The prototype Ghanaian model vehicle designed and manufactured by the artisans of Suame Magazine using simple local tools from a cluster of engineering workshops in Suame Magazine has received its greatest boost and support from the Dutch Government.

The car named: SMATI TURTLE 1 was built by the artisans through a partnership initiative between the Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) and a Dutch Based foundation, Aardschap Foundation.

According to the Consultant to SMIDO, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, information reaching them from Holland where the car was shipped to for international exhibition and promotion caught the interest of the Dutch Government who have concluded agreements with the team led by Melles Smets to sponsor the entire cost of the testing of the vehicle in the Netherlands.

According to Mr. Azongo, the test is normally conducted for the giant auto-manufacturing companies because of the huge cost involved in the exercise, and for the Dutch Government to undertake to absorb the cost of this very expensive exercise simply because they have been impressed with the concept of the SMATI Turtle 1 is an impressive outcome and a boost to Suame Magazine’s quest to manufacture a Ghanaian car model for the African Market. With the current arrangements, Officials from the RDW mechanics (National Service for Vehicles) in the Netherlands are set to do a full test on the National test site in the Netherlands next month at the expense of the Government of the Netherlands’. Mr. Azongo also disclosed that there has been significant advances in their attempt to partner a car company in Kenya to build SMATI TURTLE 1 as an African brand, and it is important to give the Ghanaian public updates of the progress of the Ghanaian Model car.

The new President of SMIDO, Mr. Sarpong Boateng, who doubles as the Chairman of the Mechanical Association of Suame Magazine in an interview called on the Government of Ghana to emulate the gesture by the Dutch Government for budgetary allocation in the budget of 2014 to assist SMIDO to establish the Suame Magazine Automatics Technical Institute (SMATI) which is currently being branded at the international Level by this vehicle.

According to the Acting President of SMIDO, this is a value of what they can contribute to nation building and Ghana’s international image and indifference by their own Governments would be hard to fathom.

He said, the SMATI intends to formalize the apprenticeship system as an alternative institution for admissions to absorb the huge backlog of school dropouts between the JHS-SSS and the SSS-Tertiary educational streams into practical engineering & entrepreneurial training to serve Ghana and the African industrialization & employment needs for her socio-Economic Development.