Parliament approves Ministries of Health and Roads and Transport 2000
budgets
Ministry of Lands & Forestry to assist in creating special land courts
Parliamentary committees ask
vessels owners to come up with ideas
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs should be scraped-The Minority
Accra
(Greater Accra) 23 March 2000
The
smallest ministry in the country on Tuesday got Parliament to approve its 560
million cedis budget but had it tough to justify its existence.
Members
of the Minority argued that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs was
duplicating the work of the Office of Parliament and weakening the influence of
the legislative body in the realm of government.
Moving
for the approval, Dr Kwabena Adjei, Minister In-charge, said it is unfortunate
that some members still fail to appreciate the role of the ministry in the nurturing
of the Parliamentary system in the country.
He
said it is the Ministry's duty to help in organising comprehensive and
sustained outreach programmes for the population to appreciate the norms and
value's system of Parliament.
The
Minister, who is the Majority Leader, said the time has come for an independent
body like the Ministry to take up the role of Parliamentary assessment and be
held accountable as such.
Dr
Adjei said since Parliament as an institution is now "growing" there
is the need for a Ministry to help liaise between the executive and the
legislative body and aid the smooth flow of information between the two bodies.
Nana
Akuffo Addo, the Minority Spokesman on Legal, Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs, said the ministry has no place in the current political arrangement.
He
said Parliament, as an independent arm of government needs to initiate and
implement its own administrative programmes without any prodding from any
quarter.
Papa
Owusu Ankoma, NPP-Sekondi, said all functions that are supposed to be performed
by the Ministry are the responsibility of the office of Parliament.
He
said since the constitution mandates that two thirds of ministers come from
Parliament and that all Ministers including Deputy Ministers can participate in
the daily work of Parliament, there is no need for a Ministry to link up the
executive and the legislature.
The
member said even if there is the need for that special arrangement, the
President could create a section in his office to facilitate that linkage.
He
said the Office of Parliament could easily promote itself by creating a Public
Relations Department within.
Papa
Ankoma said the idea that Parliamentary practice is young in Ghana and should
be helped to "grow by some special Ministry" is irrelevant and if
that idea is bought then Parliament as an institution is shirking its own
responsibility.
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 23 March 2000
Parliament
on Tuesday approved the 2000 annual budgets of the Ministries of Health and
Roads and Transport with a call on the government to release funds on time for
their operations.
Members
noted that the government has over the years failed to release on time funds
meant for ministries and in some cases failed to give them the full allocation.
Moving
for the approval of the budget of Ministry of Health, Dr Adobo, a Deputy
Minister, said the Ministry needs 340.1 billion cedis to carry out its programmes
this year.
He
said areas that will be given additional attention are the new Health Service,
The Council for Traditional Medicine and the fashioning out of a more
acceptable Health insurance scheme.
The
Deputy Minister said his Ministry would also strengthen its Cash and Carry
system and help the poor to access health facilities without much pain.
The
Ministry of Roads and Transport, which needed 724.5 billion cedis was given the
nod.
Mr Steve
Akorle, Deputy Minister for the sector, moved for the approval.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra Region), 23rd
March 2000.
The Ministry of Lands and Forestry is to assist
in the creation of a well-equipped special division of the High Court to deal
solely with land cases to help stem land litigation in the country.
Dr. Christina Amoako-Nuama, the sector
Minister, who announced this in Parliament on Wednesday, said litigation over
land, apart from hampering development,
has sometimes degenerated into violence, resulting in the loss of
lives and property.
Dr. Amoako-Nuama was moving a motion to request
the House to approve of a 69.24 billion cedis budgetary allocation for the
Ministry for the 2000 fiscal year.
The Minister told the House that for this year,
the Ministry will assist private sector investment in plantation development
and encourage communities in the area of forest reserve and wildlife
development.
Dr. Amoako-Nuama said as part of its programme
for the year, the Ministry will prepare a National Land-use Plan, speed up
title registration to cover all interest in land throughout the country and
phase out deeds registration.
The Ministry will also initiate the use of
negotiable land bonds as an option for financing timely government acquisitions,
and continue to facilitate inter-ministerial collaboration in its policy
formulation and implementation procedures.
