Concerned Second Hand Dealers Association of Ghana bares teeth at gov’t over ban on importation of Home Used Products  

A group calling itself the Concerned Second Dealers Association of Ghana (CSHDAG) has vehemently condemned the decision by the Energy Commission through government to ban the importation and sales of Second Hand Goods in the country.

The group at a press conference earlier today Wednesday September 7 described false and baseless an allegation by the Energy Commission which suggests that the patronage and use of second hand electronic appliances by the consuming public consumes a lot of energy hence the need to ban its importation including other Home Used Products into the country.

President of the group, Daniel Asare who briefed the press revealed that the Energy Commission held a meeting on October 6, 2021 of which it invited the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) which discussed issues pertaining to the importation of second hand electronic appliances into the country.

He further noted that the meeting which has hit a snag, ended up inconclusively seeing the Commission promising to stage another meeting of at a later date which it assured of extending an invitation to the membership of GUTA with the aim of dealing holistically with the issue at stake.

But contrary to their promise, the meeting did not hold until it dawned on the Association that news had gone viral on media outlets announcing the decision by the Energy Commission to ban the importation of Home Used Products into the country.

He hinted that the information circulating in the public domain by the media portrayed 3 major challenges associated with the use of Home Used Products which the Energy Commission has raised.

One of the problems highlighted by the Commission, he pointed out to the fact that the country has become a dumping site for second hand goods, while high energy consumption was cited due to the use of the second hand electronic appliances followed by the allegation that the use of such products poses some harmful effects to human health.

“But we here today, want to say categorically that all the allegations by the Energy Commission are totally false and are not worth listening to because we can say on authority that there is no place in this country that you can find Home Used as waste products which will cause environmental effects in the country”.

Mr. Daniel Asare also contends that the waste products of home used products are often collected by scrap dealers for the use of recycling companies in the country which goes a long way to help create a lot of job opportunities for the scrap dealers as well as various recycling companies who even need more of such products to meet their production requirements daily.

For his part, Chairman of the Association, Yaw Sarfo Marfo argues that the Second Hand Goods are of European standards of which most of them are store rejects having a very low consumption rate as compared to the said brand new products imported from China which are being recommended by the Energy Commission to the general public.

Reacting to the allegation by the Commission pertaining to the use of the second hand electronic appliances posing health risks to users, he bares teeth at the Commission describing the claim as false and baseless.

“There’s no scientific proof to this, so where are the Energy Commission getting or gathering this misleading information from, he quizzed; adding, it is an open secret that some brand new dealers are behind this”.

Leaders of sister Associations including the Ghana TV Dealers Association (GTDA), Washing Machine Association Accra (WMA), Blenders And Microwave Dealers Association (BMAG), Gas Cooker Association Ghana (GCAG) and Kumasi Home Use Dealers Association (KHUDA) who took turn to address the media stressed on the employment opportunities and the economic benefits the Home Used Products trade has offered the country which contributed to its development over the years.

According to them, over 90% of the entire population resorts to the use of home used products such as televisions, microwaves, irons, blenders, washing machines, gas and electric cookers, mattress among others which are of more quality and relatively cheaper in terms of prices than brand new products,  which the masses bear witness to.

“We are therefore pleading to the Christian Council, the National Chief Imam and all opinion leaders in the country to come to our aid to help abolish the Energy Commission’s intention through the government to ban second hand goods”, the association appeals.

Source:Joseph Wemakor 

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