The Managing Director of the Alfah Quarcoo Casket Enterprise, Solomon Agyiri Quarcoopome, is calling on policy makers and the government to include the production and manufacturing of caskets into the syllabi of polytechnics, technical and vocational training institutions in the country.
According to Mr. Quarcoo, this will whip up interest and sustain the enterprise since the youth are reluctant to learn the trade and earn a living.
Speaking to the Daily Heritage in an interview, the director said foreign caskets are more costly than the local ones and as a nation, “we cannot still depend on imported caskets; we must therefore train the upcoming youth to learn the trade locally.”
“From the way the youth are running away from the trade, it will get to a time when we will have a problem as a country because the youth are only interested in buying and selling and not a trade,” he said.
The caskets have different names and prices depending on the quality and materials used in producing them.
The most expensive branded ones among them are Michael Jackson, Obama, Pope Francis and Komla Dumor which go for between GH¢2, 500.00 and GH¢3, 000.00, while Step by Step, Theatre and Natural caskets are the lowest priced, ranging from GH¢450.00 to GH¢1, 800.00.
Mr. Quarcoo who doubles as the chairman of the Greater Accra Casket Producers Association denied the allegation that they always pray for people to die to stay in business.
On a very good day, Mr Quarcoo revealed that he can sell at least two caskets, but on a bad day he sells nothing.
He said technology has boosted their efficiency and machines now aid in producing the designs unlike in the past when carpenters used hacksaw and other tools to produce the caskets.
He stated that the greatest challenge of the job is how to get wood to produce the caskets because wood is now very expensive and sometimes difficult to get.
The chairman said, interestingly, most of their customers are foreigners, a situation which gives the industry hope.
Another producer at the Ayigbe Town Bus Road, Christian Gablah, said the business is flourishing, but the problem is that customers don't visit frequently.
“My job is to produce caskets, even though I pray to God to enlarge my business I don't wish people dead in order to get money, God will not even listen to such a prayer,” he stated.
At the Accra Technical Training College, the assistant Head of the Wood Construction Department, Gbeku Seth also confirmed that there is no programme in the tertiary institutions' curriculum that seeks to train students in casket making.
A second year student of the same institution, Atsu Alassey said he learnt the trade from his father when growing up, but will not go back to the business because the name alone is scary.
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