In a bid to meet the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before final approval, Happy Sunshine Company Limited, a tomato paste manufacturing company in the Ga East Municipality within the light industrial enclave of Kuntunse, has embarked on a number of reforms.

The company has initiated moves to refit the factory’s chimneys by increasing its length as required by the EPA to prevent any direct emissions into the community.

A press release from the company stated that Happy Sunshine has also constructed a water waste management facility to properly manage liquid waste emanating from the operations of the factory.

Furthermore, upon the directive of the EPA, the company said it has acquired a tract of land directly opposite the factory to serve as customer parking space. The environmental improvement projects embarked upon by the company also include the covering of drainage facilities, and increasing the factory’s wall to keep within bounds any noise generated by the factory.

Happy Sunshine said it deems these reforms directed by the EPA very important for the safety of the community and further engaged the community to forge closer ties with members and the youth.

In the normal course of its duty, the EPA halted the operations of the company due to some environmental concerns. Following the directive, the EPA asked the company to embark on some facelift projects and also engage the community to secure their consent and support before any production can commence.

As part of efforts to integrate the community into the operations of the company, a community durbar was organised by the company in accordance with a directive from the EPA.

The community durbar is a stakeholder engagement to elicit community concerns and afford the company the opportunity to explain its operations and address environmental safety concerns as stipulated in the EPA regulations.

The Chief of Kuntunse and his elders together with opinion leaders including members of the clergy, representatives of the security services whose work have a bearing on the company’s operations as well as residents of Kuntunse were in attendance.

Mars Du, Managing Director of Happy Sunshine Company limited indicated his company’s commitment to investing in Ghana and the readiness of Happy Sunshine to support the government in its efforts to bridge the unemployment gap.

It is also the vision of Happy Sunshine to boost the industrialization drive of Ghana and support the government’s one-district-one factory policy.

The company has further establishment a high-tech ultra-modern manufacturing plant to produce highly nutritious tomato paste for the Ghanaian market.

Happy Sunshine said they believe in the local content law of Ghana and has therefore reserved about 70 percent of employment opportunities for the local people. It is also the medium term goal of the company to train the local people to run, manage and maintain the equipment as their Chinese counterparts transfer the technical know-how on to them.

The company further added that it has marked a number of corporate social responsibilities to be undertaken for the benefit of the community. These include the refurbishment of dilapidated school structures, assisting the police with resources to fight crime in the community, encourage teachers and health workers to accept postings to the community by helping with the construction of bungalows among others.

Happy Sunshine disclosed that out of 162 respondents who were surveyed by the direction of the EPA, 156 of the residents support the location of the factory in their community.

The release further explained that based on the number of persons sampled and surveyed on a myriad of issues as directed by the EPA, 96.89 percent of the residents within the community agree with the presence of the factory in their community.