Debates of 11 Mar 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order!
COMMUNICATION FROM 10 a.m.
THE PRESIDENT 10 a.m.
THE CASTLE-OSU 10 a.m.
ACCRA 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Members, you may note that these are past Members of the Council of State and hon. Members who have any comments on them are kindly expected to bring them to the attention of the Leadership of the House for consideration.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee accor- dingly submits its report as follows 10:10 a.m.
Arrangement of Business
Papers and Reports
Mr. Speaker, Papers and Reports may be presented to the House for consideration.
Statements
Mr. Speaker may allow Statements duly admitted to be made in the House.
Motions and Resolutions
Mr. Speaker, motions may be debated and their consequential resolutions if any may also be taken during the week.
Mr. Speaker, the Business Committee, mindful of the need to thoroughly debate the Budget Estimates of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies for the year 2005, has decided on some time allocations for hon. Members.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee recom- mends that Leadership, Chairmen/ Chairpersons and Ranking Members of Committees be allowed ten (10) minutes each to make their contributions. Mr. Speaker, any other Member contributing will also be granted five (5) minutes.
Mr. Speaker, these arrangements have been proposed to ensure that as many hon. Members as possible would have the opportunity to express their opinions on the estimates.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee, however, wishes to urge hon. Members to endeavour to be as brief as possible and also avoid repetitions during their presentations.
Mr. Speaker the Committee had recommended an extended Sitting day during the week but after further consultations we have decided that during the week there will be double Sitting. And there will be breaks or Sittings will be suspended at 1.30 p.m. for us to resume at 2.30 p.m. The necessary logistics would be provided to ensure smooth extended Sittings and have Members adequately refreshed.
Mr. Speaker, I wish on my own behalf and on behalf of the Leadership and the Business Committee to express appreciation to the Appointments Committee for the able and expeditious manner with which it has so far conducted public hearings on the nominations of H. E. the President for Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial appointments. We are also grateful to all other Committees

of the House which handled the Budget Estimates of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for their sterling performance.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, the Business

Committee wishes to notify hon. Members that the Appropriation Bill for the year 2005 would be presented to the House during the week under consideration.

The House is expected to rise sine die on Friday, 18th March 2005.

Conclusion

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 160 (2) and subject to Standing Order 53, the Committee submits to this honourable House the order in which the business of the House shall be taken during the week.

Statements

Laying of Papers --

Report of the Judiciary Committee on the Annual Budget Estimates of the Judicial Service for the year

2005.

Motions --

(a) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢428,997 million for the services of the Ministry of Defence for the 2005 fiscal year.

(b) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢9,028 million for the services of the Ministry of Regional Coopera-
Mr. Speaker, the Committee accor- dingly submits its report as follows 10:10 a.m.
tion and NEPAD for the 2005 fiscal year.

(c) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢6,101,927 million for the services of the Ministry of Education and Sports for the 2005 fiscal year.

(d) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢61,826 million for the services of the National Development Planning Commission for the 2005 fiscal year.

(e) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢32,717 million for the services of the Ministry Harbours and Rail- ways for the 2005 fiscal year.

(f) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢85,123 million for the services of the Ministry of Fisheries for the 2005 fiscal year.

(g) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢26,776 million for the services of the Ministry of Communications for the 2005 fiscal year.

(h) That this honourable House
Mr. Speaker, the Committee accor- dingly submits its report as follows 10:10 a.m.


Committee Sittings

Statements

Laying of Papers

Motions --

(a) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢4,209,689 million for the services of the Ministry of Health for the 2005 fiscal year.

(b) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢7,280 million for the services of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs for the 2005 fiscal year.

(c) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢3,864 million for the services of the Public Services Commission (PSC) for the 2005 fiscal year.

(d) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢96,666 million for the services of the Audit Service for the 2005 fiscal year.

(e) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢962 million for the services of the District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator for the 2005 fiscal year.

(f) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢119,876 million for the services of the Office of Parliament for the 2005 fiscal year.

(g) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢637,874 million for the services of the Ministry of the Interior for the 2005 fiscal year.

(h) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢12,240.3 million for the services of the Other Government Obligations for the 2005 fiscal year.

(i) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢24,019 million for the services of the Ministry of Tourism and Modernization of Capital City for the 2005 fiscal year.

(j) That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢135,432 million for the services of the Judicial Service for the 2005
Mr. Speaker, the Committee accor- dingly submits its report as follows 10:10 a.m.


Committee Sittings.

Statements

Laying of Papers

Presentation and First Reading of Bills --

The Appropriation Bill, 2005

Second Reading of Bills --

The Appropriation Bill, 2005

Consideration Stage of Bills --

The Appropriation Bill, 2005

Third Reading of Bills --

The Appropriation Bill, 2005

Committee Sittings.

Statements

Laying of Papers

Motions

The House expected to rise sine die.

