Why the wait to implement ‘One District, One Factory’ initiative?

One of the major causes of rural/urban migration has to do with the lack of job opportunities for people living in the rural parts of the country.

Farming, which is the mainstay of many of these rural folks, is at an all-time low because there are no irrigation facilities to provide all-year-round water to make up for the drastic reduction in rainfall.

In many other parts of the country, factories such as the Pwalugu Tomato Factory in the Northern Region, jute and shoe factories in the Ashanti Region, Asutuary Sugar Factory in the Eastern Region among many others have all collapsed due to lack of attention by successive governments over the years. The youth population in these regions is growing at an alarming rate, leaving many with no other choice but to migrate to the capital city in search for non-existent jobs.

Today, the population of Accra has ballooned beyond five million and is increasing on a daily basis.

Many of the youth who sit on trucks transporting yam, tomatoes and onions from the hinterlands never return to the areas they come from. Once they arrive, they locate their friends and relatives in Accra and decide to stay back.

In the markets, the large number of girls who flock into the city is also alarming and this is evident by the increasing number of head porters ‘kayayee’, most of whom are also put in the family way after they are raped in many instances.

Studies by many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) clearly indicate that these migrants will be willing to return to their various regions if they have the opportunity to work and earn a living. To them, their being in the city is as a result of, among other things, the lack of job opportunities at where they came from.

Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Alan Kyeremanten

Against this background, the GRAPHIC BUSINESS finds the intention of the new government to implement its manifesto promise of ensuring that each district has a factory a welcome idea which will go a long way to help reduce what is becoming a canker in the capital.

It is refreshing to learn how many Ghanaians, both local and abroad, are making enquiries all over to see how best the “One District, One factory” initiative of the government will be implemented. There are also moves by foreign investors to know more about the initiative to see how best they can leverage the opportunity to invest in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Yofi Grant, in his business travels to some countries including Dubai, Turkey and London, has confirmed to the media how curious investors are to know what there is to enable them to invest in the country.

Much as the government is still fresh in the system, there is the need for the various ministries and authorities responsible for the implementation of this laudable initiative to come up with modalities on how the implementation will be executed. There should not be any more time-wasting on this. We do not have to delay any further because the interest shown so far may wane and the opportunities thereof may elude us.

The paper believes that the thought of the initiative was conceived way back during the electioneering campaign and some work as to how it would be implemented had been put on paper. It is therefore time to add some flesh to it and make it happen soon and not later.

The people are hungry for jobs and so are the investors who are also hungry to set up to make some returns on their investments.

The ball now is in the government’s court. Many have welcomed the initiative and there should not be any more excuses.