Suame magazine in need of government support – Consultant

Despite building a prototype Ghanaian model vehicle from scrap, the Suame Magazine Industrial Organisation (SMIDO) is yet to receive any support from the government of Ghana.

Speaking on Joy News Nyaba Awiba Azongo, a consultant to SMIDO says Suame Magazine is in need of support if it will continue training artisans who helped to manufacture and repair automobiles.

Suame Magazine is an industrialized area comprising many workshops for metal engineering and vehicle repairs in Ghana, employing an estimated 200,000 local artisans.

It has successfully built a car named 'SMATI TURTLE 1' earlier this year through a partnership initiative between SMIDO and Dutch-based Aardschap Foundation.

The car was shipped to Holland last April for testing and an engineering report is recommending that some forty parts of the vehicle must be redesigned.

The car will be finally put up for international exhibition and promotion to attract investors for large scale commercial production to serve the African market.

The consultant to SMIDO says the Suame Magazine Automatic Technical Training Institute where the car was built is in dire need of funding or faces “an industrial collapse” he said.

Nyaba Awiba Azongo revealed that the organisation has not been able to garner any support from government. He said the idea of setting up the Suame Magazine Automatic Technical Institute was to eventually get government support for its apprenticeship program.

Mr. Azongo revealed the project was launched by the then Vice- President John Dramani Mahama in 2009 but it is yet to be fully realized.

He said less than 2% of the artisans are capable of using essential automatic diagnostic tools – a new technology in automobile works.

The consultant is appealing for government support to help keep the popular Suame Magazine running.