salt Project in Ada would not be entertained.
Other Elders who accompanied him to the site also pointed out that from what they have seen so far as regards the progress of work and the employment opportunities thereof, they as elders, chiefs and community opinion leaders have no option than to send the good news to the youth and educate them on what the community stands to gain from the ongoing project being executed by Electrochem Ghana.
They have also confirmed the fact that the Songor Lagoon from which salt is being mined has been lying unattended to for the past forty years, and has been in a deteriorating state.
This, they said had given cause of concern to the Chiefs who appealed to the government to lease the site out for effective management in order to help develop the area.
Their fear however is that, because few people in the communities had been exploiting the Lagoon and preventing other people from benefiting from the proceeds, the situation would be the same but, they now have confidence in Electrochem Ghana which has created over one thousand jobs for the youth and paying salaries which have never been paid workers by previous handlers of the project.
“We are very happy of what is going on here at Songor. Indeed, majority of our youth who hitherto are living idle, have been employed and are earning meaningful wages. Checks conducted at the project site has revealed that over 1000 residents, mostly youth, have already been employed by the company to undertake various activities for the smooth implementation of the project. This is development, and we believe all hands must be on deck to ensure that this works,” they said.
On his part, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MacDan Group of Companies and Chairman of Electrochem Ghana Limited, Daniel McCauley enumerated that his major concern is to build wealth for the communities through jobs and employment opportunities at the Songor Lagoon.
In view of this, he said the company is creating community pans which will be managed by the people themselves.
He said the company is currently working on the community pans as it continues the refurbishing and reengineering works on the Lagoon.
Daniel McCauley averred that ten pans have so far been completed and the pans would be given to the community to operate.
McDan pointed out that, the youth who would mine in those pans would be able to mine over 500,000 bags of salt every year and that he said, is a great turnaround for the youth of Ada.
He believes that elders, chiefs and opinion leaders would buy into the vision of building Ada.
McDan said this when Elders including Chiefs and opinion leaders of Ada and its surrounding communities toured the Songor Salt development project site.
Their visit was to get themselves abreast with ongoing development and progress of work on the Songor lagoon and also to get a clear appreciation of the things Electrochem Ghana Limited is doing with regards to the 15 year-old contract it has over the Salt project.
Electrochem Ghana Limited has come under intense pressure from the people of Ada owe the lease agreement it has with the government of Ghana.