The expenditure estimates for the Ministry,
which are made up of a government's contribution of 37.85 billion cedis and a
donor support of 31.39 billion cedis, will cover personnel emoluments,
administrative and service expenses and investments.
Personnel emoluments take up 14.94 billion
cedis while 8.96 billion cedis will go into administrative expenses. Service
will get 23.28 billion cedis, which is made up of 6.5 billion cedis contributed
by the government and a donor support of 16.76 billion cedis.
Investment will take 21.05 billion cedis, made
up of 7.42 billion cedis government funding and 14.62 billion cedis support
from donor sources.
The Ministry of Lands and Forestry, which is
charged with ensuring the sustainable management and utilisation of the
country's lands, forests and wildlife resources for the socio-economic
development, has four subvented organisations and five non-subvented
organisations under it.
The subvented organisations are the Forestry
Commission, Lands Title Registry, Land Valuation Board and Office of
Administration of Stool Lands, while the non-subvented organisations are the
Survey Department, Game and Wildlife Department, Stool Lands Boundaries
Settlement Commission, Lands Commission and Forestry Department.
The primary objective of the Ministry is to
develop, manage and increase access and security to land, forest and wildlife
resources on a sustainable basis to improve institutional capacity and
inter-agency co-ordination and co-operation, among other goals.
In its report on the financial estimates, the
Parliamentary Committee on Lands and Forestry noted that before the enactment
of the Forestry Commission Act, (Act 541), the Timber Export Development Board
(TEDB) and the Forestry Products Inspection Bureau (FPIB) were statutory bodies
and as such Parliament was not obliged to approve their budgets.
The Committee said with the enactment of Act
541, the Forestry Commission was required under the law to approve the budget
of its divisions and submit it to the Minister of Finance for onward submission
to Parliament for approval.
However, because the Forestry Commission Law
was gazetted in September 1999, by which period the Commission had not been
established, the budgets of the TEDB and FPIB could not be captured in the
draft annual budget of the sector Ministry for the year 2000.
The Committee, therefore, recommended that in
the interim the two organisations should continue to fund their budgets from
internally-generated revenue until such time that the Commission is set up or a
supplementary budget is approved to cater for their programmes.
During the ensuing debate, Mr. J.H. Mensah,
Minority Leader, objected to the recommendation, saying it was unconstitutional
and, therefore, illegal for the two organisations to fund their activities from
internally-generated revenue since they are required by law to pay such revenue
into the Consolidated Fund.
He suggested that since the two bodies are not
covered by the budgetary allocation, the Ministry should put an item in its
financial estimates and request Parliament for a supplementary allocation to
cover the TEDB and the FPIB.
The Speaker, Mr. Justice Francis Annan, was in
agreement with the Minority Leader's suggestion and advised the Ministry
accordingly.
The House unanimously approved the Ministry's
budget for the year but some members, who contributed to the debate, were of
the opinion that the budgetary allocation was woefully inadequate, considering
the enormous task the Ministry is required to perform.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 22 March 2000
Mr Simon Abingya, Deputy Minister of Mines and
Energy on Tuesday told Parliament that on-going works to connect 480
communities nation-wide, under the Self Help Electrification Project (SHEP III)
phase two project, will be completed during the first quarter of this year.
About
570 remaining localities listed on the SHEP III will be connected to the
national grid, during the year, he said.
Mr
Abingya, who sought, through a motion, and obtained parliamentary approval for
237.87 billion cedis for the services of the Ministry for the 2000 fiscal year,
said work on a European Union-funded electrification project in the Western
Region, is also to begin this year.
He
said the project, which will connect about 70 new communities to the national
grid, is expected to go on tender soon.
The
Minister highlighted on some of the electrification projects the sector intends
to undertake during the year and said the government has obtained a 30
million-dollar Chinese loan to commence electrification of 107 resettlement
towns and villages along the Volta Lake.
He
said 38 additional communities in the Greater Accra and the Volta regions would
be connected to the national electricity grid, this year, adding that the
government has already secured funding from the Swedish government to execute
the project.
Mr
Abingya said electrification work in about 50 communities in the Upper East
Region, which started late last year, is expected to continue this year at a
cost of 10 million dollars.
