GSA Closes Down Illegal Electrical Appliance Manufacturing Company

By Lawrence Vomafa-Akpalu

The Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) on Friday closed down an illegal electrical appliance manufacturing company in a swoop at Agbogba in the Ga East municipality of Accra.

The company Borkans Industrial Manufacturing Company, which was previously importing such electrical products, went into manufacturing electrical items last year without authority from the relevant agencies.

The company currently procures electrical and electronic items including sockets, electrical cables and conductors, pipes and ceiling panels, led bulbs and other appliances without identifiable labels, batch numbers, country of origin and authorisation from the GSA.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr James Bortey, told the officials of the GSA that though he had been at the GSA to obtain the requisite documentation to officially start production, the cumbersome nature of what the authority was demanding forced him to go ahead with production.

But the Business Development manager of the GSA Mr George Anti would have none of that and ordered the immediate closure of the factory until further notice.

According to him, even though the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Akufo Addo, wanted to create jobs for the people, it was not any type of jobs that would put the lives of the citizens at risk.

Mr Anti said only three electrical companies have been licensed in the company and any other company that wants to begin operation would have to be taken through the processes to ensure that their products meet the country's standards.

He said no one was allowed to manufacture, distribute or sell any product in the country with licence from the GSA.

"The GSA would have to inspect such facilities, the nature and type of products and the safety standards of the workers before approval is given," Mr Anti said.

He said products manufactured by the company would be tested to check if they meet the standards after which a decision would be taken on its operations.

Mr Anti appealed to Ghanaians to always check the labels and country of origin of electrical products before buying them.

He said the Ghana National Fire Service indicated that most domestic fires are caused by inferior electrical cable hence, the effort by the GSA to rid the market of all such products.

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