Aide to former President John Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mogtari has described as unrealistic, government’s latest indication to complete 181 projects under the one district one factory policy by the end of the year.
According to her, government has failed to measure up to its own timelines under this policy on a number occasions; a situation that makes it difficult for further promises to be taken seriously.
Speaking on Breakfast Daily on Citi TV, Joyce Bawa said government must face reality and tell Ghanaians the truth about the challenges in implementing the policy.
“If for example you were telling us that so far we promised 181 [factories] and we have done just twenty, that will be a better conversation. That will give us something to stand on. We could go back and evaluate the first twenty, see how many people they have engaged and what sort of jobs they have created in the first place. I think a mere huff and a puff is not what we are looking for,” she said.
She was also of the view that the NPP government has nothing better to offer Ghanaians.
“[The NPP] Government still thinks they are in the propaganda business and now [that] the election is around the corner, they are back to the same hymn book. They are trying to promise the world, trying to promise all sorts of things that if you give us a second term, you will get better roads, you will get better drinking water, you will get better infrastructure.”
There are currently 57 of the One District One Factory projects operational out of 181 planned projects.
22 of the 181 projects, according to government, are under construction, and the remaining are set to commence implementation before the end of 2019.
About 95 percent are local companies while four percent are joint-venture companies.
The projects set to commence by the end of 2019 include small scale processing facilities, common user processing facilities financed from sources ranging from local private finance initiatives (PFIs), African Development Bank (AfDB) and CNB facility.
Source: citinewsroom.com