Bolgatanga (Upper East) 08 January 2003- For the past two months shortage of cement in Bolgatanga and its environs has led to a price hike of the commodity. Before the shortage the price of a bag of cement ranged between 40,000 and 42,000 cedis but now it sells at between 48,000 and 50,000 cedis.

Some of the dealers told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) attributed the scarcity to lack of transport to cart the commodity from Tema. They said the crisis in Cote d'Ivoire had diverted the interest of most heavy-duty truck owners to that route. Other sellers have no tangible reasons but have joined in the arbitrary increase of the price.

The situation has slowed down the completion of government and private projects within the district. Cement users have, therefore, appealed to the GHACEM to open a depot in the Upper East Region as early as possible to save them from extortion by some unscrupulous dealers.

GRi.../

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Yam now a traditional export commodity

Accra (Greater Accra) 08 January 2003- Fresh yam has since 20 November 2002 been classified as a traditional export commodity, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday.

A notice to exporters and the general public by the sector Minister, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku said the use of the Ghana Export Form for export of Non-Traditional Goods would no longer apply to yam export. The notice said all yam exporters should therefore use the Bank of Ghana Exchange Control Form A.2.

GRi.../

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Government committed to changing the public sector

Accra (Greater Accra) 08 January 2003- Government says it is committed to changing the perception that the public sector is not interested in making the private sector a pivotal element in effecting growth of Ghana's economy.

Alhaji Mohammed Nuridine Jawula, Head of Administration, Ministry of Finance told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk in an interview that a number of initiatives have been taken to ensure that the private sector is seen as a system without which the economy cannot grow.

Alhaji Jawula said this at the presentation of certificates to 15 officials of the ministry who had gone through a computer training programme aimed at equipping them to cope with systems to help run the Public Financial Management Reform Programme (PUFMARP) among other things.

He said the Ministry of Finance is committed to making its staff alive to meeting the needs of the private sector, and thus to deal with them accordingly. He said it was not true that the public sector deliberately stalls the private sector, adding that, "most of our payments and contract for jobs are to the private sector; and activities are done with the private sector even though there are some state bodies that could have been asked to undertake them."

Alhaji Jawula was pleased that public sector officials are ready to be trained to meet the increasing demands of developing Ghana's economy. The PUFMARP is a government programme to improve financial management in the country. It is to establish a computerised and integrated Unix-based system with a central database accessed through a Local Area Network and a Wide Area Network.

It operates a system that will be initially piloted in a total of the 67 sites involving eight ministries in Accra including the office of the President and regional ministers, 10 regions and two districts.

This will be expanded later to cover all the remaining Ministries, Departments and Agencies. George Afriyie Gyamfi, IT Team Leader at the PUFMARP Secretariat in Accra said the office is happy to be able to be part of a changing process aimed at giving a new impetus to the public sector and help meet the dynamic needs of the Ghanaian economy.

GRi.../

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TOR's debt is now 3.5 Trillion Cedis - Osafo-Maafo

Accra (Greater Accra) 08 January 2003- Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance on Tuesday said the debt of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) had now increased from 3.4trillion Cedis to 3.5trillion Cedis.

Speaking to newsmen after the People's Assembly in Accra, Osafo-Maafo said something radical should be done to save the situation. He said when government assumed power in 2001, the debt stood at 2.3trillion Cedis and an additional hidden debt of 1.1trillion cedis, which was not reflected in the main accounts of the Company.

The Finance Minister said government's subsidy of about 50bn Cedis a month on TOR was having a serious effect on the economy. In an answer to a question, Osafo-Maafo said forensic audit in some institutions and organisations instituted by his Ministry had been completed and the reports submitted to the various Boards of Directors of the institutions and organisations for implementation.

He said the onus was now on the institutions and organisations involved to liase with the Attorney-General's Department to implement the decisions and recommendations of the reports.

GRi.../

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