The much-awaited Walewale Watermelon Factory has finally been commissioned in Walewale by Vice President Dr.
Mahamudu Bawumia, leaving a number of peasant farmers relieved and excited.Walewale and its environs are endowed with rich watermelon harvest but due to the lack of market, the farmers suffer perennial post-harvest losses and the commissioning of the factory effectively ends this age-long problem for the farmers.The Walewale Watermelon Processing Company built by Champion Foods and Beverages with funding from the Ghana Eximbank is expected to produce about 10 metric tonnes of watermelon and various juice beverages per hour when the factory begins operations.The factory is also expected to provide over 400 direct jobs and thousands of indirect benefits to over 3,000 peasant farmers who will now have ready markets for their harvests.Speaking at the commissioning, Dr.
Bawumia expressed delight over the establishment of the factory, stressing its opening marks the New Patriotic Party's commitment to industrialization and also shows the party's mindset of possibilities against the National Democratic Congress' "impossibility" mindset."When we promised to implement 1D1F, they doubted us but we have completed over 150 factories.
One of the factories we have completed is the Walewale Watermelon Factory which we are commissioning today...I remember when we started this process, there were a lot of doubts about whether we will be able to deliver this factory. "In fact, a few weeks ago, one of the members of the opposition party in this constituency said he has put an empty container and it was not a factory.