Akosombo, Aug 7, GNA - Production at the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) has been grounded for the past two weeks due to shortage of black oil. The black oil is a waste product from the Tema Oil Refinery and a critical component in the manufacturing of all textile products including ABC wax at ATL.

The Factory Manager, Mr S.Y Lui, told the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, when he paid a visit to ATL, the Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) and the Akwamu Traditional Council on Thursday. He told the minister that apart from the shortage of the oil that had stopped their production, the influx of imported textile on the Ghanaian market was posing a big challenge for ATL since for some reasons, the cost of production in the country is high. Mr Lui said the parliamentary select committee had been there and assessed the state of ATL and stressed the need for taxes to be imposed on the imported textile.

He said due to the impressive performance of ATL, the ABC wax had gained the patent rights from Manchester to produce it locally in Ghana and called for government support in maintaining that feat.

Mr Lui refuted allegations that the company was polluting the source of water for the surrounding communities and that ATL operated strictly according to the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency Laws and that had won them several awards.

At VREL, the Managing Director, Mr Anthony Blay, said the company exported 4,500 boxes of banana and pineapples weekly and had a workforce of about 650 workers mostly from the area.

He said due to the wind disaster that collapsed the farms some years ago, the company had embarked on firm strategies to ensure that in the event of strong winds, the plantations would not be affected. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the visit was to assess the state of industries, organizations and agencies in the region which contribute to the socio-economic growth and know their challenges and help find solutions to them.

He said both the ATL and the GREL were standard organizations that could attract investors and commended the leadership and staff of the companies for their hard work even in the face of difficulties particularly ATL.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said he was not happy about the shortage of black oil at ATL and pledged to contact the appropriate ministries to find ways of addressing the problem for ATL to start production as quickly as possible. He assured them that government was mindful of the influx of textile products to the country and its attendant problems to the local industry and would do everything possible to address the problem. 07 Aug 09