Lagos State House of Assembly has advised contractors handling the 32 Metric Tonnes capacity Imota Rice Mill to hasten work on the project to meet the December delivery timeline.
Mr Kehinde Joseph, Chairman, Lagos State House Committee on Agriculture, stated this when he led other committee members on an inspection tour and oversight function of the project on Thursday in Lagos.
The mill, when completed, has the capacity to produce about 2.4 million bags of 50kg per annum freshly processed rice.
The lawmakers inspected the storage facility, per boiling plant, per boiling dryer, staff quarters and water storage plant.
He said that the committee was overseeing the project to ensure that the percentage of work, so far done, is commensurate with the money released by the state government.
According to him, there is a need for the mill to start operation in order to reduce the price of local rice in the country.
He said that by the time the rice mill start operation in December, it would reduce prices of local ones which presently sell above N20,000.
Speaking to newsmen after the inspection, the committee chairman expressed satisfaction at the level of work done so far on the mill.
“We are told that by December, the mill will start functioning,’’ the chairman said.
Joseph said that with the level of money that had been released, the contractors should be able to finish the job before the end of the year.
“That is why I want to call on the contractors to hasten the job’’ so that the mill could start operation.
The committee chairman commended the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture for the great work done so far.
He noted that the creation of over 250,000 jobs, with the completion of the project, “is laudable’’.
