Conditions at the Universities need to be improved - MPs

Parliamentary Select Committee Visits GNA

Ghana water Company to lease Weija, Kpong

Minority expresses reservations over lease of Weija, Kpong

Telephone facilities to be extended to Sandema

Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July ’99

Members of Parliament (MPs) on Thursday echoed the need for the government to commit adequate funds to improving conditions at the country's tertiary institutions.

They said conditions at the universities at present are so appalling that they cannot be compared with the situation as it obtained in the 60s.

Making a statement on the problems facing the universities on the floor of the House, Mr Edward Osei-Kwaku, NPP-Asokwa West, said it is regrettable that at least five students are made to occupy a single room meant for one or two students.

He touched on congestion in lecture halls and said in certain instances, some students even stand outside and follow lectures through the use of loudspeakers.

The MP said the conditions of service of the university lecturer are so poor that his monthly salary is woefully inadequate.

Mr Osei-Kwaku revealed that information from an organisation that advises universities in the United Kingdom says degrees awarded by universities in the country since 1996 are of low standard compared to those obtained in Britain.

He urged all Ghanaians to collectively "sit up and gird our loins to find corrective measures" to address the problem.

All members on both sides of the House who associated themselves with the statement were of the view that unless adequate funding is allocated to tertiary education in the country, the nation cannot build a solid human resource foundation for development.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July ’99

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications on Thursday urged the management of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to map out viable commercial strategies and options that would make it more vibrant and enable it to stand on its feet.

The nine-member committee led by its chairman, Nii Adjei Boye Sekan, made the suggestion during a visit to the GNA to interact with its management on problems besetting it.

This was after Mr Sam B. Quaicoe, General Manager of the GNA, had briefed the members on a pilot programme instituted by the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP), under which the GNA and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation have been selected to be commercialised.

According to the NIRP terms of reference, the GNA has been classified as "one of the agencies, which are not relevant with regard to government priorities but serve useful economic purposes".

It is, therefore, to be "restructured and fully integrated into the private sector without receiving any subsidies in the future".

Mr Quaicoe said the GNA had accepted this challenge in good faith but asked for proper capitalisation of the Agency while at the same time considering the primordial aims behind the setting up of the GNA by the first President of the Republic, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

These, he said, related to providing national cohesion and unity through the dissemination of unbiased news covering the entire country, which no media house has the capacity to equal.

Mr Quaicoe also briefed the members on the high manpower turnover due to poor conditions of service, saying the Agency has since 1997, when its computer system broke down, relied heavily on donor support.

Mr Edward Ameyibor, News Editor, reminded the members of what the country stands to lose in the event of the GNA going purely commercial.

According to him, rural news reporting would suffer a severe setback since the GNA would opt for economic news that would fetch it more revenue.

"The things we are likely to drop are your constituencies because we shall supply news on pure commercial basis and will, therefore, go for commodity news that our foreign subscribers will ask for.

"We believe that we are a priority to Ghana and we should see to it that the country progresses", he added.

The members expressed surprise that the Agency has been classified "as not being a priority" and called for frequent forums by the media houses to sensitise the parliamentarians to the problems affecting their operations.

They agreed that it would be in the best interest of the Agency to go commercial or to become autonomous in the face of competition and emerging new technologies on the media landscape.

Asked what financial plans the Agency had developed to make it a viable commercial entity, Mr Quaicoe replied that the GNA has, over the years come out with a number of proposals but these required immediate and massive capitalisation.

In answer to another question, the General Manager said the idea of a strategic investor was likely to offset the operations and management of the Agency, adding that the comments of management had been submitted to the NIRP Secretariat.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July ’99

The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) is to lease the Weija and Kpong water works to generate funds to offset its debts, which currently stands at 106 billion cedis.

This is made up of 70 million cedis to government and 36 million cedis to the Electricity Company of Ghana.

Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, minister for Works and Housing who said this in a statement on water sector reforms to parliament on Thursday, said the water works would be leased on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.

He said revenue to be generated over a period of time amounts to 110 million dollars, and the company would be required to make a down payment of 10 million dollars in its first year of operations.

The minister said payment of the remaining 100 million dollars will be spread over the remaining period of the lease.

He said the GWCL will continue to be responsible for major investments, expansion and new networks, and the operators will also pick up capital expenditure.

''The level of contribution from the private operators will depend on the impact that this will have on tariffs since their sources of finance is relatively expensive.''

Mr Adjei-Mensah said the government's commitment to ensuring safe potable water to Ghanaians is total.

However, the sector's investment requirement of 1.5 billion dollars demands the participation of the private sector to achieve water for all as stated in the Vision 2020 document.

''The only way this can be done is through partnership between the public and private sector, and the full involvement of communities in managing their own systems.''

He again assured the house that the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) would ensure that privatisation does not lead to arbitrary increase in tariffs.

''I would like to assure my colleagues that the presence of the PURC will ensure that the needs of the poor and indeed all consumers reign supreme in the determination of applicable tariffs.''

Mr Adjei-Mensah said further that a 'Demand Assessment and Willingness to Pay Survey' has been completed and will be used in any future tariff adjustment.

''Any application for tariff adjustment will have to be consistent with government's social policy objectives.

He said a national public awareness programme will soon be launched to inform the public on the benefits of the current reforms.

The main objective of the reforms is to, among other things, increase access to water supply, sustainability of supply, improved sector management and affordability.

As part of the reforms, the sector has de-linked rural water supply from that of the urban area. The GWCL supplies urban water, while the Community Water and Sanitation Agency takes over the management of rural water systems.

On water resource management, Mr Adjei-Mensah said the Water Resources Commission is to oversee the proper utilisation of water resources and will, among other things, draw a programme for curtailing the abuse of water bodies.

The success of this programme, however, depends to a large extent on the active participation of District Assemblies and communities, the minister added.

On the current state of water supply nation-wide, he said GWCL is able to supply 71 per cent of urban area, while coverage of the rural area is estimated to be about 50 per cent.

''Out of a total demand of 168 million gallons a day, there is only 113 million gallons of installed production capacity.''

The rural areas have 10,000 drilled bore-holes fitted with pumps and 60,000 hand-dug wells countrywide.

Despite numerous measures introduced to improve management and supply, GWCL is unable to account for about 50 per cent of water it produces in revenue terms.

This, he explained, is due to inadequate infrastructure, large number of un-metered premises and other internal weaknesses.

''The low level of tariffs have also contributed to the financial difficulties facing the company,'' the minister added.

Funding for the rural sector has been mainly from grants and NGO's.

''It is hoped that with the efforts of the private operators in reducing the level of non-revenue water, the rehabilitation of existing facilities and the moderate increases in tariff levels, the urban water sector will be able to sustain itself through cost recovery,'' the minister added.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July ’99

Some members of the minority today expressed reservations over the leasing of the Weija and Kpong water works to offset the debts of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).

They also expressed concern about the water sector reforms, including its privatisation component, being implemented.

They were reacting to a statement on Thursday by Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister for Works and Housing, on reforms in the water sector and the intended privatisation.

The minister had said, among other things, that the GWCL is to lease the two water works to offset its total indebtedness of about 106 billion cedis.

But Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, NPP-Afigya Sekyere West, contended that it is unacceptable for the government to privatise the company due to managerial inefficiency.

What is important is for the government to stop interfering with the management of the company since the present crop of management is one of the best in the country, Mr Kan-Dapaah said.

''Leasing of the water works to pay its debts is not the answer to the company's indebtedness. If anything at all, it should be used to expand facilities; if used to repay loans, then, we have made no progress at all.''

Mr Kan-Dapaah said according to the Auditor-General's report, the company owes 450 billion cedis and not 106 billion as stated by the minister, and called on him to explain how the company will repay that amount.

He said the privatisation of the company should be a well-debated issue and not be left as a boardroom decision.

''If we are going to privatise a company over managerial inefficiency, then we will soon be privatising the Ghana Police,'' he added.

Mr Kwamena Bartels, minority spokesman on Works and Housing, noted that the GWCL is insolvent because of huge sums owed to it by ministries, departments and agencies, and these should be retrieved to offset the company's debts.

Mr J. H. Mensah, minority leader, noted that the company is virtually operating at a loss. To negotiate on its current situation will, therefore, be a mistake, because its assets will attract very low value.

He said the 1.5 billion dollars needed to revamp the company can be realised with a good management, since the company loses 50 per cent of water produced in revenue terms.

Mr Albin S.K. Bagbin, chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Restructuring of the Water Sector, explained that the 50 per cent loss is not entirely through wastage.

He said physical losses account for only 20 per cent; the 30 per cent is from commercial losses through revenue not recovered.

Mr Bagbin, who is also NDC member for Nadowli North, said the reforms and privatisation does not mean government is giving up its hold in the water sector.

''It is more of a partnership with the private sector,'' he said.

He said a lot of studies have gone into the reforms and noted that due to its sensitive nature, the government is implementing the reforms with caution.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 30 July ’99

Under Ghana Telecom's five-year roll-out programme, which began this year, telephone facilities will be extended to Sandema, the Builsa District capital, in the Upper East Region by the end of 2002.

Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communication who announced this in Parliament on Friday, said, however, that a new telecommunications technology known as the "WILL" system, may be used to extend telephone facilities to the district before the scheduled period.

Mr Mahama was responding to a question as to when telephone facilities will be extended to the Builsa District, now that Bolgatanga and Navrongo are connected to the digital system.

The question stood in the name of Mr Theodore Basil Anuka, NDC-Builsa North.

The Minister told the House that Ghana Telecom is currently replacing the old analog telephone facilities with the digital system, adding that the programme is being executed in phases.

He said communities which are not yet connected to the new system but are close to areas with the digital system, may avail themselves of the "Will" technology to draw lines from the digital switch for telephone facilities until they are connected.

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