Gov�t Will Stop Dumping Of Inferior Goods - Prez Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has given an assurance that the government will stop the dumping of inferior foreign goods on the Ghanaian market.

Responding to concerns raised by officials of Aluworks Limited about the continuous dumping of such goods on the country from the Far East, President Mahama said he had discussed the issue with the Minister of Trade and Industry to see how to curtail the practice.

"We'll use mechanisms at our disposal to stop the dumping of substandard goods on the Ghanaian market," he promised. Calls over the years on successive governments to enforce stringent regulations on inferior foreign consumer product imports have failed to yield results.

The assurance from the President could, however, give a measure of hope to indigenous manufacturers whose products, ranging from household items to clothing and consumables, have had to endure unfavourable competition from inferior goods sold at cheap prices on the local market.

Visit

President Mahama made the promise when he visited Aluworks in Tema on Tuesday to acquaint himself with the company’s operations in the face of the national power crisis. The company manufactures aluminium coils, flat sheets, circles and corrugated roofing sheets.

The visit was also in line with his effort to help promote indigenous industries and the patronage of made-in-Ghana goods.

He also visited the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), which supplies raw materials to Aluworks, on a similar mission.

The President commended the management and staff of Aluworks for their hard work, which he said had enabled the company to stay in operation despite the power shortage.

"Government is behind you and we will continue to encourage you and do everything possible for you to carry on with your work," he told them, adding that everything was being done to restore the power deficit.

VALCO

At VALCO, President Mahama said the government was working hard to restore VALCO as the flagship industry of the nation and also revive other key industries that the first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, left for the nation but which had become non-functional.

He touched on how the power crisis had negatively affected VALCO's operations. "So I have given the directive that as soon as we have enough power, any extra power should be given to VALCO so that you can expand and bring more potlines into operation," President Mahama said to applause from the workers.

The company is currently operating only one of its five pot lines, but the President assured, "VALCO will rise again."

On the revival of other industries, President Mahama mentioned the GIHOC Shoe factory in Kumasi that had already come on board and was producing boots used by the security agencies and said "we are looking at expanding it to stop the importation of safety boots".

Besides, he said, the Komenda sugar factory was on the road to revival to reduce the importation of sugar.

"As we get more power, we want to revive the Aboso Glass factory," the President added.

He later inspected rehabilitation work on the Klagon-Lashibi-Ashaiman road, which is progressing.