79 Factories to Commence Operation - Alan Kyeremateng

By Julius Yao Petetsi

BY the end of this year, 79 factories would have commenced operation or received approval from participating financial institutions to be ready to begin implementation, under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) Policy, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan John Kwadjo Kyerematen, has revealed.

Mr Kyerematen said additionally 22 flagship large scale projects are to be financed under the Ministry of Trade-China Nation Building Materials US$400 million facility.

Answering questions on the floor of Parliament in Accra yesterday, Mr Kyerematen, said the Greater Accra Region would have 22, Eastern, 14, Brong-Ahafo, 13, Ashanti 13, Central, eight, Northern, six, Volta, Western and Upper West, one each and none for the Upper East Region.

The projects, Mr Kyerematen said were currently at various stages of completion.

The 1D1F programme is a private led initiative facilitated by government, which aims at establishing factories in all 254 districts across the country, to process and add value to the country's natural resources.

On plans to ensure that the companies took into consideration the environmental impact on the country Mr Kyerematen said the factories would operate under an environmental impact policy.

He said "it is mandatory for anyone who plans to undertake any commercial activity particularly in the area of manufacturing and industry in general to factor the planning of the project and measures to address the environmental impact," he told the lawmakers.

Mr Kyerematen said "the ministry as part of its facilitation role to support business promoters, all projects being implemented under the One District, One Factory initiative, would incorporate mechanisms to address the environmental impact as stipulated by law."

Mr Kyeremanten said specific measures such as controlling the generation, treatment, storage, transportation, and disposal of industrial waste, prevention of discharge of waste into the environment and the protection and improvement of the quality of the environment were being considered in formulating the business loans for the selected projects under the policy.

"Mr Speaker, to ensure that all the statutory requirements including environmental issues are adhered to by the business promoters, the ministry has set up a District Implementation Support Teams (DIST) in all districts, to support the business promoters in meeting all statutory requirements when setting up the factories," Mr Kyeremanten indicated.

The teams, he said, were made up of representatives from institutions that have specific roles to play in respect of the acquisition of permits, licenses, certificates including provisions of other essential services.

The institutions, Mr Kyeremanten enumerated, included the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drugs Authority, the Ghana Standards Authority, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Water Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Read Full Story