A group calling itself the Concerned Second Dealers Association of Ghana (CSHDAG) has vehemently condemned the decision by the Energy Commission through government to ban the importation and sales of Second Hand Goods in the country.
The group at a press conference earlier today Wednesday January 7 described false and baseless an allegation by the Energy Commission which suggests that the patronage and use of second hand electronic appliances by the consuming public consumes a lot of energy hence the need to ban its importation including other Home Used Products into the country.
“We want to say categorically that all the allegations by the Energy Commission are totally false and are not worth listening to because we can say on authority that there is no place in this country that you can find Home Used as waste products which will cause environmental effects in the country”.
The Concerned second Hand Dealers Association is calling on the Energy Commission to have a meeting with them to trash out issues pertinent to their business once and for all.
Addressing the media , the chairman of the Association, Mr. Daniel Asare pointed out that statement made by the Energy Commission some months ago on the ban of importation of some second hand or home used products must be well addressed since it will affect the directly.
According to him, reasons of Energy Commission on some appliances are all false because they do not have any scientific proof to those allegations. “Ghana has become a dumping site or grounds for second hand items, secondhand items consume a lot of energy and the use of secondhand items or anything not newly bought are harmful and hazardous to human health”.
He added that the news of banning the importation of secondhand items into the country by the Energy Commission came to them as a surprise since Energy Commission itself has admitted that 80 to 90 % of secondhand items meet standards which they want to regulate.
He further stated that, the Concerned second hand dealers Association would want the entire public to understand that items brought into the country for sale goes through proper monetary and check before importing them into the country.
Mr Daniel Asare seized the opportunity to call on government to come to their aid by considering the huge number of people who are engaged in the business and the direct beneficiaries and the numerous number of people who patronize their items.
Stressing that “now that there is economic hardship all over the world why will Energy Commission will say they are taking their jobs which feeds over millions of people in the county from their hands and not forgotten about their contribution to the country’s GDP”, he stated.
Report By Bernard K DADZIE