Wa, March 27, GNA - An indigenous factory for fruit processing to utilize fruits in the Upper West Region was inaugurated at Wa on Thursday. The factory was built with proceeds from the sister city relationship between Wa and Ieper in Belgium.

The Wa Municipal Assembly spent 140,000 Ghana Cedis to put up the building while the Ieper city provided 45,000 euros for the machinery, equipment and technical training.

Madam Winifred Asibi Bawa Dy-Yakah, Deputy Upper West Regional Minister who inaugurated it, said the facility was in line with government's commitment to promote locally based manufacturing facilities to generate employment and wealth.

She said government had since 2003 granted tax exemptions to agro processing industries that would operate in the North as a measure of promoting industrialization in that part of the country. Madam Dy-Yakah regretted that in-spite of that intervention, the response, especially from the private sector had not been encouraging. She expressed the hope that the establishment of the factory would motivate others to open more factories in the region. She commended the Wa-Ieper city relationship, which began in 2002 for generating resources to provide essential equipment and materials for health, education and sanitation and to cater for the welfare of children in the Wa Municipality.

The Deputy Regional Minister urged the Wa Municipal Assembly to build the capacities of local people to mann the factory and come out with a viable working plan to ensure the sustainable running of the factory throughout the year.

"The effective involvement of stakeholders in the decision making process of the factory as well as making good use of all human and material resources available in the region must be our concern", she

Mr Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ieper city, said the facility would sustain agricultural production, raise incomes of farmers, address the high unemployment rate and bring about economic development of the region.

He urged the Wa Assembly, which was currently running the factory to ensure that its products met international standards to compete favourably with drinks like Coca-Cola.

Mr. Abdul Aziz Mohammed, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, expressed the hope that the factory would help mobilize revenue for the assembly to undertake more development projects

He said the facility would also help to reduce poverty among the people as it would create job opportunities for youth in the region. Mr. Mohammed said Ieper had spent about 3,150 Euros in providing hospital materials and equipment as well as a refuse compact truck to improve healthcare delivery and sanitation in the Municipality. He said Belgiun had also supported the Birth and Deaths Department with basic logistics such as bicycles and computers to enhance their registration exercise.