Prima Dufil Limited, the maker of Indomie, is on the verge of setting up a processing plant in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State. BusinessDay reports that the plant is to be sited at Utoka and Igue-Oshodin communities of the local government area.
Abdul Oroh, the state commissioner for agriculture and natural resources, made the disclosure at a visit to some of the host communities to the industry in the locality, saying the development was part of revolutionising the state agricultural sector and agro-allied industries.
He said the agro-industry, which requested for about 60,000 hectares of land in the communities, was noted for the production of Indomie and palm oil, and had expressed readiness to commence operations in the state. Surveyors would soon visit the communities to carry out crops and demographic enumeration as well as create buffer zone in order to ensure that lands are still available for the communities to carry out their farming activities, he said.
The commissioner said the investment will cover 18 communities, and assured the communities that the investor will live up to its corporate social responsibility, as everything had been totally spelt out in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it had with the state government.
Owner of crops will be adequately compensated after the crop enumeration as well as assistance in the area of land preparation and provision of improved varieties when the company become operational, he said.
Read also: Nigeria in ‘oil recession’, as sector falls 2 quarters in a row
Meanwhile, members of the communities have commended the state government for providing the enabling environment for the investor to site its plant in the localities.
A statement signed by Patrick Eholor on behalf of Utoka community and its environs, and made available to newsmen in Benin City, expressed concern about the transparency of the MoU between the state government and the company.
The communities are entitled to have input on the planned factory to be located in their communities, especially the size of their various land involved in the proposed factory, Eholor said.
“We appreciate the economic benefits that are inherent in such initiatives, however, we are concerned about the transparency of the agreement between the government and the company (Prima Dufil Limited).
“It is our concern that we as the host communities are entitled to know the content and the likely effects of the MoU on us. We are also entitled to have an input on the planned factory in our community.
“Our people are basically farmers and therefore entitled to know the size of their land involved in the planned factory. We are in support of the initiative but we are saying that we deserved to be carried along,” he said.
IDRIS UMAR MOMOH
