SCRAP DEALERS IN TAMALE FACE CHALLENGES (PAGE 29, JAN 22 , 2010)

SCRAP dealers in the Tamale metropolis are now losing huge sums of money as profits and business capital due largely to the high cost of materials.
They equally complain of alleged undercutting by some foreign nationals who are in similar business in the metropolis, thereby killing the businesses owned by residents of the area.
They have entreated the government to come up with an effective policy to regulate the activities of scrap dealers and set up a revolving fund for them.
They also stressed the need for non-governmental organisations and the private sector to support the dealers, since it would ultimately generate more employment for the youth of the area.
Mr Salifu Abukari, a scrap dealer whose shop is located on the Tamale Water Works road, did not mince words when he told the Daily Graphic that as a result of the challenges being faced by the dealers in the industry, he incurred losses to the tune of GHC5,200.
According to him, another dealer in the metropolis had, from the beginning of this year, incurred a GHC8,500 loss, while others also made losses in various sums.
“My brother, are you prepared to give me some money? Please I need money to sustain my business,” he lamented.
He further intimated that for a dealer to sustain his business, he needed not less than GH¢40,000.
Mr Abukari has about 10 people working under him who assist him to produce consumer items such as buckets, coal-pots, bowls, dustbins, gates and block laying machines.
“The scrap business is a big industry that supports almost all the various sectors of the economy. Talk, for instance, of the construction and housing industries,” he noted.
He suggested that it was necessary for those in the industry to form a formidable association to fight for their rights.
But he was quick to point out that the people in the industry were apathetic towards the formation of the association.
Mr Abukari further pointed out that the implementation of a policy that reduced the loading weight of articulated trucks loaded with scraps from 40 to 30 tonnes per truck had adversely affected the profit margins of the dealers.
He noted that transporting scrap from Tamale to Accra cost between 1,800 and 2,000 Ghana cedis.
“Because of the high cost of materials, we now purchase vehicle body frames which are cheaper for us,” he stressed.