Distillers of local gin, popularly known as akpeteshie, in the Jato Suhum Municipality of the Eastern Region have called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to build a gin factory in the municipality under the One-District, One-Factory project.
According to them, the President promised to construct the factory for them during the 2016 election campaign and must fulfil his promise.
They argue that the importation of industrial alcohol from abroad for the production of alcoholic beverages was killing their business.
The Local Chairman of Jato Corporative Distillers Society, Mr Reuben Naduku, addressing the media Thursday said they are ready to release about 10 to 15 acres of land to government for the construction of the factory.
“In 2016, President Akufo-Addo came here to promise us that a factory will be established in this community, as a result, all of us voted for him, we noticed that he has started cutting sod for the One –District, One-Factory project in some parts of the country so we have also made available about 10 to 15 acres of land here for the President to facilitate the project here,” he said.
He added: “Now our work is collapsing due to lack of resources. Currently as we speak, there are some people who import industrial alcohol from abroad and selling them as akpeteshie to the public which doesn’t contribute anything to the economy of Ghana but for ours, we use local resources in the country to produce the gin which creates employment. We also pay several revenues to government, so we are begging the President to stop the importation of ethanol from abroad since it is collapsing our business.”
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