The Alliance for Development and Industrialisation (ADI) has described as irresponsible a statement by the Minority in Parliament demanding to know how much the government has lost through tax waivers under the 1D1F programme.

The Minority Member of Parliament for Ho Central Constituency has led his colleagues MPs to reject what he called ‘empty’ tax waiver to support One-District-One-Factory, (1D1F) Project.

The MP, Benjamin Komla Kpodo, has contended that, the paper currently before Parliament is deficient and does not qualify to be laid before the House.

“What the Minority should understand is that a waiver is given when a company is ready to establish a factory on the shores of Ghana which includes tax exemptions, tax holiday periods of up to five years among others,” according to a statement issued in Accra and signed by Francis Acquah, the acting executive President of ADI.  

According to the statement, the Minority is not acting professionally with regard to the ethics of business promotion.

“If you are looking at the long term of the economy anybody who brings a business under the umbrella of 1D1F programme should be supported through such incentives since this would help to grow our economy as well as create jobs for the youth in the country”.

The statement explained that the concept of the 1D1F is similar to the Ghana Free Zones Authority and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, where incentives are given to companies who want to establish their businesses in Ghana.

"The Minority should check from the GIPC and Ghana Free Zones Authority if there is any capping on waivers that the government gives to companies as an incentive for them to establish here in Ghana.

“What the Minority is demanding from the government is just like asking Free Zones Authority 'how much tax exemptions are you going to offer this year'”, the statement said.

There are currently 45 of the One District One Factory projects operational out of 181 projects already on the drawing board, according to Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka-Lindsay.

Aside from 22 of the 181 projects which are under construction, the remaining projects are set to commence implementation before the end of 2019.

The projects set to commence by the end of 2019 include small scale processing facilities and common-user processing facilities financed from sources ranging from local private finance initiatives (PFIs), African Development Bank (AfDB) and CNB facility.

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