Government has incentivised over 300 fuel stations across the country to operate a three-shift system under its 24-hour economy programme, Majority Leader James Agalga has said.
Mr Agalga said the intervention is evidence that the policy is already being implemented and yielding results.
Speaking at a Leaders’ Media Briefing on Monday, November 3, the Majority Leader insisted that the 24-hour economy is on course, despite criticisms from the Minority.
“24-hour economy is working. But we made it clear that 24-hour economy is not an event. No, it’s a process,” he said.
Responding to demands from the Minority for concrete examples of where the policy has been implemented, Mr Agalga pointed to the petroleum retail sector.
“But if he’s asking us to give him examples of where and how the three-shift system has been implemented, I will tell him that currently we have over 300 filling stations dotted around the country, which has started running the three-shift system,” he stated.
He expressed surprise that many of the stations were previously not operating 24-hour services.
“Yes, you’ll be shocked. I expect you to be shocked. They were not running 24-hour services. Today, yes, they have been incentivized,” he added.
Mr Agalga said the figure would be even higher when manufacturing companies that have signed onto the policy are included.
“In fact, manufacturing is inclusive. So, if I add the numbers from the number of manufacturing companies, factories, that have hooked onto the 24-hour policy, the figure I’m mentioning should be in the region of 500. So 24-hour economy is working,” he said.
Background
The 24-hour economy is a flagship policy of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, aimed at stimulating economic growth, creating jobs and boosting productivity by encouraging businesses and public institutions to operate three shifts of eight hours each.
The government says the policy is anchored on incentives, including cheaper electricity for off-peak operations, tax waivers and security support for businesses that opt to run 24 hours.
The programme was officially launched earlier this year, with government identifying priority sectors such as manufacturing, agro-processing, transport and retail services for initial rollout.
