Debates of 24 Feb 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 11 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 11 a.m.
Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, there is no record in the Votes and Proceedings to indicate that the Minority walked out yesterday before the consideration of the Bill, so I am bringing it to the House's attention. The event took place and so it must be captured by the Votes and Proceedings.
Majority Leader/Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong) 11 a.m.
I think it is now that I am hearing that they officially walked out, because yesterday, I thought that they were tired and they felt they should go away. [Laughter.] There was no official notification to Mr. Speaker on this matter. Therefore, the Clerks are definitely right in not taking official notice of individuals going out, up and down, as they did. But if he is now serving notice, I think we can take it that yesterday, he had in mind walking out but he forgot to inform the rest of his hon. Colleagues.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday was not the first time that any group of people walked out. When they
were in opposition they did walk out several times but official notifications were never given. So we walked out and that was it -- and it was captured. There has never been a time when the whole group would move up and down and abandon the work. We did walk out and it must be captured as such.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I know very well that when we were dealing with the retained Ministers -- [Interruption] -- we took it as retained Ministers, because they did not want to come to Parliament for vetting. The Minority Leader at that time, now the Senior Minister, hon. J. H. Mensah made our intention clear. We did not just pack our things and leave. So all that we are saying is that next time you want to do this walkout, at least inform the Speaker and it will be taken notice of. That is all that I am saying.
rose
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
I will give you one more chance.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we have been in this House and on one occasion, the Minority Leader then just got up, turned to his group and said, “let us go”. The Speaker was not given any official notification. We took a cue from your Leadership. That is what happened yesterday. Our intention was clear and it was the norm.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 11:10 a.m.
I think he has confirmed all that I have said because he said, “he said, ‘let's go' ”; that was what he heard. So it means that there was a notification to everybody.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:10 a.m.
He did not say that; he just signaled -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, I have
not called you. We will continue with business.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Item 3 -- I have today admitted one Statement and it is to be made by the hon. Member for Mfantsiman West constituency (Mr.Stephen Asamoah- Boateng).
STATEMENTS 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng (NPP -- Mfantsiman West) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I make this Statement on the signing of the Kyoto Accord on Global Warming.
Mr. Speaker, the Kyoto accord, which aims to curb the air pollution blamed for global warming, has come into force, midnight of 16th February 2005, seven years after it was agreed. Although some key countries did not sign up to this treaty, the fact that it has come into effect is in itself welcome news, especially for Africa.
The accord requires countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Some 141 countries, accounting for 55 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, have ratified the treaty, which pledges to cut these emissions by 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
Each country has been set its own individual targets according to its pollution levels. Fast growing developing countries such as China and India are outside the framework, a fact pointed out by US President George W. Bush in 2001. Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement welcoming the treaty but also called on non-signatories to rethink. “From now, we have to build a system which more nations will work together under the common framework to stop
global warming,” he said.
Ms. Maathai, an ecologist and Kenya's Deputy Environment Minister, said the Kyoto Protocol would require not just efforts from governments and businesses, but also a change in the way people lived.
Mr. Speaker, the head of the UN Environment Programme, Klaus Toepfer, said Kyoto was only a first step and much hard work needed to be done to fight global warming and its possible effects on the world's climate. “Climate change is the spectre at the feast, capable of undermining our attempts to deliver a healthier, fairer and more resilient world,” he said. Recent projections on planet warming made terrifying reading, he said, painting a vision of a planet that is “spinning out of control”. He said it would be Africa which bore the burden of the world's failure to act and this is very disturbing news.
Whilst it is generally accepted that even for countries that have signed up to the Kyoto accord the goals could be difficult, we must all strive to hit our targets as individual countries. It is heart-warming to hear Mr. Takashi Omuru, of the Japanese Environment Ministry emphasized that “Japan will make all efforts to respect the rules of the Protocol”.
Supporters of the 141-nation pact say it is a tiny step to slow global warming by imposing legally binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions in 35 developed nations, mainly from burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars. Climate experts fear projected temperature rises could disrupt farming, raise sea levels by melting icecaps, cause more extreme weather like hurricanes or droughts, spread diseases and wipe out thousands of animal and plant species by 2100.
Mr. Speaker, we in Ghana must add our voice to the call for other countries that have not signed up to this treaty to make all

effort to sign so that we can, together, save our planet for generations yet to come.

Mr. Speaker, coming home to Ghana we are not spared the threat of global warming and it is important we sensitize our countrymen and women, especially vehicle owners and those in business -- namely, mining industry, cement industry, et cetera to be mindful of how waste is managed.

