Leguan plantain chip factory began under previous administration

Dear Editor,

I refer to a letter carried in your newspaper, ‘Plantain chip factory at Leguan not feasible’ (May 28), in which the writer Charles Sohan predicts that the factory will be another “white elephant” and concludes that the project “has been born in the chequered development annals of the present Administration…”

I wish to inform the public, in particular Mr Sohan, that this project actually began in 2014 and was conceived under the previous administration. The Ministry of Business having inherited it as an ongoing project, decided to have it reviewed and then to complete it and put the factory in the hands of a private operator.

The project has since been completed and following public advertisements for expressions of interest, a selection process was undertaken and has resulted in the identification of a company to operate the factory under a lease agreement.

I trust that this will clear up any misconceptions concerning the origin and the status of the Leguan plantain chip factory project.

Yours faithfully,

Sherod Avery Duncan

Communications Officer

Ministry of Business