Peter Azaare, a member of the NPP’s Upper East Regional Communication Team has explained that a lot of work went into the building of the Leather Factory at Yorogo, a suburb of Bolgatanga.
While the factory’s building has been completed, the necessary machines are yet to be procured and then fitted for operations to begin. Mr. Azaare, speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show explained that the current situation at Yorogo doesn’t indicate failure on the part of the government.
It would be recalled 4 months after it came to light that the government was scurrying around the world in search of machines to install at the Yorogo leather factory, the situation remains unchanged. The Yorogo leather facility falls under the government’s One Factory One District (1D1F).
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, on March 1, 2022, the MCE for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga explained that there was some initial difficulty in acquiring the right equipment for the conversion of animal hides into leather.
Speaking in a recent interview [Friday, July 29, 2022] about the state of the leather factory, the MCE, Rex Asanga noted that the situation remains unchanged.
“As you know, the infrastructure has been completed. What we are waiting for is the installation of leather tanning machines. That has been the problem. The Ministry of Trade is having difficulty in getting machines.”
“They have looked around all the factories that used to produce the leather. All the factories that used to produce them have actually shut down so that has been the challenge. That is what has stalled up to now.”
The authorities have turned their attention “to Burkina Faso and see because some of these Francophone countries tend to have some of these things. I have made contact with one of our sons who is there as a priest in Ouagadougou to find out if we can get some there. The difficulty is actually in getting the machines installed.”
Mr. Azaare explained that the situation is nothing out of the ordinary.
“In Yorogo for example, everything is set, it is left with the machines. The MCE is working assiduously to ensure that are got and brought to the place. You can’t get the machines [before completing the buildings]. Where do you keep the machines?”
“Building the factory, we are doing it in Ghana here but bringing the machines, we cannot determine when [that would be ready]. The machines have been produced somewhere. We would then have to buy them and ship them to Ghana. So for that one, we do not have absolute control over that one. What we have absolute control over is to ensure that contractor is able to put up the building.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
