Benue State Government has disclosed her determination to revive the moribund Taraku Mills Factory, an agro-processing factory valued at over $50 million (about N70 billion), to help tackle the growing unemployed population and improve the economy of the state.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited, Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, stated this during an inspection visit, of the company said the facility, which has remained inactive since 2009, still has most of its equipment intact and in near-new condition despite years of abandonment.
Dr. Asemakaha attributed the preservation of the plant to the vigilance of the host community and security personnel, noting that unlike many government facilities that have been vandalized, no major equipment had been stolen from the factory.
He disclosed that BIPC is currently conducting an asset audit to determine the state of the facility and the investments required to resume operations.
He maintained that the technical personnel who previously worked at the plant and possess institutional knowledge of its operations will be engaged to carry out assessments and dry-run tests beginning Monday next week.
Dr. Asemakaha reiterated government’s commitment to restoring the factory to full operation, stressing that reviving existing assets was more cost-effective than building new ones.
He noted that lessons had been learnt from past attempts to lease government assets to operators who lacked the capacity to manage them.
He added that the factory would support value addition to agricultural produce such as maize and soybeans, create markets for farmers and stimulate economic activities across the state.
On employment prospects, he projected that the facility could directly engage no fewer than 2,000 youths, while creating numerous indirect jobs in farming, transportation and related sectors.
The MD also announced that the government would immediately settle five months of outstanding allowances owed to security personnel at the facility in appreciation of their efforts in safeguarding the assets.
He reiterated that the state government would do everything possible to ensure the factory resumes operations and contributes to economic growth and job creation in Benue State.
In a remark, a pioneer mechanical engineer of the company, Engr. James Ikuve, said the company is an agro allied integrated company that is meant to process
a lot of seeds and products.
Engr. Ikuve explained that the factory is divided into two divisions: the maize and feeds mill division and the oil division, noting that within the maize and feeds mill division, the operations are interwoven and so what you have there is you have a maize feed plant that has the capacity to process 120,000 tons of maize per annum and then the feeds mill has the capaty to process 172,300 tons per annum of feeds. These feeds cut across
all classes of animals. You can process them. We have done it before and so can still do it.
Chairman of Gwer East LGA. Mr. Timoty Adi, and many others who spoke to Saturday Telegraph, the XDanked Governor Alia and the GMD of BIPC, for taking a bold step to revive the plant.
