The Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) has closed down two illegal plastic waste recycling plants at Sakaman near Dansoman in Accra for operating without a permit.
The operation conducted in collaboration with personnel of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service shocked owners of the factories who are Chinese, and their Ghanaian counterparts.
The first company, Eagle Zheng Hua Feng Limited is not registered under the company’s code, but produced hundreds of the finished products with several labels such as Star, Eagle, Best Rubber, Had, Long Teng and had been operating since 2007.
Mr Osei Bonsu, who claimed to be acting as the company’s Public Relations Officer, declined to mention the name of owners of the factory which has about 20 employees including two women.
The second factory, LWW Waste Plastic Recycling Company Limited, which is about 50metres from the first one, was registered in 2018, and has an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment report, but without the EPA permit, and also has no authority from the GSA to undertake such activities.
Officials of the GSA, unhappy with the situation locked up the factories until further notice.
The Business Development Officer, of the GSA, Mr George Anti, said the exercise was not to victimise any company, but to ensure that the right thing is done.
“The country has laws that must be respected and protected; the Authority would not allow people especially foreigners to infringe on the laws of the land,” he said.
He explained that the companies have no safety rules and operate under unhygienic conditions without recourse to the safety of the workers.
Mr Anti stated that, the two would be slapped with hefty fines, after which their products would be tested to ensure that they do not pose health risk to users, “then the GSA would take the two companies through the processes involved in establishing a factory including safety rules.”
Mr Anti warned companies operating in the country without the requisite documents to regularise their activities or have themselves to blame.
He said the government’s One District One Factory initiative was not for the production of shoddy goods to harm the people, but to create sustainable jobs to improve the socio-economic development of the country.
Mr Anti gave the two companies seven days to address all challenges towards using the appropriate channel to undertake genuine business in the country.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU AND JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE