[ 2015-05-03 ]

Chamber of commerce angry with Mahama over dumsor comments
The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry has
described President John Mahama’s latest
comments on the power crisis as unfortunate.

The Chamber believes the president could have been
more measured in his statements about the power
challenges.

At the worker’s day celebration yesterday,
President Mahama said the crippling power crisis
which has seen electricity consumers enjoy power
for 12 hours and endure power cuts for the next 24
hours, is a temporary challenge.

He said smart businesses recognize this fact and
are therefore “not laying off workers,” but
"are rather investing more resources to expand
their production in Ghana."

His comments angered many Ghanaians who have had
to endure power rationing for years now.

It is estimated that some 5 thousand industry
workers are set to lose their jobs by September if
the situation does not improve.

The Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI),
which recently announced close to 3,000 people had
been laid off, said the president’s comments
were insensitive.

President of the Chamber, Seth Adjei Baah, said it
takes the combined efforts of many entrepreneurs
to create jobs for Ghanaians and their concerns
must be not be taken lightly.

“And if we are talking about foreigners coming
in to invest, we should look at the figures
realistically; how much has come through [foreign]
direct investment over the last one year? How many
new companies have been established and how many
people have been employed during the period,”?
he asked.

Mr. Adjei Baah said the energy crisis is a
national headache that must be cured and not
wished away.

In any case, “it is not only smart people who do
business. Some people do business because they
have to do something to live, so if they cannot do
it and employ people, then it is a challenge,”
he emphasised.

For him, “it is not a matter of being smart or
not being smart. The fact is that the energy
crisis is collapsing businesses.”

Source - Joy News

... go Back