Plans and agreements are far reached between the West Akyem Municipal Assembly (WAMA) and Domestic Lumber Trades Association (DOLTA) to construct a modern lumber (wood) market, better known as timber market, at Asamankese.
This follows an advocacy meeting held last Monday at Asamankese, the capital of the Municipality, to consider the construction of the market, which would be incorporated into the Rural Enterprise Project.
Speaking to the media shortly after the meeting with stakeholders at the Assembly Hall of the WAMA, the business service provider for the association, Mr. Cadman Dadzie, lamented that the businesses of members of the association had suffered a nosedive in recent times, following the lack of a proper market.
He averred that the proposed market, when constructed, would go a long way to improve the economic conditions of not only members of the association, but residents in the area, since the market would offer a business centre for other artisans.
Mr. Dadzie continued that the yet-to-be-constructed market would also help to check illegal lumber activities, since members of the association would become each brother’s keeper to ensure that illegal lumber activities did not take place in the market.
The advocacy meeting, which was sponsored by Business Sector Advocacy Consult (BUSAC) Fund, was attended by members of the association, representatives from the Assembly and the Regional Secretary to the Association, Mr. David Siaw, among others.
The BUSAC Fund, according to the Business Service Provider to the Association, had helped to train members on advocacy and issues of legality among other things that would improve their businesses.
The stakeholders’ workshop was primarily to brainstorm with the management of the assembly on how it can make funds available for the construction of the market through land acquisition, market accessibility, and infrastructure among others.
The establishment of a wood market at Asamankese is long overdue, and it is time the authorities paid attention to its creation, since its socio-economic contributions for the development of the municipality, far outweighed the negatives.
Mr. Nsiah Bempah Ahmed, an official from the Forestry Commission (FC), advised members of the association to press on for the establishment of a Legislative Instrument (LI) for the construction of the market and their jobs, to ensure its sustainability.
He further urged te members to adhere to the Legal Assurance System (LAS) in order not to fall into the grips of the law, as government was flushing out illegal lumber activities in the country.
In their commitment to adhere to the LAS, the association has wooed an investor who has promised investing millions of dollars to ship lumber from Guyana, Liberia and Cameroon into the country for domestic use.
The Mr. Siaw assured the government of the commitment of its members to operate within the ambit of the law.