The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has announced plans to resume rice production at its 180-ton-per-day rice mill in Rivers.
Mr Victor Antai, NDDC Executive Director of Projects, revealed this during an inspection of the facility in Elele Local Government Area of Rivers on Thursday.
He said the commission decided to revive the dormant rice mill as part of its strategy to bolster food security in the Niger Delta.
“The rice mill was established as part of NDDC’s industrialisation strategies to ensure food security and job creation but suspension of production at the factory is disheartening.
“The rice mill is a gigantic project and the biggest in the Niger Delta. It was operated in partnership with the Elephant Group that unfortunately stopped production in 2022.
“Therefore, we decided to visit the facility to know why the firm stopped production, and also to look for the possible ways of bringing it back to production,” he said.
Antai said the new NDDC Board was dedicated to improving food security in the region and was taking actionable measures to achieve the goal.
“The chief engineer of the facility has assured us that all the equipment is still functioning, and so, what is left is to interface with the management of the Elephant Group.
“In no time, the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku and NDDC management will take a decision on how best to handle the rice mill to get it running.
“We will connect the rice mill to a dedicated power line from a power injection station to guarantee steady power supply and reduce production cost,” he added.
Earlier, Uchechi Emejuru, a representative of the Elephant Group, cited the substantial challenge of maintaining a steady electricity supply to the facility.
According to him, the rice mill was currently powered by a 500 KVA power line instead of the required 800 KVA supply to operate the facility.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rice mill, which began operation in 2008, was subsequently leased to Elephant Group to guarantee its sustainability and efficiency.
The facility consists of various sections, such as boiler, parboiling, color sorting, and bagging, with the ability to process six tonnes of rice per hour, depending on the availability of rice paddies.