The Suame Magazine Industrial Park will
re-settle the local artisans who are currently faced with the difficulty of coping
with the new technology in vehicular repairs and securing a permanent
industrial space for their operations.
The committee has a mandate to secure the
necessary documentation on a thousand acre land at Kodie-Adubinsu-Kese in the
Afigya-Kwabre District earmarked for the project.
This should be achieved by end of June
for the project to attract a multi-donor partnership support, spearheaded by
the Danish
International Development Cooperation (DANIDA).
According
to Lars Joker, DANIDA Team Leader for Business and Green Growth, the Danish interventions
at the Suame Magazine will focus on training, technology transfer, especially
auto-diagnostics, and better working environment for the artisans.
“If you look at Suame Magazine today,
it’s very crowded, working conditions are not too good; it can be unsafe – fire
and environmental problems. What we are looking at is can we support Suame
Magazine in that relocation, can we support them in developing better
facilities for the companies out there so they can grow,” he noted.
The quest of the Suame Magazine Industrial
Development Organization (SMIDO) is to enlist all stakeholders to support the
project.
Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, Consultant to
SMIDO and the industrial complex project, is confident the inaugurated
committee is a boost to meeting the demands of DANIDA.
The project committee is chaired by the
District Chief Executive Officer of the Afigya-Kwabre, Kaakyire Oppong-Kyekyeku
under whose jurisdiction the earmarked land for the industrial complex project
is located.
Other members include Mrs. Emelia
Botchway, District Coordinating Director, Isaac Owusu Mensah, District Planning Officer and Mr. Eric
Yaw Owusu, District Engineer.
The rest are Clement Sarpong, Chairman
of SMIDO Land Committee,
Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, Consultant to SMIDO, Mark Williams, a representative of
the Danish Embassy, Palma Afesi, from the United Pension Trustee, corporate
Managers of the Suame Magazine Industrial Development (SMID) Fund and Nana
Owusu Apeasa II, Chief of Adubinsu-Kese, custodian of the project land.
Ashanti Regional Deputy Minister, Samuel
Adusei, inaugurating the committee on behalf of the Regional Minster, commended
SMIDO for demonstrating rare perseverance and leadership in the pursuit of the
project.
“The whole world is expecting something
good comes out of Suame Magazine which is the hub of vehicle repairs and sales of
parts and host of artisanal works in West African sub-region. The dream of Ghanaians
is that Suame Magazine and the mix of artisans with the skills to handle all types
of vehicles should be in a position to come out with its own make of cares to contribute
to Ghana’s industrialization effort”.
The Suame artisans last year unveiled the
“SMATI Turtle 1” prototype vehicle, locally built in partnership with an NGO from
the Netherlands.
Story
by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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