Mr. Speaker, subject to hon. Members' pleasure and yours, this will be the proposal for next week's business in the House.
Alhaji Collins Dauda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would just want to make an observation about the Business Statement.
Mr. Speaker, we may be rising after the
18th of this month, that is, next week Friday and hon. Members certainly will be going to their constituencies. I thought that the House Committee would meet some time between now and the 18th to be able to brief the House as to how hon. Members would effectively go to their consti-tuencies.
I would just want some direction from the hon. Majority Leader whether the House Committee is billed for such a meeting. That is the observation I want to make.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I think what we should do is to call for a closed Sitting so that the House Committee can brief hon. Members before we rise. So if a provision can be made in the Business Statement for a closed Sitting of the House next week; it can be a meeting of the Committee of the Whole or closed Sitting of the House.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as
at now, I can assure hon. Members that they will go home in comfort. Now, what I can say is that we will consult our hon. Colleagues on the other side and if we find it necessary that perhaps we should have such a meeting, it would be held. But for now, answering specifically the question raised by the hon. Member for Asutifi South (Alhaji Collins Dauda), I can assure all hon. Members that they will return home in comfort.
PAPERS 10:10 a.m.
CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL 10:20 a.m.
ESTIMATES 10:20 a.m.
Mr. A.O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to seek permission of the House and to crave your indulgence to permit the Minister for Works and Housing to move these motions on behalf of the hon. Majority Leader/ Minister for Parliamentary Affairs who is not in the Chamber now.
Minister for Works and Housing (Mr. HackmanOwusu-Agyemang 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have been mandated to move this motion with your kind permission on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that item six (6) stands in the name of the hon. Minister for Works and Housing; he should finish his business before crying for other people. Mr. Speaker, item (6) is there and we expect him to move that one on Works and Housing and if after that the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs is still not here then permission can be taken for him to move that one. He should move his first.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with all respect, we have sought your permission and you have granted permission that the Minister for Works and Housing should move these other motions before his own. Mr. Speaker, I will therefore beg that we begin with motion number (8) on the Order Paper; we will come back to motion number (6) in due course.
Minister for Works and Housing (Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang (on behalf of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢31,896 million for the services of the Electoral Commission for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, the Electoral Commission is a constitutionally established body whose mandate is to conduct free and fair elections as a means of advancing the course of democracy and good governance in Ghana. For this year the Electoral Commission will continue to conduct activities that will build trust and confidence in the electoral system and establish transparent and verifiable electoral processes in Ghana for which purpose this sum has been allocated.
The Electoral Commission is very much aware of the Government's financial constraints and it will do well to perform its activities within the ceiling imposed. However, among the activities scheduled for this year the Electoral Commission is required by constitutional dictates to register all individuals who will turn 18 in the course of the year as well as those who

will for the first time, have the opportunity to place their names in the voters' register.

Unfortunately, funds provided for service expenditure is on the very low side and may adversely affect the conduct of this exercise. As this exercise is a constitutional obligation, the Electoral Commission urges this House to encourage the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to grant some more funds to the Commission under special consideration for the conduct of the exercise and other critical activities.

On this note, Mr. Speaker, and on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, I beg to move that this House approves the sum of ¢31,897,000,000.00 for the services of the Electoral Commission for the 2005 financial year. Mr. Speaker, I beg to move.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh(NPP -- Tema West) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and present the Report of the Committee on Special Budget of the Electoral Commission on behalf of the Chairman of the Special Budget Committee.
1.0 Introduction
The 2005 Annual Estimates of the Electoral Commission was referred to the Special Budget Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of the House following the presentation of the Financial Policy of the Government for the year ending 31st December 2005. The Committee met with the Deputy Chairman, Mr. David A. Kangah and a technical team from the Commission, and reports as follows:
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/Ave) 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear from the Committee's Report that what we have given to the Electoral Commission, which is an independent constitutional body, falls short of what they actually requested. Mr. Speaker, it is the wish of this House and indeed all hon. Members that sufficient resources be made available to this institution so that they can effectively perform their constitutional mandate. Mr. Speaker, given this, I think you can put the Question on this matter.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢31,896 million for the services of the Electoral Commission for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANUAL ESTIMATES 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang (on behalf of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs) 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the same vein and with the earlier permission granted by your goodself through the hon. Deputy Majority Leader, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢30,700 million for the services of the National Commission for Civic Education for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, the NCCE, for short, is also a constitutionally established institution with the mandate to sustain cons t i tu t ionaldemocracy for the achievement of political, economic and social stability in our dear country. For this year, the NCCE will continue to undertake activities aimed at inculcating in the citizens their civic right and respon-sibilities for their personal well-

being and national development, as well as intensifying advocacy programmes on good gove rnance p r inc ip l e s in collaboration with principal State institutions.

The NCCE is very much aware of

Government's financial constraints and would do well to operate within the ceiling that is imposed. However, it may be appreciated that the NCCE is in need of essential infrastructure, especially office space in the regions to enable the Commission work more efficiently. Unfortuanately, adequate funds have not been allocated for this purpose. The Commission therefore urges this honourable House to encourage the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning to grant some additional funds, under special consideration, to enable it perform some of its critical services.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and to present the Report of the Special Budget Committee on the 2005 Estimates of the NCCE.
1.0 Introduction
The 2005 Annual Estimates of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) was referred to the Special Budget Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of the House following the presentation of the Financial Policy of the Government for the year ending 31st December 2005. The Committee met with the Chairman of the NCCE, Mr. Larry Bimi, and a technical team from the Commission and reports as follows:
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:30 p.m.
2.0 Background
2.1 Reference Documents
The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
The Standing Orders of the House.
Message on the State of the Nation by H.E. the President to Parliament (January 2005).
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern-ment of Ghana for the 2005 financial year.
2.2 Aims and Objectives of the NCCE
The NCCE is a constitutionally established institution with a mandate to sustain constitutional democracy for the achievement of political, economic and social stability in the country, by stimulating citizens of Ghana to appreciate their civic rights and responsibilities. In pursuit of this, the NCCE, among other things, undertakes the development and implementation of programmes that are aimed at inculcating in citizens, their civic rights and responsibilities for their personal well-being and national development.
The main objectives of the NCCE include the following:
To create a database and recommend regularly to Govern-ment, the limitations to true demo-cracy arising from inequalities in society; To increase public awareness of constitutional provisions on a sustained basis and to increase peace building and conflict resolution programmes.
The Commission plans to undertake the following activities, among others this year:
The construction of a headquarters building -- Centre for Civic Education (Democracy House); Increasing awareness of good governance principles through civic education programmes in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and District Assemblies on issues relating to mental health and AIDS and with the Ministry of Education for the introduction of “Civics for Democracy” into the school curriculum; and
Conducting regular research into constitutional objectives and inequalities in the society.
3.0 The 2005 Budget Estimates of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE)
A total of ¢30,700,000,000.00 has been allocated to the NCCE to be disbursed as follows:
Personal Emoluments
-- ¢16,681,000,000.00

