The Volta Region Development Agency (VORDA) on Friday expressed concern about the uncertainty surrounding the Volta Textiles Limited (VTL) at Juapong and said what the Company needs is a strategic partner or institution.
"We are not in the business of blame-culture. At this stage, what Volta Textiles needs is a strategic partner/institution to work with in partnership with the management of Volta Textiles Ltd and other key stakeholders to help revive the fortunes of the company," Mr Appiah-Danquah Kufuor, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VORDA, said in a statement in Accra.
VORDA noted that VTL remained one of the few industries left in the Volta Region and at one stage used to be described as "The Pride of Volta".
The statement said it was difficult to understand the economic reasons for the downturn in the fortune of the Company but what concerns VORDA were the social and economic implications of its closure and its multiplier effects on Juapong and the whole of the Volta Region if it was allowed to fold up.
VORDA noted that not long ago VLT, which was known as Juapong Textiles Ltd, was the only thriving grey baft producing company of its kind in the country. It employed some 3,000 workers and sponsored a first division football club, Juantex.
After its closure, it was reopened in 2007 through a public/private partnership (PPP) with U-Rich Ltd, a Chinese textile and garment
conglomerate under the new name Volta Textiles Ltd. Now it employs less than 200 workers and is in danger of collapsing due to the lack of demand for its products.
"Despite its huge loss of manpower, Volta Textiles Ltd is of strategic importance to the economy of the Volta Region in terms of utilisation of locally grown cotton and its contribution to the local economy in Juapong
and the outlying areas," VORDA said.
The textile industry has been facing serious challenges with the importation of cheap fabric from China. The textile companies have been
calling for protection else they will fold up.
The government recently awarded the contract for the printing of fabric for free school uniforms to the local textile companies.
VORDA aims to improve the quality of life and economic prosperity of all those who live, work, invest and visit the Volta Region.
It aims to achieve its vision by driving the infrastructure, improving education and agriculture.