The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor said the government is taking the necessary actions to crawl back and also find the measures required to revamp the sawmill industry in Ghana.
He said this when he visited the Volta Forest Products, a sawmill factory in the Volta Region, on the sidelines of his one-day tour of the region.
He said the problems and issues raised by the Manager of Volta Forest Products are not peculiar to the factory but a national industrial concern that has confronted the entire heritage sawmills industries.
The Minister pointed out forcefully that these problems are a result of years of systemic failure, actions, and inactions of successive actors.
He went on to say that, he cannot use just a singular visit to digest all of the problems and profess solutions because “there is the question of raw materials, the unsustainable exploitation of forest reserves of our country”
“These are resources which are finite and if we continue to exploit them without having regard to its sustainability, you get to the situation we find ourselves in today. The question of machinery and value addition is also considerable” He continued.
He, however, declared that his presence at the factory is a clear testimony of the government’s commitment to developing the private sector generally and the sawmill industry in particular.
Hon. Jinapor added that the government is already doing a lot to protect the forest cover of the country and revamp the industry.
“In the first term of President Akufo-Addo alone, the number of hectors of forest plantation which has been restored is more than all the hectors put together since independence and this tells you how determined we are to protect the forest cover of our country and also to get raw materials to get plywood for the local market and export to Nigeria and so on”
On his part, the Manager of the factory, Mr. Tom Amewu Duglu, expressed his gratitude to the Minister for taking the trouble to visit the factory saying that they are happy the Minister and by extensions, the government has visited and will eventually help save the situation.
He outlined several challenges the factory is facing which he said is gradually dwindling the hopes of the youth and asked for the support and help of the government through the Minister.
He said “These days, raw materials are becoming our problem and because our reach is getting further, we always need more to expand our territory. We will therefore entreat the Hon. Minister to assist us in all directions”
Volta Forestry Product is a sawmill industry in the Volta Region that manufactures plywood for the domestic market and export.
The factory operates within 10 administrative districts in both Volta and Oti Regions with the largest employing capacity of the youth, numbering up to over 850 local employments.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
