Ebenezer Adurokiya | Warri
Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, recently performed the groundbreaking for the multibillion naira food processing facility, Tingo Foods Plc. in the state.
The governor performed the function at the project site at Onicha-Ugbo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state.
The facility is an agro-industrial complex that will produce a variety of food products, including rice, pasta (noodles and spaghetti), tea, beverages, beer, bottled water, biscuits, chocolate and others.
The project also includes a storage facility to serve the factories which covers area of 382,600 square metres (38.26 ha).
Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Okowa congratulated the project investors, emphasising that the project was a validation of the conducive business environment created by his administration in the past seven and half years.
Okowa, represented by the Chief Job Creation Officer, Professor Eric Eboh, restated that the benefits of the project to farmers and people of the state were in line with the development objectives of the state government which include job creation, inclusive growth and sustainable prosperity for all Deltans.
He said that the state government will continue to identify with the project given the potential benefits of the private sector agro-processing complex to the agricultural value chain in the state.
In his remarks, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, said the facility is one of the private sector initiatives under the Special Agricultural Processing Zones (SAPZs) programme of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and African Development Bank.
The event marks the commencement of construction of the foods processing facility, wholly owned by Tingo International Holdings Inc.
The president, Tingo Foods Plc, Dr. Christopher Cleverly and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Ms. Neta Mehta, were in attendance.
Others are the Obi of Onicha-Ugbo, Victor Chukwumalieze, President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Farouk Rabiu Mudi, the state Commissioner of Police and the people of Onicha-Ugbo.
