The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has inaugurated a nine-member board for the Ghana Trade Fair Company with a charge to protect the assets of the centre.
According to him, there have been complaints of abuses of public resources and public funds at the trade fair, which needs attention. He, therefore, urged the board to clean up all financial malfeasance at the centre.
The minister also revealed that some equipment bought before 2009 had vanished although the centre was paying for it. He stressed that “some equipment was bought from a Spanish company and we are asked to pay debt in association with that equipment, and we cannot even trace it.”
He, therefore, tasked the board, which comprises Ms Hannah Amoateng as the Chairperson and Nii Kpobi Tetteh Tsuru II (LA Manste), Mrs Benita Sena Okity-Duah, Mrs Rosalind Kudoadzi and Mrs Comfort Adjei as members, to protect the trade fair and its assets.
The other board members are Ms Annie Letsu-Tetteh, Mrs Habiba A. Tanko, Mr Joshua Akamba and Mr Ebenezer Okpoti Koney.
Other duties
The minister also charged them to ensure the promotion of made-in-Ghana goods while special attention must be given to manufacturers.
He said he would soon commission a team, to be led by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nii Lamptey Vanderpuije, to visit a number of malls and shops in Ghana to assess the prominence being given to locally manufactured goods.
“I hear some of these shop owners have an attitude; they are not giving prominence to manufactured Ghanaian goods. Government takes a strong exception to that position and we would accordingly do a physical examination of it and ask for appropriate remedial measures as part of our quest to promote made-in-Ghana goods across the country,” he added.
He also charged the board to come up with a definite management for the trade fair, adding that “you must have a functional and effective management to supervise the day-to-day administration of the Ghana Trade Fair Company”.
Mr Iddrisu also asked them to ensure that all those who owed rent for using the trade fair premises paid back.
Chairperson’s response
Ms Hannah Amoateng expressed the board’s gratitude to the President for the recognition given them and assured the minister that they would work diligently to transform the Trade Fair Centre into one that would attract a lot of investors.
This article has 0 comment, leave your comment.