1D1F Farce; Amputee Industrial Group in Quagmire

Whereas Government is tauting One District, One Factory (1D1F) for the industrialization of the country thereby creating employment, an amputee industrial group, Ghana Dreams Disability Foundation and Agyenkwa Beverage Limited, which is into beverage production has been left in the quagmire, as all efforts to seek governmental assistance have fallen on the rocks.

According to the group, they numbered over a thousand throughout the country and since they cannot pour out into the streets begging as others do, they have come together to form this association to enable them fend for themselves through many ways and one of these is production of beverages.

They maintained that they have subsequently registered their company for this purpose and obtained certification from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for their products which consist of 100% natural fruits.

Notable amongst them are passion fruit mix, pineapple Ginger mix, Cocktail fruit mix and many more.

This came to light in an exclusive interview with Newslinegh.com at the factory as Shine Villa.

Wild Goose Chase for Assistance

Mr. Richard Offei, president of the group stated that they started this move as far back as 2018 on a small scale.

However, high profiled personalities in the country such as Former President John Agyekum Kuffour, the then Hon. Alban Sumana Bagbin, who is now Speaker of Parliament, members of parliament and many others were all introduced to their products

He said in all these encounters, these high profiled persons commended their products and gave them their blessings.

Mr. Offei stated that in 2020, it downed on them to acquire a place at Shine Villa in the Gomoa East Assembly of the Central Region, with the aim of making production of a larger scale so as to ensure employment for members.

With this in mind, they wrote letters to ministries, departments and agencies for financial assistance to meet their aims and aspirations.

He indicated that as if that was not enough, they made personal follow ups but to no avail. According to him, even in some cases, they were met with hostile attitudes.

Mr. Offei mentioned some of the places they sought for financial assistance, that included the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; The Ministry of Finance; The Ministry of Trade; The Gender Ministry; Business Development and many more but all to no avail.

Churches to the Rescue But…

According to Mr. Offei, in desperation, they run to the churches, and thankfully, the Methodist and Apostolic Churches bought them one madvine each for their production; but even then, this fell below expectation since they need capital to enable them acquire the basic logistics for operation.

He indicated that as amputees, there is no gain in saying they need a car to move about, but vehicles of all sorts ranging from production to distribution were needed to assist them in the factory.

Slammed With Eviction Order

What has worsened the already despicable plight is that they have been slammed with an eviction order by their landlord, who believes they cannot pay for their rent.

Desperation sets in

According to the group, with all these seemingly unsurmountable problems, they are now at their wits end, i.e. either to pour into the streets begging as their collegues or to leave the shores of this country, for a more friendly country, where they could possibly be treated better. Any help from Mecidonia?

Source: Stephen.O. Ankamah/www.newslinegh.com

 

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