Govt must not neglect furniture industry – woodworkers

Ghanaian woodworkers have challenged government to demonstrate commitment to reviving the furniture industry.

“We would expect that government will put in place policies and interventions to bring the industry up to scratch in order to strengthen the capacity of local furniture workers to overcome challenges and competition in the industry”, they noted.

This was contained in a statement issued jointly by four Associations in the wood industry, copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi on Thursday.

The Associations are the Furniture and Wood Products Association of Ghana (FAWAG), Woodworkers Association of Ghana (WAG), Ghana Timber Millers Association (GTMA) and Ghana Timber Millers Organization (GTMO).

The statement said the country had reached a stage “where local furniture workers find it almost impossible to compete with the influx of foreign products onto the Ghanaian market”.

Statistics from the annual furniture imports, captured by the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) reveal that in the year 2013, total imported furniture from China into the country was GH¢ 60.9 million, and this increased to GH¢ 76 million in 2014.

The woodworkers noted that with the huge potentials and prospects that the industry provides - employing over 40, 000 local artisans - the nation must take bold steps to strengthen the sector for economic growth.

There is the need to invest in state-of-the-art equipment, training programmes and also provide credit facilities with low interest rates to strengthen the local industry.

The statement said local furniture workers had proven beyond all reasonable doubt that they were capable of meeting local and international demands if well-resourced.

“A good number of the pieces of imported furniture fall apart after few years if not months. There are in fact many examples of made-in Ghana furniture that are still in use after 40 years of manufacture”, the workers said.