Tema, Aug 25, GNA -- President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Thursday that the reopening of the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) should be seen as the realisation of late Dr Kwame Nkrumah's vision of making Ghana an industrialised nation.
During a familiarisation tour of VALCO in Tema, President Kufuor said re-starting of the company after being closed down for some time now was the biggest opportunity for Ghana because for the first time the country was going to be its largest shareholder.
Ghana's shares in VALCO is 90 per cent whilst its technical partners, ALCOA, owns 10 per cent shares.
President Kufuor, who was accompanied by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Minister off Foreign Affairs and Mr Alan Kyerematen, Minster of Trade and Industry, reminded workers of the company that by bringing it back on track the government had finished its part and that it was up to them to take up from there.
He said to be able to deliver, workers of the company on whom its survival depended, needed to go about their duties with a high sense of dedication, commitment and zeal.
President Kufuor lauded the Tema Traditional Council for releasing land for expansion work at the company and urged the workers to put in their maximum to help improve conditions for the benefit of the nation, reminding them that if they failed to deliver the economy was bound to fail.
Touching on the West African Gas Pipeline Project that would become operational next year, President Kufuor said it would be of immense benefit to the nation because the facility would supplement energy obtained from the Akosombo Dam.
He, therefore, urged industries to take advantage of the facility and tap energy from it to boost their operations.
Mr Seth Adjei, the Managing Director of VALCO who took the President and his entourage round the factory, pledged the workers' determination to live up to expectation.