President of the Concern Second-Hand Dealers Association of Ghana, Daniel Asante has indicated that the research done by the Energy Commission regarding second home appliances is not accurate.
The government through the Energy Commission announced a ban on the importation and sale of 19 electrical appliances and renewable energy products.
Reacting to this development, Mr. Asare mentioned that the research was done back in 2003 and therefore not reliable enough to be a reason why the importation of appliances into the country should be banned.
“You have used the 2003 report as proof to ban items imported into the country, Ghana is not a serious country if it was the statement would have been rejected because it’s invalid,” he said.
“The time the research was done every machine was using a transformer system but has now changed to a power regulator system and also uses an automatic regulator operating it” he added.
The Energy Commission in a statement indicated that the ban aims to conserve high electricity demand which impacts additional power generation thereby impacting the economy.
Responding to the development, Mr. Asare mentioned that,” it’s not true, the appliances we sell don’t consume energy, what they are talking about is goods imported from 2015, our goods that came in after 2015 are eco friendly and energy efficient, so we don’t agree with the Energy Commission”.
He urged the commission to provide maximum elaborations on the health complications used by household appliances imported into the country usher.
“The Energy Commission should come out well with details regarding the life span of the items because the longest life span of our items are two to three years, so they must explain that with the scientific proof they claim to have” he urged.
Earlier this week, the Concerned Second Hand Dealers Association rejected the ban arguing that it will affect their livelihood, particularly under the current economic situation.
They argued that goods imported are standard and go through various checks at the ports before being allowed into the country hence the ban was needless.
But the Commission in a statement said the group made “certain inaccurate statements and claims with specific reference to the intended ban on the importation of used household electrical appliances”.
It insisted that the influx of electronic and electrical waste puts Ghana at risk of becoming an environmental dumping site thereby compromising health and safety.
By: Miriam Akuetteh
