Ashanti Regional Minister-designate, Simon Osei Mensah says over 3,000 acres of land have been acquired to help make Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, the second industrial city in Ghana.

Speaking before Parliament’s Appointment Committee, the nominee stressed that the milestone was achieved in collaboration with the then Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanten.

"Before I became the Regional Minister in 2017, government had already acquired land for Free Zone.

"Besides that, recently when I became the Regional Minister in collaboration with the Minister for Trade and Industry, we’ve acquired over 3,000 acres of land for industrial purposes.”

This was in answer to a question by a member of the Committee on what he would do to revive the once vibrant industrial life of the Ashanti Region.

The nominee continued by saying that for the vision to be realized, his outfit was committed to focussing their resources on some selected projects that he believes are paramount and pressing to the people of the Region.

He also stated that the 3,000 acres of land allocated to Ghana Free Zones Authority, is located at the same place demarcated for the construction of the Boankra Interchange.

However, he stated that to realize the dream of industrialization in the Ashanti Region, his concentration will be on 3 major areas.

First on Mr Mensah's list, if confirmed as Minister, is the completion of the Kumasi International Airport "so people can fly from outside the country straight to Kumasi."

Secondly, “Boankra port has been on the drawing board for a very long time. Honourable member, I can assure you that without any railway link between Tema and Boankra and Takoradi and Boankra, the Boankra inland port still be a mirage.

As such, his third focus "will also be on the extension of railway lines from Tema to Boankra and Takoradi to Boankra.”

“When we attain these I am telling u definitely that the industrialization agenda will be successful."

Concerning jobs, he mentioned that when work commences on the said acres of land, it will create diverse livelihood for the youth in the Ashanti region.