The Association of Laundry Professionals and Dry Cleaners has held its third Business Meeting in Accra to engage the government and explore opportunities in the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan for the sector.

The Meeting which was held on the theme, “Developing the Laundry Sector in Partnership with Government” also provided a platform for Professional Launderers and Dry Cleaners to discuss challenges facing the industry such as pricing, taxes and qualified human resource.

Members also discussed other challenges and measures to curb them and the need to establish a training school.

Mr Emmanuel Djokoto, President of the Association giving a welcoming address noted that contemporary Ghanaians were gradually finding it necessary to seek laundry services since washing was tedious and time consuming, hence the need for unity among Laundry operators for the voices of their clients to be heard.

He said the sales members make would progress because they would be guided to adhere to strict code of practice, adding that the facility systems of operators would also be periodically monitored”.

“Creating a conducive environment to provide growth and satisfaction for both customers and laundry workers is one of the objectives for this step”, he said.

He said the Association will ensure that information relayed to members, public and other stakeholders was accurate, timely, and objective.

Mr Djokoto appealed to the government to consider reducing taxes on import duties, stressing that the duty on importing machines including laundry machines was now 70 per cent and exceptionally too high and retrogressed their businesses.

Mr Lukeman Abubakar, a Representative of Mr Jonas Kofi Arhin, Director of Operations at the Presidency addressing the participants said a survey conducted indicated that about 250,000 Ghanaian youth enter into the labour market every year while only two per cent were employed into the formal sector.

“Also, one out of every two people is unemployed and that is challenging to the growth of the country”, he said.

Therefore he noted that the Government needed to liaise with the private sector to achieve its goals of reducing unemployment, hence the need to consider the laundry sector employed and trained many youth.

Mr Abubakar who also represented the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan disclosed that the sector had set up interest free loans of up to GH¢200,000.00 and grants for private business entities and explained that organisations that were given loans or grants were monitored to ensure proper usage and maintenance of resources.

Mr Sydney Casely Hayford, a member of Pressure Group, Occupy Ghana, addressing the participants as the Guest of Honour advised the launderers to desist from relying on the government for support as that was a slow process.

“You must buy everything as cheap as possible, collect as early as possible, charge or sell as high as possible, and pay your workers as late as possible.

“I sit on radio and other platforms to talk and do other things to help people, but trust me that they are of selfish interest for me to be comfortable in the country I live in without needing to travel outside for comfort”, he said.

Mr Casely Hayford encouraged the Association to start a training school that would train the youth on how to use raw materials to produce detergents and other washing materials for domestic consumption.