The Board of the Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Limited (GODPC) has commenced talks to construct a state-of-the-art rubber processing factory at its industrial estate at Kwae in the Kwaebibirem bistrict of the Eastern Region.
The factory, when completed by 2020, will in the first phase of its operation and is expected to produce about 15,000 tonnes of crumb rubber per year.
Confirmed at its meeting held at Kwae last week, the Board unanimously resolved to build a crumb rubber processing facility by 2020.
“In fact, the first planting of rubber has started already in 2012 in the uplands of GOPDC’s Kwae concession after having resolved at its 17th Annual General Meeting to amend the nature of its authorised business to include the cultivation of rubber and to construct and operate downstream processing facilities,” the Board said.
A statement from the Board confirmed that a new outgrower extension scheme on rubber has already started, and GOPDC will also provide high-yielding rubber seedlings to farmers under the scheme.
GOPDC strongly advises the farmers to replace their old citrus farms with rubber trees which will give a reliable income for the next 30 years.
While oil palm grows well in the lowlands, rubber outperforms palm on the slopes and hilltops in the area. Rubber trees grow well among oil palm plantations, giving a steady revenue throughout the year as they can be tapped every week.
The export of the processed rubber will also yield hard currency for GOPDC and the country, which will assure an attractive price to the farmers.
GOPDC is a subsidiary of the SIAT GROUP, which is a certified supplier of rubber to big tyre companies like Michelin and Bridgestone.
