TEXTILE INDUSTRY SUFFERING EVEN IN FREE ZONES

Dr Ekwow Spio Garbrah

The state of textile and garment industry, even in Free Zone enclaves is poor.

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. Ekow  Spio-Garbrah said this during a tour of the Tema Free Zone Enclave.

Ghana’s once vibrant textile industry has suffered many reverses since the country adopted a liberialisation programme.

Part of the liberialisation programme was the creation of Free Zone enclaves to give selected industries advantages to make them internationally competitive.

But it seems even in the Free Zones, the textile sector is struggling. Dr. Spio-Garbrah during his tour, warned against illegal sub-leasing of government buildings saying that “instead of handing over buildings and plots to the Ministry, some companies have on their own decided to illegally rent out such government facilities to other companies.

He asked the industries to make self diagnosis and come out with appropriate growth oriented strategies, adding that government was bent on creating an enabling atmosphere for them to flourish.

The Trade Minister  said the government wanted to support the manufacturing sector to make it a viable vehicle for job creation.

Despite the assertions of support, the local textile industry is finding the hardest to compete against imports often smuggled  to avoid payment of taxes.

The phenomena are also having a negative impact of the industries in Free Zones as their products originally meant for a depressed export market, is also finding it hard to find space in the domestic market.

Editorial

Good News

Last week, representatives of organized labour ,employers and the Government met to conclude discussions on the recent increase of utility tariffs.

At the end of the discussions all the parties reached agreement on the need  to protect the disadvantaged from the astronomical increases and announced specific  measures to that effect.

The Insight recognize that the negotiation did not lead to any change in policy which has been largely responsible for the frequent increases in utility tariffs for more than two decades.

It is therefore possible and likely that the increases will once  again occur.

The good news is that the power of the organized masses has been manifested.

The message is clear that if the masses organize and insist on their rights, the authorities will always cave in.

This is a victory for the organization and persistence of the masses and the struggle must continue until the resources of Ghana are controlled by the people of Ghana and exploited for their benefit.