The Lagos State Government has stated that the 32-metric tons per hour Imota Rice Mill project would be completed by the 1st quarter of 2022.
This was disclosed by Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Friday while on a visit to assess the project at Imota area of Ikorodu.
The governor revealed that the mill would be subjected to a pre-production test run before the end of first quarter of 2022, after which, full operations will commence.
What the Governor is saying
The Governor stated that the scheme was meant to have long been completed but for the disruption occasioned by the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He added that the state is dedicated to the new deadline, urging contractors to speed up development.
”What is left is to see how quickly we can ramp up work on the storage facility, which has the capacity to take production up to three to six months.
”There are 16 silos which have combined capacity of 40,000 metric tons. Each has 2,500 metric tons. The two sections of the silos are at about 85 and 70 per cent completion,” he said.
He said construction work on the storage facilities would be completed in the next four weeks, after which major cleanup would begin. He also stated that full production of the facility would drastically reduce prices of rice and pressure to purchase the commodity.
The rice mill would have a capacity to produce 2.8 million 50kg bags of rice yearly, while also generating 1,500 direct jobs and 254,000 indirect jobs.
What you should know
- Recall Nairametrics reported on December 2020, that Ms Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture said Imota Rice Mill is at 85% completion level, and emphasized that the facility would be completed towards the end of the first quarter 2021.
- On completion, in line with the estimated installed infrastructure of the facility, the production capacity of the rice mill in Imota will set it among the largest in the world, and the largest in sub-Saharan Africa with 2.5 million bags of 50kg rice annually.
- The mills when operational will ensure a steady supply of freshly processed rice of about 2.4 million bags of 50kg per annum to Lagosians, in addition to over 250,000 jobs to be created in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the rice value chain.
- However, to facilitate a seamless supply of input for the facility, Lagos will undertake a backward integration strategy in the form of collaboration with other states such as Kwara, Sokoto, Benue, Borno and Kebbi to meet the paddy requirement of the mill.
Kudos to Lagos State government. But where will the government get electricity supply to run the mill efficiently?