By VOS Writer
Randcem, an affiliate of Fawaz Building Materials has in September,2022 signed an agreement with the Government of SierraLeone for cement production geared towards producing high quality of Portland cement at market penetration with affordability and availabity.
The agreement mandates the company to establish a cement factory and produce high grade cement with an annual capacity of 350,000 metric tons per annum.
The company committed to honor the agreement by investing $30M to establish the cement factory and bring in grinding mill geared towards producing high quality of cement to meet the market demands.
The agreement is divided into phases and one of which has to do with the importing of the “loose bulk” materials to be subsequently repackaged into 25kg and 50kg with market penetration at a negotiated price.
Based on investigation carried out, the company has acted ultra vires to the agreement as they are yet to embark on any cement production, but engages in the importation of the finished materials already bagged in 50Kg and wrapped in a large jumbo bag which they keep in their warehouses and ready for sale to the public at exorbitant price.
Our investigation also unearthed that the company has not got any of the required machineries that should be used in the production of cement and that has disqualified the company to run a cement factory.
In a bid to get the company on side of the story, this newspaper sent a text messages via Whattsapp to Haj Fawaz, who is believed to be the Managing Director of the company, but he refused to comment on the issues up to the time of going to press. See more details in subsequent editions.
