ZOOMLION SCORES ANOTHER FIRST

YESTERDAY, Zoomlion Ghana Limited held a major landmark event to further empower women in the country and boost affirmative action.
The company “outdoored” 30 women who had been trained to drive big trucks and operate heavy-duty machinery (See Page 53 for details).
What was significant is that these women, hired as motorised tricycle riders from the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), did not rest on their oars but rose through the ranks and upgraded their skills in order to improve their economic status.
And as the First Lady, Mrs Theresa Kufuor, who was the guest of honour at the function, indicated, the new status of those women would positively affect their lives.
Certainly, their improved incomes mean better lives for themselves, their families and other dependants.
In addition, these women have broken the myth surrounding male dominance in the operation of heavy-duty machinery and increased their chances having offered equal opportunities as their male counterparts.
Furthermore, the feat achieved by these women strengthens the case of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), which has been pushing hard for the mainstreaming of gender issues in all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
When this is done, more women will be assisted to develop their potential through deliberate programming and this will ultimately improve their economic status, thereby reducing the level of poverty among women.
The DAILY GRAPHIC commends Zoomlion for realising the potential in these women and assisting them to develop it.
However, we urge the company not to make the initiative a one-time project but also identify other areas in which more of their female employees could be assisted to enhance their skills and subsequently their economic status.
The DAILY GRAPHIC identifies with the strides being made by Zoomlion in waste management and landscaping in all cities and towns in the country.
Before Zoomlion appeared on the scene, the sanitation situation appeared hopeless, as district, municipal and metropolitan authorities struggled to keep their areas of jurisdiction clean.
Today, the difference is clear, following the foresight of Mr Joseph Siaw Agyapong to establish Zoomlion to become a household name leading the crusade to break the back of poor sanitation in the country.
From humble beginnings, the company has created jobs and wealth across the length and breadth of the country. In addition to the testament of the employees of the company, the non-existence of empty water sachets and other plastic waste on the streets and open spaces shows that the company has responded to the exigencies of our times.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, calls on all Ghanaians to extend a hand of support to Zoomlion to help maintain a wholesome environment for the collective national good.