Taraba govt to construct additional 330KW hydro power plant

Taraba state governor, Darius Ishaku has expressed his administration’s commitment to construct additional 330 KW power plant at Kakara in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state to boost the operations of Mambilla Beverages Limited.

This is coming barely six months after he commissioned a 414 KW hydro power plant constructed for the company in conjunction with United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Besides the Mambilla Beverages Company which is the first indigenous tea producing company in Nigeria, the power plant, when completed, would also provide electricity to all the surrounding communities of the factory.

Ishaku, who made the disclosure while commissioning the Cut Tear and Curl (CTC) machine he procured for the company to boost its production capacity by over 500 percent, stated that the power plant would be completed by the end of 2016.

Already, according to the Coordinator, UNIDO Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power in Africa, Dr. Donald Adgidzi, the mapped out plans for the construction of the dam and the feasibility studies has been concluded, including the bankable report which has been completed, adding that ‘the project is now at implementation stage.’

Dr. Adgidzi, who noted that the only obstacle that could hinder the project from coming on board before the end of the year is adequate funding, however, stressed that with the commitment shown so far by Ishaku, the job would be completed within nine months.

And in furtherance of his commitment to turn the fortunes of the Company around, the governor equally disclosed that arrangements are being made to send some staff of the company to overseas for training and retraining on modern production techniques that would enhance the profitability of the company.

Besides increasing the production capacity of the Company, the newly installed and commissioned (CTC) machine, according to Ishaku, would produce better quality tea than what the former machine known as the Lawrie’s Tea Processor (LTP) produces.

Speaking on the occasion, Managing Director of the company, Mallam Ibrahim Nunga, appealed to the governor to pave ways for core investors to come in to enable the company move to greater heights.