He
said under the Renewable Energy Unit, more than 600 solar streetlights will be
installed in Accra, while a Spanish government-funded solar rural
electrification project in which 10 villages are benefiting, will be completed
during the year under review.
On the programme for the mining sector during
the year, Mr Abingya said the government will continue to carry out the
activities of the mining sector development and environment project aimed at
enhancing the capacity of the mining sector institutions, and to develop
techniques and mechanisms to improve the productivity, financial viability and
reduction in adverse environmental impact of small-scale mining operations.
In
the petroleum sub-sector, he said emphasis would continue to be on the
expansion of production, transportation and distribution infrastructure to
ensure an equitable and efficient distribution of petroleum products.
Out
of the 237.87 billion cedis allocated to the sector, 201.89 billion cedis will
be spent on projects while the rest will go to departments and agencies under
the ministry.
The
Minerals Commission will receive 17.38 billion cedis, Mines Department will
have 1.49 billion cedis, and Geological Survey Department has been allocated
13.54 billion cedis while the Energy Commission takes up the remaining 1.75
billion cedis.
The
Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy, in its report on the Ministry's
financial estimates, noted with dismay that the Minerals Development Fund is
almost depleted with only 1.2 billion cedis remaining.
It
said although the Internal Revenue Service had advised the Minerals Commission
about an amount of six billion cedis accruing to the Fund for the period
between October, 1998 and November, 1999, the Ministry of Finance is yet to
release the money.
The
Committee said the non-release of the funds had greatly hampered the progress
of a number of projects that depend on the Fund, including small-scale mining.
It,
therefore, recommended the immediate release of all funds due to the Minerals
Development Fund by the Finance Ministry, to ensure the speedy development of
the mines and energy sectors of the economy.
The
Committee said it was not happy with the delays in the release of funds
allocated to the Ministry since they retard the performance of the sector and
urged the Ministry of Finance to make timely releases of budgetary allocations.
On
the West African Gas Pipeline Project, the Committee said it was convinced that
the early completion of the project by the year 2002 was crucial to the
provision of an alternative cheaper source of energy to enhance the country's
development efforts.
The
Committee, therefore, urged the government and all other stakeholders in the
project to give it the necessary boost.
Contributing to the debate on the motion for the approval of the
financial estimates of the Ministry, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah the Minority
Spokesman on Mines and Energy, noted the importance of the gas pipeline project
to the socio-economic development of the country and urged all stakeholders to
speed up with what it takes to enable the project to become a reality.
He
appealed to the Minerals Commission to study the problems facing the mines and
come up with solutions.
Mr
J. H. Mensah, the Minority Leader, called for the strengthening of the
Geological Survey Department to enable it to provide adequate data on the
country's mineral resources to attract foreign investment into the extractive
sector.
Mr
Doe Adjaho, the Majority Chief Whip, urged the Ministry to clarify the position
of the Minerals Commission and the Mines Department in respect of the
monitoring function of the mines sector since it appears that both agencies are
undertaking that function.
Winding up the debate, Mr Abingya said the government is doing
everything possible to increase the capacity for electricity generation so that
the country will no more experience the energy crisis of previous years.
Earlier, Parliament had approved a budgetary allocation of 32.49 billion
cedis requested by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to carry out its programmes
for this year.
Mr
Enoch Teye Mensah, the sector Minister in his motion for approval of the
ministry's estimates, said youth and sports development is a very expensive
enterprise, which calls for active involvement of the private sector.
He
noted that within the limits of the country's financial constraints, the
government continues to fund systematic programmes in youth and sports
development.
He
expressed the hope that the programme for the rehabilitation of existing youth
and sports facilities and the construction of new ones, including the National
Olympic Stadium Complex, would be accelerated to help the country achieve
national integration and international recognition, among other objectives.
In
its report, the Parliamentary Committee on Youth and Sports observed that the
Ministry's budgetary allocation this year shows an increase of 10.03 billion
cedis over the 1999 provision of 22.45 billion cedis.
Out
of the estimates for this year, 22.74 billion cedis will cover general
administration of the Ministry, the National Youth Council has been allocated
5.11 billion cedis, the National Sports Council is to get 3.49 billion cedis
while the National Sports College takes up 1.14 billion cedis.
