Consumers nationwide might soon experience a decrease in the availability of essential plastic-packaged goods, such as bottled and sachet water.
The Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, representing local industry members, has given the government a soft ultimatum, urging the immediate suspension of a recently introduced 5% excise tax on locally produced plastic products.
The Association insists that if their demands are not addressed, manufacturers are ready to halt production for seven days to express their dissatisfaction.
At a press conference, the President of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, Ebbo Botwe, emphasized the need for the government to reconsider its stance. He called for renewed dialogue with all stakeholders to avert the potential economic consequences of this planned production shutdown.
“We are appealing to the vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumuia to intervene in this matter because the effect of this consumer tax will really affect the masses, the common man, the common woman will suffer extreme hardship.
“In conclusion, we ask GRA to stop the harassment of plastic manufacturers and we give the Ministry of Finance one week to respond to our request or we shall have no option but for all plastic manufacturers to shut down production for at least one week and of course, we’ll send home over 30,00 workers.
The President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, urged the government to find innovative ways to meet its tax obligations without burdening local industries.
“The government is being insensitive to the business community. Let’s defer the implementation of the excise tax. The time is not right and it’s not fair around this time where businesses are suffering from the effects of exchange rates and we are very much aware of this.
“This is not the time to impose another tax when so many taxes have already been imposed on us, are we saying we do not care about the state of businesses?”