the project, for which purpose funds has been made available. The Commission has already identified a plot of land at South Legon. The Committee is however apprehensive of this location as it is a bit removed from the metropolis and may not make for easy access to the public. The Committee therefore urges the NCCE to make contact with the Lands Commission and other relevant bodies to ensure that the building is properly and suitably sited.

iv. Service Based Institution

The Committee observed that like the other Constitutional bodies, the core functions of the NCCE are service-based, so that their Service line in the budget must not be interpreted to mean services in the same light as other MDAs as any across the board decrease in service expenditure will adversely affect their core functions. In this circumstance the Committee requested the MOFEP to provide the needed funds when it becomes available in the course of the year, to enable the institution perform some of its critical activities as indicated above.

4.0 Conclusion

The Committee recommends to the House, the approval of the sum of ¢30,700,000,000.00 for the NCCE's operations for the 2005 financial year and hopes that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning keeps its commitment to provide the additional funds needed to enable the NCCE provide some of its critical essential services.

Respectfully submitted.

Question proposed.
Mr. Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, obviously the NCCE is a very important body and its work is central to the promotion and
sustenance of democracy in our country.
Mr. Speaker, if one looks at the budget of the NCCE, one can see that it is quite low on service. That suggests that there are not enough funds for them to be able to execute their duties. Mr. Speaker, in supporting the motion and urging that we provide more resources to the NCCE, I would like to urge the Commission to continue to liaise with other organisations and Ministries and sectors to whom we have allocated substantial sums of money for the purposes of engaging in public education in the areas that are the subject matter of their mandate.
For instance, yesterday we allocated some amount of money to the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs so that they would carry out a number of public education programmes regarding the Domestic Violence Bill. Mr. Speaker, these are opportunities for the NCCE to collaborate with sector Ministries to ensure that they advance the public education programmes that form their constitutional mandate.
On the other hand, it is also not the best that we continue to allocate resources to sector Ministries so that they would carry out public education programmes or programmes related to education on constitutional issues when the consti- tutional body that had been set up for such a function is being grossly under-utilized.
Mr. Speaker, on this note, I will add my voice to the call for more resources for the NCCE and also urge my hon. Colleagues to vote in support of the motion.
Mr. E. T. Mensah (NDC -- Ningo- Prampram) 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on the floor and in doing so I wish to advise that the scope of the NCCE be broadened and their
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the point made by the distinguished Deputy Minority Chief Whip is noted and it would be so communicated to the Commission.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢30,700 million for the services of the National Commission for Civic Education for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 10:40 a.m.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and present the Report of the Special Budget Committee on the estimates for the National Media Commission for the financial year 2005.
The 2005 Annual Estimates of the National Media Commission (NMC) was referred to the Special Budget Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of the House following the presentation of the Financial Policy of the Government for the year ending 31st December 2005.
The Committee met with officials and a technical team from the Commission and reports as follows: 2.0 Background
2.1 Reference Documents
The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
The Standing Orders of the House.
Message on the State of the Nation by His Excellency the President to Parliament (January 2005). The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern-ment of Ghana for the 2005 Financial Year.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion. But before I do so I would want to say that we were informed yesterday or two days ago by the hon. Member for Old Tafo and Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Dr. A. Akoto Osei) that the micro ceilings for various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)
and constitutional bodies were fixed by Cabinet and not the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
At times we get a bit worried when we get Members of Cabinet appear on the floor of this House, after they have agreed to the ceilings, crying -- meanwhile, it is their act which allocated those resources; and we are not too enthused about that kind of style.
Mr. Speaker, the other thing is that these constitutional bodies, because they are not strictly under any Ministry, they do not have audience on the floor of this House and they have to be taken on board by some other Ministers. Indeed, by convention of the House, we have placed them under the Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs for purposes of moving the motion for the approval of their annual estimates. But Mr. Speaker, it would be very important to note that whilst we do this the representatives of those Commissions come here so that hon. Members comment on their operations.
For example, the point raised by the hon. Member for Ningo/Prampram with regard to the role of Members of Parliament and the role of the Executive or the District Chief Executives at the local level is very, very important and I believe that in future the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs would make sure that while they may not come and move their motions, they should make sure that they are here to listen to the comments of Members of this House with regard to their operations.
Mr. Speaker, with this comment, I support the motion.
Mr. K. Osei-Prempeh (NPP -- Nsuta- Kwamang-Beposo) 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support this motion. Mr. Speaker, the National Media Commission is one of the constitutional bodies and I always say that it is the most deprived of all the
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Minister for Works and Housing, may you wind up.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have taken the comments of the hon. Member for Avenor/Ave (Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho) in the best of faith and I will communicate them through the Minister
for Parliamentary Affairs to the various Commissions which are unable to present themselves here.
Indeed, they have made very important points and I think extracts from the Hansard on the comments made by hon. Members would be so taken with the letter from the Ministry and given to them for compliance with the view that they should also report back through the same channels to Parliament. It is important that they hear what the people's representative say I will completely take that on board.
On that note, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. Colleagues for supporting the motion that I moved on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢1,500 million for the services of the National Media Commission for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang (on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢48,228 million for the services of the National Commission on Culture for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, the National Commission
on Culture exists to maintain and sustain the country's unique cultural identity and values for the promotion of an integrated national culture as well as to contribute to
the overall national economic development of the nation through developing and implementing policies and programmes which will promote creativity and positive values, preserving and enhancing our national heritage and establishing linkages with other sectors to project our national identity.
Mr. Speaker, the sum allocated as
indicated in the ceiling proposed certainly is not adequate for the purposes and for the programmes that have been outlined in the detailed presentation by the Commission to the Ministry for Finance and Economic Planning. And here again, Mr. Speaker, we are asking that in due course, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning deems it fit to provide extra funding for them, especially for their activities at the regional level.
On this basis, Mr. Speaker, I beg to move that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢48,228 million for the services of the National Commission on Culture for the 2005 fiscal year.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in so doing present the Report of the Committee.
1.0 Introduction
Further to the presentation of the 2005 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government by the Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on Thursday, 24th February 2005, and the subsequent motion for its adoption, the Annual Estimates for the fiscal year 2005 of the National Commission on Culture was referred to the Select Committee on Youth, Sports and Culture for consi- deration and report pursuant to Orders 140 (4) and 187 of the Standing Orders of the House and article 179 of the Constitution.
2.0 Committee Sitting
The Committee considered the
Estimates of the National Commission on Culture with the assistance of the Chairman of the National Commission on Culture and his technical team as well as officials of the following agencies and Departments:
a) Ghana Museums and Monuments Board b) W. E. B. Du Bois Memorial
Centre
c) Pan-African Writers Associa- tion (PAWA)
d) National Theatre
e) Ghana Folklore Board
f) Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
g) Bureau of Ghana Languages
h) Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.
The Committee is grateful to the Chairman and all the officials for their extensive co-operation in this regard.
3.0 Reference Document
Reference documents used by the Committee were:
i. The 2004 Estimates and Actual Expenditure of the National Commission on Culture
ii. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana
iii . The Standing Orders of the House (2000 Edition)
iv. The 2005 Draft Annual Estimates of the National Commission on Culture
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah) 10:50 a.m.