The harm that refrigerators, especially second-hand ones, play in the consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) deserves mentioning. This sector, according to EPA source consumes as much as 98 per cent of the total ODS consumption in Ghana. It is heart- warming, though, to note that the EPA is playing its role for the Government to meet its strategic objective of phasing out the use of ODS according to the ODS phase- out schedule for Article 5 countries under the Protocol. It is important to remind Government and the business community to check the importation of second-hand refrigerators into the country.

Owners and importers of old vehicles must also play their part to reduce gas emissions into the environment. Whilst commending the current management of DVLA for the compliance of MOT regulations, I would also like to call on them to liaise with the law enforcement agencies to intensify this aspect of their work to check on the pollution from vehicles into the atmosphere. This is because ozone produced when sunlight reacts with pollutants emitted by vehicle exhausts is also a major cause of respiratory disease.
Mr. Speaker, I am informed that our vulnerability assessment indicates that 11:20 a.m.
Agriculture is very vulnerable to climate change (e.g. decrease of 7 per cent in maize yield by 2020);
Coastal belt is currently experiencing an erosion at the rate of 8 metres per year; and
Water resource also has high vulnerability.
Mr. Speaker, afforestation, manage- ment of degraded land and agro-forestry are some of the measures being taken by Ghana to increase greenhouse gas sinks. Whilst inventory of gas emissions taken between 1990 and 1996 (latest record available) indicate that carbon dioxide -- CO2 -- accounts for the largest share of our greenhouse gas emissions by source, it is heartening to note that this is offset by carbon sinks in forested and afforested lands. However, methane emissions (largely due to agriculture and biomass for energy) although lower than CO2 emissions is about 2-3 times higher than CO2.
This means that we must do more to minimize incidents of bush fires, deforestation and other unfriendly agricultural practices. We must come down hard on illegal chain-saw operators and their collaborators who are causing immense damage to our forest.
Mr. Speaker, in the coastal zone, where most of my constituents live, the situation is even serious. Apart from some few urban centers, the main economic activities are fishing and farming, with the people living on very low incomes. Mr. Speaker, according to the EPA if the current rates of sea-level rise continues, a total of 1,110 km2 of land area may be lost as a consequence of a 1metre rise by 2100. Sea-level rise can also be expected to raise the soil moisture content of sandy
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate myself with the Statement made by the hon. Member from the other side. However, I wish to state that methyl, bromide and CFC gases do not cause global warming; they rather deplete the ozone layer. The ozone layer is the layer in the stratosphere that prevents ultra-violet rays from reaching the earth and thereby causing cancer.
However, I support the Statement because the sea level is increasing by over half a centimetre every year; this is due to global warming. And global warming is caused by excessive emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Unites States is the
greatest emitter of greenhouse gases yet the United States of America (USA) has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol for economic reasons.
Mr. Speaker, we have in West Africa what we call the West African Large Marine Ecosystem, which extends from Senegal to Angola. This marine system is on a severe threat from sea levels that are rising all the time, and anybody who lives along the coastline would realize that our coastline is under threat of severe erosion and flooding. And we all know what flooding can do to coastlines; “Tsunamis” can happen.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to state that efforts have been made in this country, in the past, to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. In fact, in 1999, an equipment was brought into this country with the support of the British Government to enable the Ghana Police Motor Traffic Unit (MTU) to limit the emission of greenhouse gases by our vehicles. Unfortunately, I do not think the process is continuing because if you want to do that, most vehicles would be removed from our roads.
Mr. Speaker, I think all of us would have to take this issue seriously. We are cutting down all our forests. In Accra there is no public park which you can even call a public park, where there are trees that will act as carbon sinks. Costa Rica has done this effectively; they are earning a lot of money from it. We can get carbon credit or the developed countries can sell their carbon emission credit to us for us to earn a lot of money by just planting more trees, engage in afforestation and I believe that this will be a very effective way of killing two birds with one stone, that is having forests and at the same time earning money without cutting the forest.
Mr. Speaker, I support the Statement.
Mr. Kwabena A. Okerchiri (NPP -- Nkawkaw) 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when I heard that Russia had ratified the Kyoto Protocol, my heart leapt for joy because day in, day out it has been established scientifically that there is extricable connection between the emission of these greenhouse gases. The catastrophe that is befalling many countries, like Tsunami -- those small islands had been warned at various fora that with time they were going to be submerged as a result of these greenhouse gaseous emissions.
They have stated it on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly but no one -- a lot of people paid no heed. They were seriously asking, entreating the developing nations to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol. But there were these sectors which were arguing that it would be more costly, as it were, to sign up to the protocol and implement it. They argued that those monies that would be spent as a result of the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol could be used for Third World countries in dealing with AIDS, et cetera. Therefore, I am happy now that the protocol has been signed by the requisite nations and it is becoming, as it were, implementable.