The Committee observed that the Ministry and the agencies under it could
not achieve most of their targets due to non-release or sometimes, late release
of funds by the Ministry of Finance.
It
said, for example, that a provision of 22.4 billion cedis was allocated to the
Ministry of Youth and Sports yet 19.1 billion cedis was actually made available
to it during the 1999 fiscal year.
The
Committee, therefore, reminded the Ministry of Finance of the need to ensure
regular and timely release of all approved sums of money to enable the sector
Ministry to pursue its programmes without any hindrance.
In
the ensuing debate, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, the Minority Spokesman on Health
noted that the Ministry had always laid emphasis on the development of sports
to the detriment of the youth sector.
He
said though Ghana is signatory to an international convention aimed at ensuring
the welfare of children, a large army of unemployed youth are found roaming the
streets, while others engage in petty trading along the road.
He, therefore, wondered whether the Ministry is playing its advocacy
role as far as the welfare of the youth is concerned.
Mr
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, NPP-Old Suame-Tafo, suggested that in view of the
financial constraints facing the country, the Ministry should concentrate its
efforts on the development of sports disciplines in which the county has
comparative advantage.
Squadron-Leader Clend Sowu, NDC-Anlo wanted to know what has happened
with the establishment of district sports stadiums as mentioned in the
President's sessional address to Parliament.
Dr
Alex Ababio, NDC-South Dayi, said the allocation for youth development
programmes, is woefully inadequate considering that the proper upbringing of
the youth today, would lay a solid foundation for the country's future.
Mr
Samuel Nkrumah-Gyimah, NPP-Odotobri said in the past, due to the adequate incentives
given to sportsmen and sportswomen, there was so much enthusiasm among them to
the extent that they won several laurels and brought a lot of honour to the
country.
He
noted, however, that due to lack of incentives these days, the enthusiasm has
waned and not much have been achieved in the field of sports.
Mr
John K. Ackah, NDC-Aowin-Suaman, said, even though, the youth are considered
the nation's greatest asset, not much is being done to enhance their
development.
Winding up the debate, the Minister disagreed to the observation that
sports development has taken the centre stage to the detriment of youth
training, saying the ministry has initiated a number of youth development
programmes, which are yielding results.
He
said youth development is a multi-sectoral responsibility and urged all
stakeholders to support the ministry's efforts in that direction.
GRi../
Tema
(Greater Accra) 22 March 2000
The Parliamentary Select Committees on Roads
and Transport and Food and Agriculture on Monday paid a working visit to the
Tema Port to ascertain problems being created by 30 unserviceable fishing
vessels.
Their visit forms part of attempts by the Ghana
Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to interact with all stakeholders on how to
free the port of such vessels.
At a consultative meeting with them, Mr Dominic
Azumah, Chairman of the Select Committee on Roads and Transport urged the
owners of the vessels to come up with suggestions to solve the problem.
He reminded them that the GPHA has the right to
take any decision on the vessels in the interest of the maritime industry.
During the port rehabilitation exercise in
1989, the GPHA spent 2.5 million dollars to remove 51 sunken vessels, he said,
adding that it is determined not to allow any other vessel to sink in the port
again.
Most of the 30 vessels are laid-up at the Tema
Fishing Harbour.
The GPHA later took the MPs on a cruise to
inspect the vessels to see their state of deterioration.
The involvement of the Parliamentarians is to
address the situation where by vessel owners use their political “connections”
to frustrate the GPHA's programme to clear the vessels, which are occupying
four out of the eight operational berths of the outer fishing harbour.
Mr R. K. Gadegbeku, Secretary of the National
Fish Stevedore Association said the only way of removing the vessels is to
assist the boat owners financially to repair them.
He said the vessels are laid up over the years
because their owners have no money to repair them and urged the government to
give them the kind of assistance that the Timber Marketing Board gave to sawn
mills when their equipment broke down.
Mr Gadegbeku said at the moment it would be
difficult for the boat owners to buy new vessels or get foreign ones on hire
purchase due to the high cost involved.
The vessels have become a source of pollution
in the Tema fishing harbour and the main port because they discharge large
amounts of oil lubricants and garbage into the harbour basin.
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