Government to reactivate ceramic industry

THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah Boateng, has stated that the government is committed to re-activating the ceramic industry after the completion of the Bui Dam, to enable it provide enough energy for the industry.
He said the revival of the ceramic industry was vital as it would provide thousands of jobs to the local people.
Mr Asamoah Boateng, who is contesting for the second time as Member of Parliament for the Mfantseman West Constituency, was speaking at a rally at Mankesim at the weekend.
Mr Asamoah Boateng addressed separate crowds at Saltpond and Mankesim to officially launch his campaign in the region.
He said the government’s intention to revive the ceramic industry was a testimony to its commitment to creating more jobs in the country and in the Central Region in particular.
He said when completed, the Bui Dam would support the country’s energy needs and local industries earmarked by the government for the region.
He said among the 10 regions in the country, the Central Region was first on the agenda of the New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and that demonstrated the belief of the NPP presidential candidate in the potentials of the region.
He said the completion of the Bui Dam was critical to the sustainability of energy supply in the country and for that matter it had been one of the government’s identified targets to help in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
He said the government was sourcing funds to send more young and enthusiastic students, particularly those from the Central and Western regions overseas to benefit from training in the oil and gas industry as preparation towards the utilisation of country’s oil boom.
Mr Asamoah Boateng said also paramount on the government’s agenda for the region was the establishment of another university for the region, and, therefore, urged the people to vote for him to enable him continue his good works.
He also urged them to vote for Nana Akufo-Addo as the president of the country in the December general elections for him to move the country forward, as President Agyekum Kufuor had done.
The minister, popularly called ‘Asabee’, said he intended to set up the “Asabee Educational Fund” to offer scholarships to the youth in the constituency, particularly the less privileged, to ensure that most of them benefited from tertiary education after going through the free and compulsory primary and secondary school education under the new government headed by Nana Akufo-Addo.
He said he was sure of victory for the NPP in the December polls, and predicted that the margin between him the main opposition’s parliamentary candidate would be a difference of over 20,000 votes; an increase of 11,000 over the previous difference in the last general election.
The NPP Constituency Secretary, Mr Kofi Aduakwa-Mensah, said the launch of the campaign was significant because of the pioneering role played by the constituency in ushering in multi-party democracy in the country during the colonial era.
“Today the constituency, and for that matter, Saltpond, takes pride in being the birth place of the first political party in the country - the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) of which the NPP is the offspring”.
He said victory for the NPP was certain and, therefore, urged the rank and file of the party to conduct their campaign with decorum, stressing that the party had a role to play in ensuring peaceful elections.