Agro firm agrees to conduct study

AFTER about a decade of negotiations, the Markham development authority (DDA) is happy that Ramu Agri Industries Ltd has agreed to conduct feasibility studies of 1,207ha of customary land last week.
The land is for agricultural activities and the study will be carried out in partnership with Ramu Agri Industries.
DDA chief executive officer Bohagi Bebinaso said the feasibility study would be beneficial for the DDA, the people of Markham and Ramu Agri Industries.
“The district administration is ready to work with Ramu Agri Industries as a development and investment partner,” he added.
Ramu Agri Industries general manager Ruari McWilliams said the amount of customary land that was mobilised so far was commercially viable.
But he appealed to the DDA to ensure that access roads were constructed so that crops could be transported to the mill.
McWilliams said for Ramu Agri Industries to consider the land that was currently on offer, the 21 incorporated land groups had to submit an expression of interest letter to the company.
He confirmed that the expression of interest was not a commitment to sacrifice the customary land.
He said the document was only used to facilitate a global standard procedure known as “Free, prior, inform and consent” which was an adopted company policy for Ramu Agri Industries.