Pay attention to private industries in E/Region - CEOs to gov't

Private industries in the Eastern Region are calling on government to give priority to their businesses and support them.

The owners, who have through their own initiatives provided jobs for a number of unemployed youths and locals in their communities, have raised concerns about government’s continuous refusal to support their efforts.

According to them, the instability of the cedi against the dollar and other currencies, and a number of nuisance taxes imposed on raw materials used in production is deeply affecting outputs.

During a working visit organised by the Eastern Regional Branch of the Association Of Ghana Industries (AGI) to some private industries in the Suhum Municipality in a move to encourage them and know their concerns, some owners pleaded with government to intervene to help save their businesses.

The CEO of Joy Industries, producers of Joy Dadi bitters, Dr. Manfred Takyi after briefing the Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour on their activities called on government to support their efforts.

“Government should support the industries because we have created a number of jobs for the youth. Formally in Akwadum here, most of the youth were jobless, the ladies among them getting pregnant without any job, but since we established our industry here we have been able to reduce teenage pregnancy and other social vices drastically because we have found work for them to do”.

“In the aspect of corporate social responsibility we always do our best, in the area of health we pay serious attention to it. We have taken full cost of a number of surgeries of people in various hospitals in the Suhum and New Juaben Municipalities, we have renovated a number of wards too in some hospitals and we want to do more but the taxes are not helping us so please do something about it.”

Bureaucracies at regulatory agencies 

Lawrencia Kyei Baffour, the CEO of O’nyc Enterprise, producers of O’nyc drinking water, a strong emerging company in an interview with Citi News also pleaded with government to restructure regulatory agencies in the country.

“In Ghana, it’s a little shaky when it comes to age and feminine issues and I do not know whether it is because I am the youngest person doing this water business because it has not been easy, Food and Drugs Authority and EPA have been very difficult and if the government can help us it will make it easier. We are trying to do a lot to make our work legal in order to fit in the requirement of the nation, but if these agencies do not make it easier for us and we are hustling and stressing to get the things done it becomes upsetting”.

“The stress they put you through sometimes makes one very tired, major ones have to do with taxes and the Food and Drugs Authority.  I am working on documents with EPA which has been very difficult because the bureaucracies is eating us up when we go to the government sectors for approvals.”

“You have to talk to everybody, see everyone and sometimes you go all the way up and have to come back down again to talk to someone before you get an information which could have been given to you at the front desk and this is discouraging a lot of people so all we ask is for government to pay a little attention to the private sector”.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Eric Kwakye Darfour, advised them to send their proposals to the one district one factory secretariat.

“It is government’s policy to create an environment such that we can have as many as possible a lot of industries just like the one district one factory program, but the most important thing is how to position yourself as a company or an industry.”

“The policy of one district one factory is there but it is not only for starters, but also to benefit those of you who are already in the business so I will encourage you to bring your proposals on how you want to expand your business and send some to the one district one factory secretariat so that if the proposals are vetted and viable you can also benefit from the financial support being given”.

He noted that “in the Eastern Region, about 19 start up businesses have been given the green light by the secretariat, but you are lucky because you are already in the business so you stand a greater chance of being supported”.

Dela Gadzanku, the Eastern and Volta Area Manager of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), who was impressed with the activities of the industries encouraged them to do more.

“I must say that I am highly impressed with the activities of these local industries, the number of jobs they have created is very relieving and I believe they can do more if the necessary things are made available to them. I want to assure them that the Association of Ghana Industries will continue to champion the course of our members and industries in general for us to be able to provide more jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the country”.

By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

Source: citifmonline.com