Mr. Speaker, my only appeal, as the last hon. Member who spoke said is that the United States of America emits a lot of this gaseous material and therefore we would appeal to them as it were to sign up to the protocol because it is important that they sign up to it and prevent these catastrophes from happening, other than contributing to it by not signing and when all these disasters occur, they rush and dole out help.

Mr. Speaker, with this, I want to resume my seat.
Prof. Al 11:30 a.m.
None

Tamale Central): Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity. I want to associate myself with the Statement and to thank the presenter for bringing a very important issue to this august House. I am particularly touched by the fact that he referred to agriculture, which is affected by global warming.

It is true that we in Ghana may not contribute substantially to global warming but what we do with our resources, how we manage our resources, how we utilize our resources can minimize the effect of global warming on us. If you take agricultural activities in this country, we are grateful to the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for doing a lot of research in Ghana's soil and coming out with land capability classification. But it looks as if our agricultural practices do not take into consideration this land capability classification, so we should be doing more to relate the nature or our land, the nature of our soil, to the type of agricultural activities that we practise.

It is also essential that we manage our resources better for posterity to continue to use them, otherwise posterity will blame us for mismanagement. We can see that our forests are depleting at a very fast rate thereby reducing the forest cover in this country. It is also at a fast rate reducing the bio-diversity of our nation. So it is essential that we carry out practices that will promote and limit the scourge, promote agricultural production, promote production of all sorts and also ensure that global warming does not affect us too much.

For instance, a lot of lands have been cleared but if you look at the nature of our agriculture, we continue expanding and putting land under cultivation without paying particular attention to the productivity of land. This is destroying our land resources and we should take steps to ensure that we intensify agricultural production rather than resorting to
Mr. Charles S. Hodogbey (NDC -- North Tongu) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to associate myself with the Statement.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the carbon dioxide emission, we should consider our own environment in Ghana here. We all know very well that as you drive by, through the cities in Ghana, people burn bushes and other things, either in the night or in the morning.
The burning emits a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing the ozone level to drop. Majority of the vehicles that we bring into Ghana are second-hand vehicles. And if you are to take a serious emission test, not that kind of test whereby it is compromised, majority may not be even fit to be on the road.
In most countries, even in the disposal of batteries you cannot dispose of your battery from vehicles by yourself. But in Ghana, you take your battery off and throw it anywhere. All these are causing environmental hazards. I would therefore suggest to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make a very serious

regulation concerning the burning of bushes and disposal of batteries and other things.
Mr. Andrews Adjei-Yeboah (NPP -- Tano South) 11:40 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity granted me to add my voice to the Statement on the floor of the House.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the environment, every individual person on the surface of the earth, whether normal or lunatic, becomes concerned because it affects the very lives of the people on the surface of the earth.
But Mr. Speaker, ironically, human beings do the harm. Any damage that is persistently and consistently being done to the environ-ment, is done by human beings. Our very daily activities add to the woes that the environment actually inherit from us.
Mr. Speaker, when you drive along the streets of Accra, and you see the way people throw things about in the street, you will wonder whether individuals are so much conscious about the fact that these activities done by human beings are going to add to the problems that we have for our environment. Time and again, we continue to signal and talk to each other to be very cautious and be very religious about the activities that we do so that the environment is not so much disturbed. But continuously, human beings do what pleases them.
We are all very happy with the coming
into force of this Protocol and the countries that are very guilty of it have mustered the moral courage to add their signatures to it to make it operative. We are all hoping and waiting to see that one day those who are very guilty of it including the United States of America will as well sign up to it. But in Ghana, we are trying, as part of the larger community of the world. Our own activities have contributed to the depletion of our forests, farming practices, bush fires and to some degree, logging.
Mr. Speaker, all those human activities impact very negatively on the environ- ment. It is my desire and hope that as individuals, we become very mindful and conscious of what we do, such that our daily activities may not adversely affect the very environment, which we inherited from our forefathers.
What legacy are we leaving behind for the younger generation yet unborn to inherit? And all that we can give to our posterity is to handle issues that affect the environment with a lot of tact and with a lot of caution. And as much as we do that, I believe we will leave a large legacy to children yet unborn.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr. Joe K. Gidisu (NDC -- Central Tongu) 11:40 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement on the floor of the House. In doing so, I am delighted to know that the Statement is coming from our colleagues opposite. I am doing so with reference
Mr. Joe K. Gidisu (NDC -- Central Tongu) 11:50 a.m.
to the point that most often, as we are concerned with the international world's activity or response to such protocols, at the national level we should equally be seen to be making conscious efforts to arrest the situation.
Mr. Speaker, environmental control is not a situation which one can just identify within a short period of time. It is a projected situation. We should all attempt to look at how best to maintain a healthy environment for today and for the future. It is in this respect that we as government or people in leadership positions, should be seen as making conscious efforts to sustain the environment in a way, through various policy measures.
Mr. Speaker, when we reflect on earlier policies by previous governments to control environmental pollution in a way, one would begin to worry as to certain developments of late, which tend to undermine such policies.
I am saying this with respect to all the hon. Members who have contributed from both sides. They have identified a situation of the importation of second-hand vehicles into the country. You would recall that it was in the wisdom of the previous Government to limit the age of vehicles that we imported into this country. But along the line, we did not see the need to control the age of vehicles imported into the country and have now liberalized it. And today, we are talking about the importation of such vehicles.
Mr. Speaker, it is equally in that same wisdom that we noted, especially the previous Government, that the larger number of rural dwellers depend on wood fuel and therefore saw the need to introduce this liquefied petroleum gas into the country as a measure of controlling the use of wood fuel. And in that wise also, the price was subsidized to meet the pockets of even the urban dwellers that equally needed the support of that gas.

Capt. Effah-Dartey (rtd.): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is saying that the NDC Government introduced liquefied petroleum gas usage in this country. If he is claiming credit for the National Democratic Congress Government for the introduction of the usage of liquefied petroleum gas in this country, with the greatest respect, it is a terminological inexactitude. I agree

that perhaps, he may be right in saying that the NDC Government promoted or popularised or enhanced the use of LPG. But to say that they introduced its use, Mr. Speaker, he is dressing the NDC Government in borrowed robes.
Mr. Joe Gidisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague opposite has added other jargons to exemplify the point I am making, that institutional measures were taken by the NDC Government to massively promote the use of liquefied petroleum gas.
Before the NDC Government went out of office, they came out with the timber utilisation contracts and this was an attempt to control the destruction of forests in this country. Unfortunately, when this Government came into office they abrogated the procedures and have established administrative measures which have thrown out of gear the logic behind this Timber Utilisation Contract.
Mr. Speaker, these are all the impacts we are getting from the massive destruction of our forests which we are all talking about today. But there is a need for a conscious effort of those of us in authority today as a Government to look at how our policies impact on the future. It is in this wise that we as policy-makers should detach ourselves from political sentiments and look at how we accept measures put in place by previous governments as a way of protecting the environment which we are all concerned with, so that we would not have occasion to be talking about such protocols and their impact on us in

the future.

With these few comments, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
Mr. John A. Ndebugre (PNC -- Zebilla) 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Statement. The purpose of the Kyoto Agreement is to control the rate at which dangerous gases are emitted into the atmosphere and which have the effect of causing the heating up of the environment.
We all know that the rate at which these dangerous gases are emitted into the atmosphere depends on the degree of manufacturing activities taking place in a particular community or area. There is therefore no wonder that the United States of America has found it difficult to accede to this Agreement because it is reputably the most eminent manufacturing country in the world.
Having said that, I can only say that powerful world leaders and orgnisations should try and prevail upon the United
States of America to accede the Kyoto Agreement.
But I want to introduce what I may call a controversial aspect into this matter. I am of the considered view that we cannot blame the global warming on only these gases because I have observed that in my childhood days the weather used to be hottest at noon but these days it is not hottest at noon. Not many people have observed this. The weather becomes very hot even at 8.00 a.m. and the global
Mr. Lee Ocran 11:50 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague opposite is causing scientific suicide and he should not be allowed to mislead the House.
Mr. Speaker, it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is the greenhouse emission that is causing global warming. If he has any new theories let him put them into a book and we shall buy, read and contest him; but he should not be allowed to cause scientific murder in the House.
Mr. Ndebugre 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised because even in scientific history when genetics was first introduced, any scientist and biologist for that matter, who said that the resemblance from father to son and down the line has something to do with something called the gene was put to death immediately. I think that my hon. Friend from Jomoro is behaving the same way. I am making this submission not as a lawyer but as a chemical engineer. I can also give another example.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Member, are you propounding new theories?
Mr. Ndebugre 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we must always seize these opportunities -- This Parliament is also part of the Parliaments of the world and when an opportunity like this arises we ought to seize it and start a message so that other people can start thinking about it. That is what I am trying to do. I may also add, just in quick response to my hon. Friend from Jomoro, that it took Archimedes -- [Interrruption]
Mr. Ndebugre noon
Mr. Speaker, because I am talking about science and not about money, not many hon. Members ae listening. [Laughter.]
Mr. K. T. Hammond noon
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, maybe the difficulty arises from the fact that a chemical engineer is talking about the solar system and we are getting pretty confused, so I would be very grateful if he can relate the chemical engineering with the engineering in the solar system. [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member for Adansi Asokwa, this is not a point of order.
Mr. H. F. Kamel noon
On point of order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member for Zebilla has made a very outrageous statement. He has indicted this House. He is saying
that because he is not talking about money, the hon. Members of this House are not listening to him -- [Laughter] -- I would want to know from him the occasion on which he was talking about money and hon.Members listened to him.
Mr. Ndebugre noon
Mr. Speaker, not to say that I have not taken notice of what he has said, what I am saying is that because we have asssembled here to hear the Budget, all our minds are tuned to how we are going to receive money and how we are going to expend it, so this seems to be some diversion.
Mr. J. A. Tia noon
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, it is the practice of this House that when a Member makes a statement which perhaps borders on the integrity of the House, it is addressed and then put in the right perspective. The statement by the hon. Member for Zebilla to the effect that we were not listening because he was not talking about money is quite serious. [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker noon
Order! Order!
Mr. Tia noon
Mr. speaker, some of us do not want to believe that we are here for the purpose of maybe, making money -- [Uproar.] Mr. Speaker, we do now want
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member for Zebilla, over to you.
Mr. Ndebugre noon
Mr. Speaker, I have already clarified the position. I did not say, and I did not intend to say that because hon. Members are not going to make money out of the statement I am making or the contribution I am making, therefore, they are not listening. I said that because hon. Members have tuned themselves to receiving the Budget around this time, 11.00 a.m., which would generally involve the receipt of money and the expenditure of money in Ghana, therefore, they were not listening. So he cannot impute ill- motive to what I have said. [Hear! Hear!]
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member, please wind up.
Mr. Ndebugre noon
Because I have been asked to wind up, I will quickly say that the main point of my argument is that it would appear to me that the axis of the earth -- Mr. Speaker, the earth rotates on its axis to give rise to day and night, and I suspect that the weather has become hotter during the morning instead of the afternoon because the angle of the axis has changed.
To conclude, as an addendum to the concrete proposals that were made by the hon. Member, my good friend from Berekum, I also propose that the
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Deputy Minister- designate for Foreign Affairs, you are allowed to make a brief contribution.
Mr. Akwasi Osei-Adjei (NPP -- Ejisu Juaben) noon
Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity. I believe the timing of this Statement is very opportune for us to take global warming into consi- deration.
Mr. Speaker, when we speak of globalisation -- it should not be in training alone; the whole world should come together and look at our weather systems so that we do not spoil the weather for future generations. I believe also that as my hon. Friend was trying to say, one cannot say that pollution in a country stays in that country. This is so, in fact, during harmattan, when we have the wind blowing from as far as the Sahara; it ends up in Accra here. Therefore, pollution in one country goes to another. So I believe that the whole world should take the opportunity to look at this Protocol, especially India, Brazil, United States of America, China, irrespective of the cost, to save future generations.
So with this statement, I would call upon the countries which have not signed the Protocol to do so to save the future generations. I thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker noon
I will allow only one more contribution.
Mr. Dan K. Abodakpi (NDC -- Keta) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief. I think the Statement is very much in place; it is important. For us as a country, I think it is in order that even as we try to develop, we should ensure ecological balance. But my worry, Mr. Speaker, is the refusal of the advanced countries of this world to sign up to the Kyoto Agreement.

For me, what is coming out, the essence of their refusal is that they do not want to slow down their development activity. They do not want to move away from their consumption patterns. And they have introduced schemes like “grow trees and be paid credit.” For what, when in fact it is development that we need to improve the lot of our people. So even as we strive, in fact, we do not have a choice.

The Bretton Woods Institutions have made environmental impact assessment a key condition even for accessing their facilities. So the developing countries do not have a choice. The problem is with the United States of Americas of this world, the Chinas of this world, et. cetera, to be compelled by the force of public argument to toe the line and ensure that the havoc which their development has caused the world is mitigated by signing up to this Agreement.

I think that as a country, if we use our membership of our regional bodies to put pressure on those countries that have refused to sign up and are encouraging us, so to say, to grow trees, et cetera, to absorb the continuous emission that their actions

are causing the world -- This I think, we should pursue very vigorously to ensure that some normality gets into the equation for the sake of humanity.
MOTIONS 12:10 p.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That this honourable House approves the Financial Policy of the Government for the year ending 31st December 2005.
I do hereby present the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the President.
Mr. Speaker, this is a 238-page document with about 814 paragraphs.
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION
-- OVERVIEW OF ECONOMIC 12:10 p.m.
POLICY AND THE BUDGET 12:10 p.m.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 12:10 p.m.
AND OUTLOOK 12:10 p.m.
MACROECONOMIC 12:10 p.m.
- 12:10 p.m.
PERFORMANCE AND OUTLOOK 12:10 p.m.
INFRASTRUCTURE 12:10 p.m.
DEVELOPMENT 12:10 p.m.
MODERNIZED AGRICULTURE 12:10 p.m.
BASED ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT 12:10 p.m.
COCOA INDUSTRY 12:10 p.m.
ENHANCED SOCIAL SERVICES 12:10 p.m.
A N D P R O T E C T I O N O F T H E 12:10 p.m.
VULNERABLE 12:10 p.m.
GHANA AIDS COMMISSION 12:10 p.m.
GOOD GOVERNANCE 12:10 p.m.
BPEMS 12:10 p.m.
NON-TAX REVENUE 12:10 p.m.
MINISTRY OF REGIONAL 12:10 p.m.
CO-OPERATION AND NEPAD 12:10 p.m.
PUBLIC SERVICES COMMISSION 12:10 p.m.
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR MINISTER 12:10 p.m.
PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT 12:10 p.m.
REDUCTION AND UTILISATION 12:10 p.m.
OF HIPC FUNDS 12:10 p.m.
INITIATIVES 12:10 p.m.
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT 12:10 p.m.
DEVELOPMENT 12:10 p.m.
D E R E G U L A T I O N A N D 12:10 p.m.
MITIGATING MEASURES 12:10 p.m.
RATIONALISATION AND 12:10 p.m.
ENHANCEMENT MEASURES 12:10 p.m.
REVENUE RATIONALISATION 12:10 p.m.
REVENUE ENHANCEMENT 12:10 p.m.
NON-TAX REVENUE 12:10 p.m.
M I L L E N N I U M C H A L L E N G E 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker 3:20 p.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Majority Leader, do you have anything to say?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 3:20 p.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After listening to this “Budget of Hope” -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 3:20 p.m.
Order! Order! [Uproar] -- Order! Order! Go ahead.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 3:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, afterlistening to this “Budget of Hope”, and in the light of what has been exhibited, that the Budget is not only pro-poor but also gender sensitive, I think there is need for us to refer to our Standing Order 140(3) and let the debate stand adjourned till Tuesday next week, by which time the Leadership of the House and the leadership of committees would have also had the opportunity to meet at Elmina and drawn up the programme.
Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware there is a continuation of what was started last year -- an exhibition down there -- and I hope all hon. Members would make it a point to be there. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning will formerly present a copy of the Statement to the Clerk's office -- [Hear! Hear!] And since it is already past 2 o'clock there is no need for any motion and so Mr. Speaker may direct us in this way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 3:20 p.m.
Hon. Members, if I may give directions. Pursuant to Standing Order 140(3), debate on this motion shall stand adjourned till Tuseday, 1st March, 2005 -- [Interruptions.]
Part of the Budget relating to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies duly stand committed respectively to the committees responsible for the subject matter to which the heads of the estimates relate in accordance with Standing Order 140(4). Each committee shall submit the relevant heads of estimates committed to it and reoprt thereon to the House within such time as the Business Committee may determine. Thank you, and the House is accordingly adjourned until tomorrow.
ADJOURNMENT 3:20 p.m.
  • The House was adjourned at 3.25 p.m. till 25th February, 2005 at 10.00 a.m.