The highly anticipated Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam and the Tomato Factory projects will contribute to resolving the urgent economic problems that the people of the Upper East and the entire country are facing.
In addition to providing jobs for rural residents who migrate south in search of unattainable better pastures, the projects will have a major positive impact on the nation’s socioeconomic growth.
Morgan Ayawine, the Ghanaian General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), made this request during last Friday’s Upper East Regional Conference in Bolgatanga, the regional capital.
The conference was organized in advance of the 12th Quadrennial Delegates’ Conference, which the General Secretary stated would be a venue for assessing and organizing the region’s activities, holding elections for the Regional Council, women, and youth, and adopting resolutions for the upcoming of all significant events.
In November 2019, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo signed the construction contract for the $993 million project.
The previous government stated during the inauguration ceremony at the proposed project at Pwalugu in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region that the construction of the Multipurpose Dam project was intended to address three important issues: irrigation, flood control, and hydropower generation.
To make room for the project, more than 900 households—including 4,228 residents from 22 towns in the main reservoir—were to be evacuated.
In his keynote speech at the conference, Mr. Ayawine begged the current administration to give the building of the Multipurpose Dam and the Tomato Factory, two significant projects in Pwalugu, top priority.
“So many industries and businesses have been left to go fallow. This is a serious concern of the Union, as it is exacerbating the already precarious unemployment situation in the country,” he said.
The General Secretary, who is also a native of the area, expressed regret that the Pwalugu Tomato Factory had been abandoned for years, leaving many indigenous people living in poverty.
In light of this, he pointed out that the government must restart the factory in order to provide the necessary job opportunities for the hordes of young people without jobs and to realize the factory’s economic potential.
Additionally, he said, it would save the nation the foreign exchange that was needed to import tomatoes.
He said that re-awarding the contract and carrying it through to completion would help enhance agriculture, “so it is evident its economic benefits would be enormous,” in reference to the abandoned building of the multifunctional dam at Pwalugu.
Additionally, Mr. Ayawine utilized the forum to caution delegates to actively engage in all discussions and make decisions that align with the organization’s goals and objectives.
Since every company endeavor requires two distinct entities, such as labor and employer, to make it operational and profitable—the two primary goals of business—he argued for a closer link between unions and management, arguing that every commercial endeavor has an inherent democratic system.
He reiterated that in light of the urgent economic challenges, the government, employers, and labor must prioritize promptly addressing labor-related issues in order to prevent industrial actions. He stated that productivity suffered greatly when there was no peace and union in the field of labor relations.
Source: newsthemegh.com