The Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association has issued a week-long ultimatum to the government to, with immediate effect, suspend the newly imposed 5% excise tax on locally produced plastic products.
The association and its members have threatened to shut down if their request is not addressed.
This could lead to a reduction in the availability of essential commodities packaged in plastic, including bottled water, sachet water, and other products.
Addressing a press conference, the President of the Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association, Ebbo Botwe, said they were prepared to shut down for a week if the government refused to heed their call.
“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 who was also present at the press conference accused the government of being insensitive.
“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?”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
