About a year after the building for the Yorogo Leather Factory was completed and handed over to the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly, the factory is yet to begin operating.
Information available to this website suggests that the Ministry of Trade, through the government’s flagship industrialization programme, One District One Factory, has been unable to find machines for the operation of the facility.
When Rex Asanga spoke with A1 Radio’s Mark Smith recently, he admitted that it has been difficult getting information relevant to the operation of the facility.
“I don’t know myself if I have any answers to the questions [about the operations of the facility]. The building has been completed, some furniture was brought in there and they asked us to provide security and all that.”
“It is the Ministry of Trade. As an assembly, we don’t have the power. We are only told that they haven’t got the machines. I do not have answers to that,” he told Mark Smith.
It would be recalled that in March 2022, when Mr. Asanga spoke on the same platform, he mentioned that the leather factory under the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) policy of the Akufo-Addo led government would be made operational as soon as authorities are able to procure the right machinery for its operations.
He said attention has been turned to Burkina Faso in an attempt to get the needed equipment. Once that is done, the 60 youth who have been selected to run the place will spring into action.
When Mr. Asanga again spoke to the issue on Friday, July 29, 2022, about the state of the leather factory, the MCE, Rex Asanga, noted that the situation remained 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.”
Meanwhile, according to Mr. Asanga, plans are afoot to properly acquire and register the land the factory is situated on.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
