By Emmanuel Agyemfra Boateng
The President inaugurated a Tomato processing factory in Tema somewhere last week as reported by GraphicOnline.com.The Tomato processing factory which belongs to the manufacturers of Pomo and Gino tomato paste respectively. Thats a step in the right direction,seeing investors coming into your country.
Yes, we all pray for investors to troop in in a way to create jobs to cut down on youth unemployment. But we shouldn’t forget we have similar companies here Ghana left to rot in the bushes! My concern will be on abandoned factories in the North, if which are revamped will cut down on Northern youths descending down to do menial jobs.
The Upper West Region had a Fruit Juice factory, Wa Fruit Juice Company Ltd which started operations in February 2009 and collapsed in October 2009 due to production problems. They have been appealing to government ever since and nothing is being than to revamp this factory which once employed a chunck of the unemployed youths in and around the Region.]
The Upper East Region sometime ago pride itself to be one of the Regions in Ghana to have three processing factories. The Northern Star Tomato Factory, which is located in Pawlugu in the Talensi District, now a tourist site without a tourist guide. The once pride of Upper East is now a white elephant because farmers who produced the raw tomatoes were not paid when their produce were bought from them by the company and many other reasons which would’ve been solved by the Ministry of Trade and Industries.
We are inaugurating a foreign company which is into tomato production whiles we have the most nutritious raw tomatoes ever THE BOLGA TOMATOES and twe look unconcern whiles the NSTC in Pawlugu is taken over by squatters and serpents.
The Ghana Rice Production Company is located in Zuarungu also in the Upper East Region and this company is now the hub of drug peddlers and squaaters! all what the region used to boast of is fading away whiles the future leaders of the region are left to descend to the south to leave slums and leave on menial jobs.
GIHOC Meat Production Company is in Dulugu and the last time they did production was in 1995! Ghana wouldn’t have been importing corned beef if this Meat Processing factory was alive.
I write this with passion because it pains me to see all these important factories left to deteriorate and we sit unconcerned as if nothing is happening. Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah did the North no evil by setting up all these factories because he knew the North is the Bread basket of the Country.
Successive governments after Dr. Nkrumah were only to maintain these factories but what are we seeing, what wrong have the Northern Youth committed, that he/she cant boast of a single factory after all the raw materials they produce?
What good is a nation if it doesn’t give much attention to it5s Agriculture sector but only know of talk..Talk…talk? This is not the time the Northern youth should sit unconcerned and say we can’t do anything about this, as KSM wrote, WE MUST CHANGE THE MEMO and it shouldn’t be tomorrow but NOW!
The North deserves much more than what we are seeing now.Dr.Kwame Nkrumah wanted to stop the notion that northern youths are known for Fufu pounding, kayaye, leaving in slums and other negative social vices, that is why he planned all theses factories.
I always say if we as Northerners are to be known for violence, it shouldn’t be for Election nonsense or greedy chieftaincy disputes but for the betterment of Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions respectively! If the whole world get to know that we sacked all Politicians who came to campaign because we had no factories, then we will be proud than fighting ourselves because of NPP and NDC nonsense.
This is the time we as Northern youth should sit up and ask for our fair share of the National Cake.
I call on the Ministry of Trade and Industries, Media fraternity, All Northern youths associations and sympathizers of the North to please help in echoing the need for the revamping of the dead factories.
WE SHOULD CHANGE THE MEMO……..IT’S TIME NORTHERNER
You can contact the writer on 0249542342/0508609109