v. The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2005 financial year as well as that of the previous year

vi. The 2005 State of the Nation Address delivered by H.E. the President of the Republic.

4.0 Mission Statement and Objectives

The National Commission on Culture exists to maintain and sustain the country's unique cultural identity and values for the promotion of integrated national culture as well as to contribute to the overall economic development of the nation through:

i. Developing and implementing policies and programmes which promote creativity and sustain- ability of positive values;

ii. Preserving, exhibiting and enhancing national Heritage;

iii. Establishing linkages with other sectors to project national identity; and

iv. Disseminating through existing media, Ghana's Cultural values and practices to Ghanaians and the world at large.

Consequently, the Commission seeks to achieve the following objectives:

i. To research, preserve, develop and promote relevant cultural values and practices that encourage National unity, social cohesion and harmony for socio- economic development.

cases, non-releases of approved funds by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning made the period under review a very hectic one for the Commission in view of the long list of programmes the Commission had drawn up. In spite of these difficulties the Commission successfully undertook the following projects and activities:

i. Website Development and Launching

ii. Launching of the Cultural Policy

iii. Congress of Culture Workers iv. Workshop/Seminar for Regional

and District Cultural Officers

v. Workshop on Contemporary Relevance of Culture and Tradition

vi. Corporate Culture.

6.0 Projection for the Year 2005

For the year 2005, the Commission plans to undertake among others the following activities and projects:

i. NAFAC 2004 in Wa

ii. PANAFEST 2005 in Cape Coast, Elmina, Accra and identifiable Slave Route locations

i i i . C o m m u n i t y C u l t u r a l Youth Education Programme

iv. Strategic and Corporate

plan on the Cultural Policy of Ghana

v. National Cultural Awards

v i . E s t a b l i s h m e n t o f District/ Community Cultural Villages

v i i . S e m i n a r s / Wo r k s h o p s and media discussions on the Cultural Policy.

7.0 Total Expenditure Estimates for 2005

In order to achieve the afore-mentioned objectives, the National Commission on Culture and its affiliated bodies have been allocated a total sum of forty-three billion, six hundred and fifty-three million, nine hundred and two thousand, one hundred and four cedis (¢43,653,902,104) to cover their Personal Emoluments, Admini- strative Activity, Service Activity and Investment Activity Expenses.

