By: Emmanuel Akayeti
The Upper East Regional Minister Stephen Yakubu says Government is in negotiation with a private company to rehabilitate and revamp the Zuarungu Meat Factory in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region.
He said under the government’s flagship program of the One District One Factory policy, it is refreshing to note that a private investor is in talks with the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, and Trade and Industry on the revamping of the Zuarungu Meat Factory.
This was disclosed by the Minister to GBC Ghana Online during the second meeting of the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council held in Bolgatanga, the Regional Capital. He stated that, when the factory is revived and made operational, it will significantly contribute to the industrialization agenda of the government and create jobs for the teeming youth in the region and beyond for poverty reduction and improved livelihoods.
The meeting, which brought together Municipal and District Assemblies and other heads of departments in the region, was to share the successes and challenges of the region and forge solutions for addressing them. Located at Dulugu, a community near Zuarungu, the meat factory, one of the legacies of the first President of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was constructed and started operation in 1965.
Mr. Yakubu said raw materials for the factory were obtained from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, and the factory processed about 1,000 cans of meat daily. The factory, he added, created numerous jobs for many people, especially those in the livestock value chain and other people dealing in the sales of animals and meat.
The Minister stated that mismanagement was to blame for the factory’s demise, with its facilities deteriorating and operations ceasing in 1995, and that successive governments failed to revitalise the facility despite several campaign promises. The Regional Minister explained that the government was committed to achieving Ghana’s beyond-aid agenda through industrialization and that the Zuarungu Meat Factory would play a significant role when brought back to life.
On health, Mr. Yakubu explained that, apart from the eight district hospitals under the Agenda 111 initiative, which were at various stages of completion, the Infectious Disease Treatment Centre at Zebilla in the Bawku West District was about 100 percent complete. He added that some of the existing facilities needed minor repairs and a few basic logistics to be put to optimal use.
The Regional Minister lamented the poor referral system in the region and urged the assemblies to support the National Ambulance Service with fuel to ensure the situation was addressed.