By Laudia Sawer
Tema, July 19, GNA – Dr Gideon Amenyedor, the newly elected chairman of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) Tema Region, has expressed unhappiness with the poor state of roads within the Tema industrial area.
Dr Amenyedor told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that a drive through the industrial area of Tema was becoming worrisome and burdensome for companies and their clients and customers.
“Driving through the industrial area is a big problem; something that is supposed to take you one minute can take 30 minutes. Tema is not a second city; it is the industrial hub of Ghana, and half of the national revenue comes from this area,” he said.
He said it was important that emphasis be put on the issue and an immediate solution be implemented to create an enabling environment for companies to operate in the area.
“We will draw the government’s attention to it because it is very important that the roads in Tema are very good so that manufacturers and other businesses can get to their companies on time and goods can be hauled in and out without any problems,” Dr Amenyedor said.
Touching on other challenges faced by industries, he noted that the taxes imposed on them were too much and needed to be re-looked at.
Even though the Government needed revenue for development when taxes were too high, it pushed out some of the businesses, therefore, it was better for businesses to pay reasonable taxes to enable them to grow and employ others, he said.
The GNA observed that roads linking Tema Community One and other communities to the light and heavy industrial areas were all in bad shape.
The link from the Mankoadze Roundabout through the Timber Market has big potholes that vehicles and trucks are forced to dodge whenever they ply the route, while the story is not different from the VALCO Roundabout through the Nestle Factory Road.
The trunk road from the Tema Oil Refinery to Kpone, which also has many companies, including oil companies, located along the stretch, is still under construction after more than three years that work commenced.
GNA