Breakdown

A breakdown of the allocation is as follows:

Item Programme Allocation (¢)

01 Personal Emolument

15,446.902,104

02 Administration

6,286,000,000

03 Service Activity

2,650,000,000

04 Investment Activity

19,281,000,000

ii. To create avenues to make the arts self-supporting.

iii. To encourage and support public and private participation in the development and implemen- tation of cultural programmes.

iv. To enhance, monitor and evaluate all cultural activities.

v. To m a x i m i z e G h a n a 's compara- tive advantage as a major centre for cultural tourism.

vi . To integrate culture in National development and accelerate poverty reduction.

v i i . To d e v e l o p , p r o m o t e a n d e d u c a t e s c h o o l children to participate in cultural acti- vities.

viii To foster the development of Ghanaian Languages using the media.

5.0 Performance in the Year 2004

During the year under review, a total amount of twenty-two billion, four hundred and eleven million, three hundred and ninety-nine cedis (¢22,411,000,399), was approved by Parliament for carrying out the activities of the Commission and its agencies.

The actual release however was seventeen billion, four hundred and fifteen million, three hundred and seventy-seven thousand, three hundred and seventy-eight cedis (17,415,377,378).

The delay in releases and in some
SUMMARY OF ALLOCATIONS, DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES 10:50 a.m.
GRAND TOTAL 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon. Member, you must be winding up.
Capt. Effah-Dartey (retd): So Mr. Speaker, in winding up, I want to encourage the Leaders -- I am calling on the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader, the Majority Chief Whip and his colleague the Minority Chief Whip to come together, put their heads together and consult the Speaker, so that he would lay down quite clearly what type of cultural dressing we can bring to this House. Should we wear the type that the Minority Chief Whip is wearing or should we wear the one that the Minister for Private Sector Development is wearing? Or would you accept the one that the Minister for Energy is wearing?
Mr. Speaker on this note, I call on all my Colleagues to wholeheartedly support the National Commission on Culture and vote massively for its budget.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion on floor and in doing so, speak to a few issues raised in the “Observations” and “Recommendations” of the Committee -- inadequate funding.
Mr. Speaker, I think that we have been going round in circles; it has been
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11 a.m.


a ritual. There were times when we did not even know where to locate the National Commission on Culture (NMC). When you look at page 8, paragraph 4, under “Cultural Villages and Community Museums”, at the tail-end, the Commission is tasked with the promotion of cultural villages at the local settings so as to forge closer relationship between culture and tourism.

It has been canvassed several times that it would be appropriate for the National Commission on Culture to link up with Tourism because their goal is the same; and it would be appropriate if that is done.

Quite often, commissions under the Presidency have never had the kind of attention that they should have. You do not know where to go for whatever, so if we add Culture to Tourism, it will be better than even the “Modernization” and it would go a long way to strengthen some of the weak links.

We are talking about internally- generated funds, as said by my good Friend, hon. Effah-Dartey. If you do not invest, you cannot reap anything. In this country, quite often, we talk about things, but we do not put money where it is needed; we want results without investing. What we need to do is to properly locate the National Commission on Culture and then invest in it.

We have been mentioning here that they should apply for HIPC Relief Funds. Yes, if it is a Ministry and it is properly decentralized, we need to bring in resources. Talking about villages, the villages would be located in districts and constituencies where we have District Assemblies. It would be appropriate for us to link them up so that the District Assemblies would also put something into their activities. That way, the objectives of generating internal funds would be achieved; that way we would be able to address the problem of inadequate

funding.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I want to re-emphasize that there is the need for Culture to be properly located, and the appropriate place should be Tourism.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the very cogent points made by my Colleagues are very well noted. Indeed, when we talk about culture in this instance, especially referring to the submission by the hon. Member for Berekum (Capt. Effah-Dartey (retd), I think he must appreciate that there can be no regimentation of what we wear, because the beauty of our nation is the diversity in the dressing and the culture and also in the food. That was why I was surprised that last week when I wore a beautiful tie- and-dye shirt here, my own Friend here, the hon. Member for Ningo-Prampram (Mr. E. T. Mensah) took me to task; but I think you ruled that we could do that. But I think it is a very good point.
Another point that has been very well canvassed is that there is need to generate funds internally and maybe the National Commission on Culture (NCC) can also encourage these producers and so on, and they must also in turn contribute something small to the Commission. The point, as regards where the NCC should be situated within the body politic is also well taken. All these would be communicated to the NCC and to the Executive Authority of this country.
I thank hon. Colleagues for the very positive contributions which I have to transmit on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢48,228 million for the services of the National Commission on Culture for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11 a.m.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang 11:10 a.m.
(on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢24,242 million for the services of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, CHRAJ, as we all know for short, exists also to enhance good governance by promoting, protecting and enforcing fundamental human rights and freedoms for all Ghanaians and administrative justice to ensure fairness, transparency and efficiency in public service delivery.
For the 2005 financial year, CHRAJ would continue to conduct activities that would protect and promote human rights and administrative justice at all levels of the Ghanaian society, especially the vulnerable and the excluded. The Commission is very much aware of the Government's financial constraints and would do well to perform its activities.

In the circumstances, the Commission urges this House and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to assist it with additional funds in the course of the year, to enable it perform some of its critical activities, the ceilings imposed by the budget notwithstanding.

On this basis, I beg to move, that this House approves the sum of ¢25,242, million for the services of the Commission

on Human Rights and Administrative Justice for the financial year 2005.
Mr. A.O. Aidooh 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion and in doing so, I beg to present the Report of the Special Budget Committee on the 2005 Budget Estimates for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
1.0 Introduction
The 2005 Annual Estimates of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) was referred to the Special Budget Committee for consideration and report in accordance with the 1992 Constitution and Standing Orders of the House following the presentation of the Financial Policy of the Government for the year ending 31st December 2005. The Committee met with the Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ and a technical team from the Commission and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
2.1 Reference Documents
The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
The Standing Orders of the House.
Message on the State of the Nation by H.E. the President to Parliament (January 2005)
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern-ment of Ghana for the 2005 Financial Year.
2.2 Aims and Objectives of the CHRAJ
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) exists to enhance good governance by promoting, protecting and enforcing fundamental freedoms for all people in Ghana. These aims, it is expected, would be achieved through:
TOTAL 11:10 a.m.
Prof. A. M. Oquaye (NPP -- Dome- Kwabenya) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this important aspect of our business today.
Mr. Speaker, the CHRAJ is a very vital national institution which goes to the root of the search for good governance in our country. Mr. Speaker, in the promotion of human rights, we have really come to appreciate the importance of the protection of human rights in this our country.
Mr. Speaker, a number of our difficulties in the past had surrounded this very vital issue of the human rights of Ghanaians, from the property rights of widows to the rights of women in various respects, to the rights of children and, in fact, matters of unfair administrative action that affect the rights of individuals in this country.
In our wisdom, our law felt that it was important to, in fact, bring the administrative law aspect of human rights together with ordinary liberal conception of human rights, under the ambit of the CHRAJ. Mr. Speaker, it is therefore important that from time to time, we must seriously consider how we too, equip and
Alhaji Sumani Abukari (NDC -- Tamale North) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister has already outlined the very important role CHRAJ is playing in our society and in the maintenance of good governance.
Mr. Speaker, last year, I had the privilege of going through their budget with them and last year, they had several shortfalls in the budget. I see that some of them have not been corrected again this year. Mr. Speaker, it is true that
we cannot meet all demands or needs of all the Ministries and other sectors of the economy but CHRAJ is such an important institution. I think this House has an obligation to ensure that as much as possible, they get most of their needs so that they can help keep the balance between the governed and those who are governing.
Mr. Speaker, CHRAJ so far has played a very important role in achieving that objective. The problem however is that their lawyers are so very poorly paid, just like their colleagues in the Attorney- General's Department, that there is a high turnover of lawyers. Lawyers go there, get a few years experience and leave for greener pastures. But this is an institution that should attract the best qualified lawyers in the system. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Mr. Speaker, I would therefore say that even though I will go with the motion and say we should approve of this budget, I think that next year, we ought to do better for that institution and get it firmly established to help us check everybody, including those in the private sector -- not just govern- ment offices but even those in the private sector -- so that all institutions would be roped in under the ombudsman authority of the CHRAJ.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion on the floor of the House and urge all my Colleagues to do so.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank our hon. Colleagues for the comments made. These would be captured in the Hansard and sent to CHRAJ for their detailed study, attention and implementation. We all know the importance of that particular Commission and everything would be done on the part of the Government to make sure that it is well resourced to carry out its functions. On that note, I would like to thank hon. Colleagues for the support.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved.
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢25,242 million for the services of the Commission on Human Rights and Admi-nistrative Justice for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 11:20 a.m.
Minister for Works and Housing (Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think my distinguished Colleague, the Deputy Minority Leader, will now be happy to know that I am moving the motion for my substantive Ministry. But, inasmuch as the first one came from the leadership, I had to comply.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢964,754 million for the services of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, on your advice, I shall skip a lot of the details and take a minute or two of this august House's time. But, permit me to say that the Ministry of Works and Housing takes care of Government Agencies and MDAs like the Public Works Department, the Hydro-logical Services Department, Rent Control Department, Department of Rural Housing, Public Servants Housing Loan Scheme Board, Technical Services Centre, Water Resources Commission, Commu-nity and Sanitation Agency, Ghana Water Company and the Architects Registration Council.
Mr. Speaker, in the one month or less that I have been in this Ministry, there has not been a single Member of this House who has not requested for
improved delivery of water in his or her constituency. It makes my work very easy, in that I do not even need to canvass for the obvious. Most of our diseases are either water-related or water-borne and every effort is being made by the Government to ensure that delivery of safe potable water is achieved.
It is a sad commentary, Mr. Speaker, that in this day and age, guinea-worm is bothering some of our compatriots because of lack of good water, and that is why we are doing everything possible to resource the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) to be able to give at least certain places, boreholes, safe water so that guinea-worm would become a thing of the past.
We are giving a lot of emphasis to the achievement of our own set goal as well as the Millennium Development Goals that we have subscribed to, hopeful that within the shortest possible time, every community would be so served.
Mr. Speaker, it is for this reason that the Government wrote off $103 million of the debts of the Ghana Water Company so that the books would look good for private sector participation that is anticipated. But let me hasten to add that the process is not going to start soon because of the water privatization. What we are going to start with is a management contract to help the Management of the Ghana Water Company to restructure, streamline and make sure that they effectively and efficiently deliver water to those in the urban areas.
Indeed, the World Bank has also given us $103 million and DANIDA, $6 million and Government of Ghana, $12 million, so that we come to a total of $120 million. This should considerably help us to change all the pipes, some of which are older
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Keta?
Mr. Dan Abodakpi 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to comment on a point made by the Minister a short while ago, that the housing component which was not catered for has been completed. I am saying that it has not been completed; it is ongoing.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Keta, I will give you time in due course.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I should have said the first phase, because there is a second phase that is going on. It is ongoing because the number of people that are to be housed is much more than the houses that have been constructed. It is the extension of the services which is proving to be quite a major bottleneck. That notwithstanding, under HIPC resources, we are finding the funding for it.
Yesterday, the distinguished Deputy Chief Whip of the Minority did raise the issue of the defence of Ada and Ningo area. That is also in the pipeline. The drawings are being put together and hopefully we shall do something about that soon.
In Sekondi-Takoradi area, we are also working there on coastal protection. It looks as if coastal protection is becoming
quite a big headache for this nation, but we have to tackle this vigorously. So we are tackling coastal protection works and Ngleshie, Dixcove, Amankuma in the Western Region and Ningo-Prampram in the Greater Accra Region and all these would be tackled within the next year or two.
Mr. Speaker, the next issue that I want to raise is the issue of land banks. We have to try and put together lands that we can use for these projects, because as it turns out to be, sourcing land has always been a problem for investors when they come here. On that basis we are trying to source lands and in certain instances give these to private companies for reimbursement of amounts spent so that we should be able to move the agenda forward. This is the case of the Agnus Dei Foundation, a project which we hope to start in Ashale-Botwe before the end of this year.
Mr. Speaker, there is so much I could say with regard to the work that is being done by all the units that I mentioned earlier but in keeping with your instruction and the instruction of the Leadership I think I would like to end the submission here and take notes for the purpose of answering the questions, otherwise the whole time would be spent.
But I would like to thank the Chairman of the Committee for the very useful discussions that we held during the budget hearing on what we are supposed to be doing and what we ought to be doing; but I want to assure this House that no area of this country would be left untouched by the programme that we have in place for the delivery of safe water and affordable housing to the people. I would like to say also that under the aegis of the African Development Bank, a world conference is being put together to mobilize $15.4 billion for rural water and sanitation in
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Magnus E. Opare-Asamoah) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second this motion and in doing so I would like to present the Report of the Committee to this honourable House.
1.0 Introduction
Following the motion by the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on Thursday, 24th February, 2005 urging the House to approve the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for the 2005 Financial year, the Draft Annual Estimates of the Ministry of Works and Housing was referred to the Committee in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 140 (4) and 179 of the Standing Orders of the House for consideration and report. 1.1 Acknowledgement
The Committee in deliberating on the Estimates met with the hon. Minister for Works and Housing, the Heads of the various Departments and Agencies of the Ministry and officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. The Committee wishes to express its gratitude to them for their invaluable contributions.
2.0 References
In discussing the estimates, the following served as reference materials for the Committee:
a. The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana
b. The Standing Orders of the House
c. The State of the Nation Address of H.E the President
d. The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern-ment of Ghana for the 2005 financial year
e. Report of the Committee on the 2004 Annual Estimates of the Ministry of Works and Housing
f. The 2005 Draft Annual Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Works and Housing.
3.0 Mission Statement of the Ministry
The Mission of the Ministry of Works and Housing is to formulate and implement policies and programmes for the provision of adequate housing, potable water, other landed properties and development of infrastructure facilities in the areas of water and flood control systems, drainage and coastal protection works and operational hydrology for the benefit and improvement of the welfare of all people living in Ghana.
-- 11:20 a.m.
TOTAL 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Ford Henry Kamel (NDC -- Buem) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support
the motion and in doing so I want to turn my attention to the Department of Rural Housing which is under the Ministry.
I think that housing is becoming a fundamental need of every man and the Government's attention is seriously being turned to this area. But when we talk of housing in our settings, especially the typical rural settings, what comes to mind is affordability and appropriate technology. And I think that this is one department that holds the key to making our realization for affordable housing achievable. But over the years it looks like this department has been sidelined.
If you look at the budgetary allocation under the Ministry to this particular department, though this year's budgetary allocation is a significant improvement over previous ones, it still stands to reason that the budgetary allocation for this department will not make the department achieve its objectives. So I am of the view that we need to increase the budgetary allocation of this department, empower itand link it up with the District Assemblies, so that it can come out with practical solutions to the rural housing programmes.
Mr. E. A. Agyepong (NPP -- Abetifi) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute to the motion on the floor. I want to say that water is becoming problematic in Accra and other parts of the country. While the water bodies are drying up, the pipes are not working efficiently where we have the water system.

Mr. Speaker, when one considers that Ghana is forty-eight years old and one sees children and women going round in Accra looking for water then the situation is really chaotic. I would like to say that the water problem has not been looked at critically. Look at the construction of these big water tanks in the whole of Accra which store a commodity, which is scarce; how do you build steel silos for a commodity that does not even go round?

So these big tanks are standing idle. Water is not flowing into them so that they can flow down to the public.

Mr. Speaker, this is a serious situation and the earlier we looked at the water problem in the country the better for all of us.

Again, with the Ghana Water Company Limited itself, one has not been satisfied with the sort of services they give to us. Who says their customers or their clients need credit? We do not need credit. Water that is consumed in December, you get your bill in March. They need this money to operate; they need to be a bit forwardlooking. If I were part of their management team we would even go for prepaid metres and send them to only Airport Residential Area, Dzorwulu, Labone and then East Legon. And a lot of money will be coming into their kitty. Now they sit, look for water. Since I came to the House in 1997, we have been approving loans for them yet we are not seeing any improvement in water delivery in the country.

Mr. Speaker, we would like to say that their performance has not been satisfactory. We would want them to be proactive and look at the water problem in the country generally. As I said earlier, if these water bodies are dried, we will look at them. In my district, for example, Kwahu South district, we have not had water flowing through our taps over the past eight or ten weeks. This is because there is a little fault at the catchment area and for eight solid weeks this problem cannot be corrected so that people get water in their homes and in their areas.

