Master carpenters upgrade skills

One hundred master carpenters in the Brong Ahafo Region have attended a two-week course to upgrade their skills. 

It is expected that the knowledge gained from the training programme will enable them to also train their apprentices. 

The course was organised by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education (COTVET) under its Ghana Skills and Technology Development programme. Participants were taken through good finishing skills, value addition and the use of the appropriate technology in their work.

As part of the course work, the participants were introduced to the use of computer auto cards in the design of their products.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Coordinator in charge of the training centre at the Forestry Commission (FC), Mr Douglas Asamany, said the participating carpenters were also introduced to ways of managing small businesses. They studied basic accounting, entrepreneurship and effective management practices.  

“Most of the pieces of furniture we import into this country are not of high quality compared to what is produced in Ghana. The only advantage the imported ones have is good finishing and this is what entices us to go for them over those produced here.”

Mr Asamany said the FC hoped that if carpenters in the country improved on their finishing, their products would become competitive and make them more suitable for export.  

He added that skills acquired by the master carpenters would also reduce the pressure on the nation’s forests, since they had been taught to use less wood in their work.  

The Vice President of the Brong Ahafo Regional Woodworkers Association, Mr Yeboah Gyan, said following the ban on chainsaw operations, it had become very difficult for players in the industry to get wood for their work.

He called for measures that would enable sawmills to come by wood and added that if the current system of acquiring wood was not amended, curbing chainsaw operations would be difficult to achieve.

Mr Gyan further requested that the export of wood should be minimised so that carpenters in the country could have the resource for their work, since the export of wood favoured importers of furniture into the country. 

He commended COTVET for the programme and noted that the successful application of skills acquired would help to enhance the quality of locally produced furniture and make them more marketable.