Geographic Information System for Salt Industry Launched (Page 31)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah (Friday, February 15, 2008)
GHANA produces an average of 250,000 tonnes of salt per annum in spite of its potential to produce between 2.5 million and 3.0 million tonnes.
This is attributed partly to the lack of a database to assist both local and foreign investors in the industry to set high targets and to achieve them.
At the official launch of the Geographic Information System (GIS) for the Salt Industry in Ghana in Accra, the Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD) and President’s Special Initiative (PSI), Mr Joe Baidoo-Ansah, said the government was interested in increased salt production in the country, since it promoted job creation and foreign exchange generation.
“It holds tremendous potential for job creation and foreign exchange generation for our development,” he observed.
Mr Baidoo-Ansah said since the inception of the PSI on salt, the government had undertaken various measures and interventions to address the issue of inefficient production methods, obsolete machinery and equipment, lack of capital, weak production infrastructure and lack of industry data information.
He pointed out that in its desire to further improve on the industry, the ministry contracted the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Services (CERSGIS) with funding from the United Nations Children and Education Fund (UNICEF) to establish the GIS to provide information portal for investors and also provide a database for the salt industry in the country.
The Trade Minister said the system would also provide contours on salt producing areas in Ghana, provide detailed information on salt located towns and also provide detailed pictorial presentation on salt industry in the country.
He expressed the hope that the right information which users were comfortable with, would be provided to enable them to made right decisions in their businesses.
A representative from UNICEF, Mr George Ahmed, said Ghana’s consumption of iodised salt, which rose to about 74 per cent in 2004, declined to about 54 per cent in 2006, and called on the authorities to take a look at that problem, since it had health implications.
He said to help in the production of the database under the GIS, the organisation supported the project with $30,000 and expressed the hope that it would improve salt production which many relied on.
In his presentation, the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Geo-Information Services (DeGeoServ), Dr Emmanuel Amamoo-Otchere, said there was the need for investors in the salt industry to study the geographical situation of their areas of operation, since natural phenomena, such as floods, could negatively affect their output.
He, therefore, called on the Ministry of Trade, Industry, PSD and PSI, to collaborate with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the Soil Research Institute and the Meteorological Service to provide the appropriate information for investors in the industry to avoid losses.
The acting Co-ordinator of PSI on Salt, Mr Andy Quarshie, pointed out that the GIS was capable of locating areas on the map where salt could be produced, adding that it would benefit investors in the industry.
The chairman for the function, who is also Chairman for the Interim Management Committee of the Songhor Salt Project, Mr Joseph William Biney, called for increase production of salt if the country would want to prevent importation of the commodity to support its petroleum production at the appropriate time.
A member of the National Salt Producers Association of Ghana, Mr Jacob Mintah, called on the experts to break down the information contained in the GIS to enable the ordinary salt producer to understand and benefit from it.