Editorial: A Praiseworthy Decision

Cloths dealers in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, have resolved not to purchase and sell counterfeit textile materials smuggled into the country. Leaders of cloth dealers in Accra have already declared the nation�s capital as a no-go area for the sale of the smuggled materials. The Kumasi traders, who admitted having some of the fake materials, having purchased them out of ignorance, said they had realized the negative effect the illegal trade in counterfeit goods would on the local economy, having been educated on the dangers involved. The executive of the cloth dealers association made the commitment at a meeting with representatives of textile manufacturing companies and the Textiles and Garment Workers Union (TEGLU), with support from the police. Those at the meeting included the president of the cloth dealers, Nana Akua Akyamah; the vice president Gloria Osei Kufuor, the secretary Mrs. Dorothy Adjei, and Nana Yaa Ampomah, executive member. They said they would, on their return to Kumasi, hold a meeting with their associates to educate them on the implication of engaging in the illegal trade. At the meeting, Ms. Osei-Kufuor and the members present pleaded for a time frame to sell all the counterfeit textile materials they had with them. It is gratifying that the textile industry is enjoying such tremendous support from the cloth dealers. The members of the cloth dealers association should give their executives full back to tackle the issue of fake wax print in the country. The members should not attempt to ditch the steps that are being put in place to check the menace, all because of profit making motive. It the current situation persists, the dealers in fake cloths would be simply helping the countries from where the counterfeit goods are coming to develop further. All hands must be on deck to save the textile industry from collapsing because of the selfish interest of the miscreants who import cheap and fake textiles into the country.