Industrialist calls for pragmatic policies to develop Ghana’s wood sector

Mr Francis Dzokoto, an industrialist, has advocated for pro-active policies and programmes that would sustain the management and development of Ghana’s wood industry.

He said such policies must aim at supporting wood workers, especially carpenters with facilities such as soft loans and technical expertise to enable them adopt the best practices for their work.

Mr Dzokoto was speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Concerned Wood Workers Association of Anloga in Kumasi at the week-end.

He said an emerging economy like Ghana must encourage private sector development adding that the wood industry if properly developed could serve as a major source of employment for the youth.

Mr Dzokoto congratulated Professor John Evans Atta Mills on his election as the president of Ghana but added with a call on government to investigate how loans meant for a re-location of the Sokoban Wood Village workers were allegedly diverted for other purposes.

He said the inability of the workers to access the loans which was provided by the French Government had made the evacuation of carpenters from Anloga to the new proposed site very difficult.

Mr Dzokoto, who is also the Chairman of the Association, underscored the need to create additional new sites because the wood workers population had grown tremendously.

He said the 420 carpentry sheds at the Village were inadequate to accommodate all members.

The industrialist said it was unfortunate that even though the idea behind the re-location of the workers was laudable, the actions of some of the members of the Committee responsible for the relocation were hampering effective evacuation of the carpenters.

Source: GNA