President Akufo Addo last Thursday launched the policy at Ejura in the Ashanti Region, with a sod-cutting for the construction of a ten thousand metric ton capacity warehouse.

[contextly_sidebar id=”PwVlAWeWd3DA3OKJV0lRrj9u3cGPDaiD”]But reacting to the policy, the Minority Spokesperson on Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, Eric Opoku, said the government must rather focus on ensuring that farmers are not cheated on their produce.

“What the President launched, we are told that it will have a capacity of 10,000. We are talking about construction of 25,000 metric tonnes warehouse in the same place in the market by the previous government. If you create the impression that they do not have warehouse facilities so I want to give them warehouse so that they can have a place to sort their produce, that is not it. The facilities are there, and some are even being constructed, so adding 10,000 metric tonnes will not do anything different.”

“…As for the facilities, they have a lot of warehouse facilities in Ejura …I am worried about the fact that President Mahama started work on 25,000 capacity, and that was no news, and now you start work on 10,000, and you say that it is the best thing that ever happened in the history of agriculture in Ghana just because it has been titled 1 district, 1 warehouse? Is it because of the name or what?” Mr. Opoku asked.

The warehouse, according to the President, will not only minimize post-harvest losses, but also boost efforts in ensuring food security.

“The purpose of these warehouses will be to hold produce, and store the anticipated surplus under the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative,” President Akufo-Addo had earlier stated.

He also assured that the warehouses will be fitted with modern equipment.

“Government will accelerate the construction of the warehouse, and will ensure each of them is fitted with modern equipment including drying or freezing systems,” the President stated.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Warehouses for 1 District, 1 Factory needless – Minority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Ghana’s industrial sector recorded negative growth in recent years.

But Dr. Lloyd Amoah believes adopting the strategies of world economies like Korea will reverse the situation.

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a 3-day conference organised by Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon to commemorate 40 years of Ghana -Korea Relations this year [2017], Mr. Amoah said: “If you look at Korea today, you are looking at a country whose GDP ranges in the trillions, and for Ghana we are still in single digit billions. Clearly, the divergence is obvious, Korea is now an advanced economy producing cars and other high-value technologies with the use of robotics. Ghana’s industrial base has more or less collapsed. We recorded negative growth in the industrial sector two years ago. So we have a lot of work to do.”

“Korea had a string of leaders who managed to hold the agenda over a period of time, and that consistency and focus has made the difference. And that is the test for Ghana, and in this century it’s something that we must try to do.”

He noted that “We are having this conference so that we will be able to reflect on these things so that young Ghanaian students, scholars etc, can focus on these questions and develop capacity in this area. Let’s learn from this example,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Head of Korean Missions in Ghana, Lisa Han, recounted to Citi News projects undertaken in Ghana, saying they are signs of strong bilateral relations between the two countries.

The conference was organized by the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

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By: Caleb Kudah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The post Ghana must learn from Korea’s industralization drive – Lloyd Amoah appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The chiefs are accusing the Ghana Gas Company of not going through the right process in acquiring the land and are demanding that the company immediately legalize its ownership.

They claim they have only been presented with a few bottles of schnapps by the company so far and efforts to get them to complete the compensation process have been fruitless.

But the spokesperson for the Ghana Gas company Alfred Ogbamey has dismissed the allegations.

He told Citi Business News the allegations are untrue.

“It is certainly not true, it certainly cannot be true, that all we did was to come with some schnapps and go on the land and that they’ve called us for various or five meetings and we’ve not been coming. I am telling you on record that I, myself was with the chief at the meeting barely a month and a week ago. The chief cannot claim not to know me, he knows me very well and he knows the community… They are up to something,” Mr. Ogbamey said.

But when asked what the company had given the chiefs apart from the schnapps he told Citi Business news “You must know that the processes of acquiring land by the state are different from the processes of acquiring land if you are an individual. The state does not just go and say this is the land , I’m paying you five cedis or this is the land how much are you selling , I want to buy ? it doesn’t happen , we went to and expressed an interest in using the land, the chief gave us permission to work on the land while the land valuation board in conjunction with the chief and people of the area , value the land and put figures on it. That process does not involve us , it involves an independent arm of the state known as the land valuation board .”

Alfred Ogbamey added that a valuation board is currently looking into the matter. ‘But we are aware that the land valuation board with the active participation of the chiefs and people of various communities are working on it , and remember we are working in various communities , more than these three communities because the onshore pipeline passes through so many communities before it gets to Takoradi. That process has been ongoing and we are not in charge of it and the chiefs and people know.’

Currently, a two-week injunction filed by Awulae Kpanyinle III, has been placed on the gas project by the Sekondi High Court.

The court is expected to continue hearing the case on the injunction tomorrow.

By:  Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We followed due process to acquire land – Ghana Gas appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.