So Mr. Speaker, in order that people have water, I would like to suggest to the hon. Minister that no matter what the protestation is, if privatisation would do the work for us let us go for it. Later on people will see that the right decision was taken. If we fear to take a decision because people will criticise us then we would not get anywhere. HIPC was
Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah (NDC -- Upper West Akim) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would just want to take on the Community Water and Sanitation Agency.
Mr. Speaker, this Agency, since it was set up, has been rehabilitating small water systems in small towns and villages and they have especially taken over certain facilities which Ghana Water Company was using to operate in small communities and villages all over the country.
Mr. Speaker, since most of their funding is coming from the donors, the conditions set for providing water in some of these villages are too high. Why am I saying so, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker, if you take a community like my small town, Adeiso, they were going to rehabilitate the existing water system at the cost of two billion cedis. And they are saying that as part of their policy, the community should pay 10 per cent because water is demand-driven.
Mr. Speaker, I tend not to agree with that position that water is demand-driven. Water is life and even if you are the poorest person on earth you must have water to drink. So to say that the community should pay 10 per cent of two billion cedis, you are taking about two hundred million
cedis from a community with a population of about eight thousand people. When it was shared among them each person was supposed to pay twenty-five thousand cedis -- if you are eighteen years and above. Eighteen years and above -- How many of them are working? It became a big issue in the town to the extent that I had to appeal to the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning to come to the aid of the town with the HIPC Fund.
This type of story is going on all over the country and if we take even the borehole that they are drilling now, by DANIDA for instance, they are asking villages with about fifty to hundred people to pay two million cedis before the borehole is drilled. In the National Democratic Congress (NDC) time sixty thousand cedis was the community's contribution and even then they were not able to pay it. How much more today?
Mr. Speaker, because of that guinea- worm is on the increase. These are some of the practical solutions we must put on the ground to eradicate guinea-worm. If the donors are saying that water is demand-driven, then those who are going to negotiate for some of these loans should put their feet down and let them know that we have not reached the stage where water could be termed as a demand driven commodity; water is a necessity of life. I am sure that if somebody were to have a way of bagging air or selling air, most poor people in this world would have died
by now.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP -- Suame) 11:50 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with this motion and observe with some happiness the assurance given by the hon. Minister for Works and Housing that the Government of Ghana investment matching funds have been provided and that this time around we can have access to the funding.
Mr. Speaker, we would want to believe the assurance the hon. Minister for Works and Housing has given because all too often, provision of counterpart funding has been a problem for the various Ministries.
Mr. Speaker, the shortfall in the housing stock in the country is in the region of three hundred thousand.
Mr. Speaker, one takes some solace in the assurance given by the President in the State of the Nation Address and even in the Budget that over a five-year period, the Government intends to increase the housing stock by at least a hundred thousand. And the construction of about five hundred thousand houses will begin this year.
The hon. Minister for Works and Housing, Mr. Speaker, just assured us that for reasons of considering the poor in the society, the Ministry is considering bringing down the cost of construction from about twenty thousand dollars per two-room facility to about eight thousand dollars.
Mr. Speaker, the average person combing the streets of Accra and looking for accommodation is not looking for
owner-occupier structures; they are looking for rental accommodation. So if we were talking about satisfying the appropriate target group, then even the eight thousand dollars that the hon. Minister is talking about would be beyond the means of the poor people in the society.
Mr. Speaker, eight thousand dollars currently translates into the region of about seventy-five million cedis and a poor person cannot definitely, even if he asked to deposit one half of it, afford it. So the emphasis should be on affordability; and if it is on affordability then, I believe that we should be looking to providing rental accommodation and not owner-occupier structures.

Mr. Speaker, the rural environment is deteriorating -- and deteriorating very, very fast. All that one observes is the collapsing of structures, roofs that have become very rusted with leakages and so on.

Mr. Speaker, some 20, 30 years ago, there used to obtain in this country some packages that helped to maintain the integrity of the rural setting. We had wall protection schemes and the ruralised were given some monies to reinforce the walls of their structures. Even where we have wattle and daub structures they accessed these funds and ensured the integrity of the structures. They had what we call roof loan schemes, and they did considerable help to the rural setting. These things are no longer operational and the rural environment is the worse off with the abandonment of these packages.

Mr. Speaker, we were assured that in the business of providing houses for people in the rural setting, particularly they were going to provide houses for farmers. And one would have thought that the Department of Rural Housing that has the ability, the capability and,
Alhaji Seidu Amadu (NDC -- Yapei/Kusawgu) noon
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion to approve the Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the fiscal year 2005.
Mr. Speaker, I have just a few comments to make on the report and the first one has to do with provision of sewerage facilities. During the reforms in the water sector “Sewerage” was decoupled from “Water” thereby leaving Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation at the time to concentrate on its core business of provision of potable water for urban communities in Ghana. During that same interval the function of the provision of sewerage facilities was transferred from the Ministry of Works and Housing to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
In addition to this, sewerage has also been decoupled from some of the core functions of the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry. Unfor- tunately, yesterday, when the motion on the Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Develop- ment was being considered, sewerage was not even mentioned as part of the mission statement of that Ministry. Neither was it identified as one of the objectives of that Ministry. So right now, we do not even know who is going to handle sewerage facilities in this country.
Mr. