Construction is underway for a clinker plant to exploit the large deposits of limestone in the Buipe area of the Northern Region.

The sod for the construction work by the Savannah Cement Company Limited (SAVACEM) to take off was cut last Saturday by President John Atta Mills at Buipe in the Central Gonja District of the region.

The ceremony took place amidst drumming and dancing by residents of the community and witnessed by senior govern¬ment officials, district chief executives, as well as chiefs and people of the Central Gonja District.

The SAVACEM was formed in 1996, close to the Buipe limestone deposit, which was discovered as far back as 1913, for the production of cement.

It was, however, in 2007 that the company partnered    Diamond Cement Ghana, its sister company, to commence its operations in Buipe after overcoming some major hurdles.

The company plans to establish a Greenfield Integrated Cement Plant which is estimated to produce 350,000 tonnes of cement per annum.


It is estimated that the clinker plant would provide jobs for more than 200 persons while about 800 more persons would benefit indirectly through the distribution of cement and other engagements.

To meet its energy requirements, the company is to partner GR1DCO and the Volta River Authority (VRA) to build a sub-station in Buipe to generate about 25MVA.

While the SAVACEM will provide 75 per cent of the total cost of the project, the VRA will bear the 25 per cent cost.

Meanwhile, out of the 25MVA, the company will need only 7MVA, and, thus, the remaining 18MVA will be available for other uses in the region.

Prof. Mills noted that the establishment of SAVACEM would stimulate economic activity in the region by making cement cheaper for • the construction industry and also creating jobs for the youth.

He also observed that Ghana would save some foreign exchange which, otherwise, would have been used for the importa¬tion of clinker.

The President entreated the management of SAVACEM to emplov workers from within the community and the region so as to alleviate poverty in the area.
He also tasked the company to work in accordance with environmental safety in order to protect the environment.

The Managing Director of SAVACEM, Mr Mota-parti Prasad, thanked the government for giving its full support to the project.

He recalled that in 2000, when the investors of SAVACEM were estab¬lishing Diamond Cement Ltd at Aflao in the Volta Region, it was Prof. Mills, then Vice-President, who cut the sod for the project.

Mr Prasad noted that the operations of SAVACEM would benefit the region immensely fol¬lowing the huge industrial set-up that was being put in place for the operations of the company.

He observed that the investors of SAVACEM were longstanding development partners of Ghana following their exploits in the cement, steel, salt and mining industries.

The Minister of Lands and Forestry, Alhaji Collins Dauda, expressed satisfaction with the increasing diversification in the mining industry in the country.   

He indicated that-some limestone deposits of high tonnage and quality had been identified in the Western Region and other areas and which would soon be utilised appropriately.

He said with time, Ghana would be able to meet its one million metric tonnes per annum demand for clinker through domestic production, rather than importation of from Europe.

Daily Graphic/DS