GRi Parliament 18-03-99

 Accra (Greater Accra) 18 March

A Tourism Development Fund is to be established to provide the required resources for tourism development in the country.

 Mr Mike Gizo, Minister of Tourism, who announced this in Parliament on Wednesday, said a bill to this effect is currently under consideration by Cabinet. Mr Gizo was putting the ministry's request for 5.06 billion cedis for its operations for the 1999 financial year before Parliament. He said the Ministry was set up to create an enabling environment for the sustainable development, marketing and promotion of tourism in the country.

 The ministry does this through the improvement of institutional capacity for quality service delivery and the evaluation and monitoring of community  involvement in tourism development, in order to spread the socio-economic benefits of the industry.

 Mr Gizo said other objectives of the ministry is to ensure sustainable tourism increase public understanding of tourism and encourage greater participation in the sector, as well as promote Ghana as a competitive and quality destination to increase tourist arrivals and receipts. Mr Gizo furnished the House with highlights of the ministry's programmes for the year and mentioned that, in partnership with other collaborating agencies, the Tourism Ministry will host the second celebration of "Emancipation Day" from July 25 to August two.

 Other events are a meeting of the Joint 33rd World Tourism Organisation (WTO) Commission for Africa, the 24th Africa Travel Association (ATA) Congress, a trade show and a Convocation of African Ministers of Tourism and Transport. 

There will also be the African/African-American summit, the Second Inter-Tourism Fair and the implementation of the Slave Route Project.

Out of the estimates, the Ministry's headquarters will spend 1.34 billion cedis to cater for personnel emoluments, administration and services, and investment expenditure. 

The two subvented agencies of the ministry, the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) and the Hotel, Catering and Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT), will receive 3.25 billion cedis and 468 million cedis respectively. 

Mr Gizo said since tourism is the "world's fastest-growing sector", it must be accorded the appropriate priority in funding. He said to enable the ministry to fully implement its programmes and achieve targets set for the year, the ministry has been allocated a total budgetary appropriation of 5.06 billion cedis, which represents an increase of 28.3 per cent over last year's.

 "We recognise that this low level of funding will constitute a serious constraint on the effective implementation of the sector's programmes." 

The Minister told the House that Cabinet approved a 15-year Integrated Tourism Development Plan last year and expressed optimism that Cabinet will soon convey its endorsement to Parliament for the relevant legislation to be passed for the establishment of the Tourism Development Fund.

 He said in view of the benefits the country derives from her membership of the WTO, it cannot default in its financial obligations to the organisation. 

He said at the end of the 1998 fiscal year, Ghana was in payment arrears of about 50,000 dollars, adding that this year only 48.0 million cedis has been provided and this can only pay the subscription for the 1999 fiscal year.

 In its report, the Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism, noted that the growth of the sector has been phenomenal over the years. 

The Committee said international tourist arrivals have increased from 300,000 in 1996 to 325,438 in 1997, generating 266.0 million dollars in foreign exchange and showing a growth rate of about 12 per cent.

 The report said it is estimated that if the current rate is sustained, projected tourist arrivals of one million will be achieved by the year 2010, with corresponding foreign exchange receipts of about 1.5 billion dollars to make tourism the leading socio-economic activity in the country. 

The Committee noted that the budgetary allocation of 468 million cedis to HOTCATT is woefully inadequate, considering that the institution is tasked to provide the necessary manpower support to the growing tourism industry.

The report, therefore, recommended to the Ministry of Finance to take a second look at the allocations to the Tourism Ministry, if the country wants to achieve the targets set out for the tourism industry. 

Members, who contributed to the debate, supported the motion for the approval of the estimates for the Ministry of Tourism.

They agreed with the Committee that the ministry is under-funded and said every effort should be made to ensure that the sector is well resourced, since it has the potential to solve the problem of unemployment and enhance the country's foreign exchange earnings. 

They said Ghana is endowed with an "enormous tourism potential" and expressed the hope that with the appropriately trained human support and adequate funding to provide the requisite infrastructure, the country can have a comparative advantage over other international competitors in the industry.

The House unanimously approved the estimates when the Speaker, Mr Daniel Francis Annan, put the question.

Accra (Greater Accra) 18 March  

Government's official website on the Internet to provide essential and up-to-date information for local and foreign consumption  will come into operation this year.

 In addition, the Ministry of Communications will facilitate the creation of the Internet Fund and the formation of a National Computer Foundation to advise government on the use of computer application in the country.

 Mr John Mahama, sector Minister said these while moving a motion for the approval of 22.655 billion cedis for the running of the ministry and the seven subvented organisations under it for the year.

 Last year the ministry was allocated 24.4 billion cedis. 

He said already the ministry has set up a Y2K secretariat, which has completed taking inventory and carried out assessment of the millennium bug problem and will soon come out with solutions to them.

 This secretariat will be changed into an Information Technology Department within the ministry as soon as the Y2K problem has been dealt with. 

The Ministry of Communications has supervisory responsibility for the operation of 13 institutions, seven of which are subvented. 

These include the Ghana News Agency, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Information Services Department, Ghana Institute of Journalism and the National Film and Television Institute.

 Mr Mahama said, despite the considerable growth, in telecommunications and the information sectors, Internet usage and E- Mail services, are still not available in most government institutions.

 "If steps are not taken, the public sector will be left behind in the new information age," he added.

 The Ministry's vision, therefore, in the medium-term, is that every hospital school and local government office is to be connected to the national telecommunication network and subsequently to the Internet.

 "A local area network and possibly, a wider area network, will be established for the ministry as a pilot project to be extended to the other government ministries in the coming years," he said.

 Within the next three years, the Ministry hopes to expand the telecommunications sector with its current 150,000 subscriber lines to increase to about 650,000 and the 40,000 mobile phones to about 300,000, in addition to the provision of more pay phones. 

Mr Mahama said the ministry and its agencies would strive to develop and  implement policies that will promote ready access to news and information on major government policies and activities.

 To this end, the "Post Cabinet briefings" and the "Meet the press" series will continue to be a regular source of information on government. He said the ministry would continue to encourage public officials to be forthcoming with information until appropriate legislation is put in place. 

The Minister said efforts are also under way to make the Ghana Institute of Journalism and the National Film and Television Institute degree awarding institutions in collaboration with the universities while efforts are made to continue the programme to establish permanent campuses for them.

 At the end of the debate the house approved the amount.

Accra (Greater Accra) 18 March

Members of Parliament today appealed to the government to take urgent steps to house the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), which has up to March 26 to vacate its present premisesor be ejected.

 Members made the appeal today, when the debate for approval for 22.6 55 billion for the Ministry of Communications commenced.

 Members made the appeal after being told by Nii Adjei-Boye Sekan, chairman of the Committee on Communications, in his report on the sector ministry, that the rented premises of the school is about to be sold.

 The members stressed the importance of NAFTI to the film and television industry and national development, and stressed that urgent measures be taken to solve the problem. 

The members also made urgent appeal to the government to provide the institute with a celluloid machine, to enable it to provide training in celluloid filming. 

The committee observed that the school no longer offers training inthis subject due to the collapse of their equipment, which the government was supposed to replace last year. Nii Adjei-Boye said the committee was also dismayed to find out that out of the 202.500 billion cedis allocated to the Ministry last year for development, only 30.377 million cedis was released by the Ministry of Finance.

 The committee expressed their disappointment over the Ministry of Finance's inability to release all the funds and appealed to it to ensure that the situation is not repeated this year. 

''The committee observed with grave concern that, though it recommended last year that computers and fax machines be provided to the Ghana News Agency by the government, this did not materialise...''

 The Agency is confronted with poor telephone facilities and lacks vehicles, which do not augur well for effective communication. 

The committee, therefore, recommended that government should improve this situation to promote efficiency in the agency. 

Nii Adjei-Boye Sekan appealed to the ministry to do all it can to address the manpower problem of the Agency for maximum productivity.

 The committee observed that poor staffing is one of the biggest problems confronting the GNA, he explained.

 This is made evident by the fact that there is only one director for planning, research, statistics and human resource development.