The pozzolana cement factory at Gomoa Mprumem in the Central Region is to be shut down for lack of local patronage of its products. The company has already laid off almost half of its 85-man workforce, barely four months after production commenced. Commercial production of the local brand of cement began in March this year, with a plant capacity of 5,000 bags per day. However, the plant is currently producing below 25 percent as a result of poor sales. Bags of the commodity are packed in the factory awaiting patrons, compelling the company to send home over 40 of its staff. Other workers are worried they will soon follow their colleagues, after management held a meeting to announce the planned shut. “If government can come in to talk to the contractors and ministers to encourage the contractors to use this product, I think it will be very helpful to the people in Ghana and even we the workers here. As at now my life, my wife, my children, all of my family depend on this company…so if this one shuts down, my friend, it will not be easy to me”, one of the workers echoed the plight of his colleagues. Pozzolana is an environmentally safe and a natural resource of Ghana. It is the product of 30 years of extensive research by the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The cement complement is produced from clay, and it is believed to be more durable. Mixing pozzolana with Portland cement produces cost-effective mortar and concrete. In 2007, PMC Global Incorporated of the USA invested in the production plant to reduce the cost and perennial difficulties in cement supplies. General Manager of Pozzalana Ghana Limited, Charles Komla Hegbor, says the company is disappointed at the patronage of the Pozzo brand, hence the imminent closure. “We got the government’s approval, we got the government’s green light; that’s how come the company bought the licence from the BRRI-CSIR. The government was pushing for us to quickly commercialize, so we can supply STX and the construction industry but unfortunately, that has not happened. “At this moment, financially we’re unable to pay salaries and therefore we’d have no option than to shut down”, Mr. Hegbor told Luv Biz Report. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv Fm/Ghana