Wednesday, April 13, 2016

MINIISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY PAYS WORKING VISIT TO TANO SOUTH DISTRICT



The Minister of Trade and Industry has paid a one day working visit to the Tano South District of the Brong Ahafo Region to visit and interact with local entrepreneurs and have a look at their workplaces.
The Minister’s visit saw him and his entourage first paying a courtesy call on the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba where he interacted with Assembly Members, Heads of various government departments and staff of the Tano South District Assembly.
In a short speech to welcome the Minister, the Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba said, the Minister’s visit was an indication of the government’s commitment of bringing governance to the doorstep of the people especially the rural communities where small scale industries are sited and outlined the various places the Minister would visit whilst in the district.
Briefing the Minister on the state of Businesses in the district, the Tano South District Head of the Business Advocacy Centre, Mr. Abdul – Mutalib Zakaria said, many people in the district have benefited from various training programmes such as soap making, grass-cutter rearing, Bee keeping and many more and said, the Tano South District Assembly through the BAC has been able to supply start-up equipment to graduates of the Bechem Rural Technology Facility who have completed a three (3) year programme in Metal fabrication and welding.
Mr. Mutalib said, farmers in the district also experience post-harvest loses which makes farmers not to keep their produce for longer periods and appealed through the Minister to government to provide storage facilities to be sited in the district since the Tano South District can boast of being one of the leading producers of tomatoes in the country.
He said, poultry farming has also gained root in the district as of such farms are springing up with people setting up their small scale farms and appealed if the government could come to their aid of such people with poultry kits.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Ekow Spio- Gabrah said, he deemed it a honour to have had the chance to visit the Tano South District to enable him has  first-hand  information on trade opportunities and Industrial establishments in the district.
Hon. Spio- Gabrah said, the Tano South District has many resources which need to be protected and developed for the future generation especially the youth and advised the unemployed youth to use their little resources to start up their businesses to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Hon. Spio-Gabrah said, government is putting in measures to turn attention on industrialization and urged all to be industrial minded. He said, the standard of the Bechem Rural Technology Facility would be raised for the facility to attain a higher status.
The Minister during his visit to the district, visited two (2) poultry farms, the cocoa Nursery project of the Cocobod , a soap manufacturing and oil palm extracting factory and the Rural Technology Facility.
The Minister in speeches at all the places he visited commended proprietors of the various workplaces and encouraged them to invest more of their resources in their operations so as to make them attain higher returns and be able to expand their businesses to be able to employ more hands as the government alone cannot solve the unemployment problem facing the country.
The Minister on a visit to the Cocoa station where a nursery project is underway was told that the government through the Bechem Cocobod has been able to nurse four hundred thousand (400,000) cocoa seedlings which would be distributed to farmers in the district in line with the government aim of making available sixteen million (16,000,000) cocoa seedlings to be distributed to farmers in the Brong Ahafo Region during the 2016 major farming season.
Proprietors of the two (2) poultry farms which the Minister visited Messrs Oppong Kyekyeku of Dwomo and Kwame Frimpong , a University graduate of Bechem appealed to the government through the Minister for a subsidy  to be put on poultry inputs such as feeds and others so that  poultry farmers could  buy more to feed their birds to enable them expand their farms.
Madam Lucy Mensah who operates the gari and oil palm establishment also appealed to the government for support in the operation of her establishment as the availability of some industrial machines at her site  would enable her expand the business and produce more and  be able to employ more hands.
The Minister on the other hand assured the proprietors of his Minister’s preparedness to come to their aid where his Ministry fits in and address the other concerns to the appropriate Ministry for the necessary measures to be taking on them.

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