Yen Nyeya, a member of the Social Justice Movement (SJM) has wondered why the government has not been bothered to resuscitate the Pwalugu Tomato Factory under its One District One Factory Policy (1D1F).
Mr Nyeya explained that when revamped, the factory could create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs for farmers and those along the agribusiness value changing; thus putting money directly into the pockets of Ghanaians.
He said if the government was committed to alleviating the plight of farmers and citizens in the region, the government would have, as a matter of urgency, revamped the tomato factory and encouraged farmers to grow more tomatoes to feed the factory.
Mr Nyeya this government and all the other that came before it, as lazy, unthinking and as ones that refuses to address the myriad of problems Ghanaians are faced with.
He shared these sentiments when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today, Monday, May 2, 2022.
“Nobody can say that in Ghana we have not made attempts [at industrialisation] at all. Look at the tomato factory down here. Look at the meat factory here in the Upper East Region. Could you have imagined that through the government’s 1D1F, we had done this, the amount of income and taxes that we would have generated?”
“We could have encouraged our tomato farmers to farm the tomatoes to feed the factory. I am old enough; people used to come to Zanlerigu to buy tomatoes to Kumasi. Now, nobody does that,” he said.
Mr Nyeya suggested that if the government had committed itself properly to industrialization as it claims, the companies would have generated more incomes for the government and it may not have needed to burden the already cash-strapped-Ghanaian with the E-levy.
It would be recalled that the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) has sought the services of a transaction advisor to ensure the revitalization of the Northern Star Tomato Factory in Pwalugu in the Upper East Region. The Advisor has undertaken all feasibility studies while financial considerations have been settled. All things being equal, the Northern Star Tomato Factory will be operational next year.
The Upper East Regional Director of Business Resource Centre (BRC) Michael Abogoro shared these when he spoke to Samuel Mbura on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show. He reiterated the government’s commitment to industrialisation saying that there are other small to medium scale factories that will be operationalized in the region soon.
Efforts by A1 News to reach the Regional Director of the BRC, Michael Abogoro to give updates on the operationalization of the facility has since proved futile.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
