The General Agricultural Workers Union GAWU of the Trades Union Congress is calling for an immediate ban on the export of cup lump materials.
Cup lumps are what are tapped from rubber trees and that is what the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited GREL processes into semi-products for export for higher value.
Speaking at the sidelines of an inspection tour to GREL to observe the damage caused by the destruction of some rubber trees, Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU said GREL supports its outgrowers with loans and technical support but everyone else is free to export cup lumps without paying taxes and revenue to government because of Ghana’s trade policy.
According to Edward Kareweh, this government policy is destroying the rubber industry because anybody at all can export rubber to any country.
He said, “We don’t even have enough so why do we export, we must produce to feed ourselves and industry and the excesses will be exported. We must ban it because jobs are at stake, over 70,000 jobs are at stake and these people will not get jobs anywhere if this company goes down.”
“The plantation of GREL is heavily encroached, criminals come and cut down our trees, and not only that, galamsey is heavily encroaching our plantation.”
“Now we are destroying our trees and it’s very expensive to grow and nurture rubber trees, we hope our president hears us and do something about it.”
Source: Rosaline Djan
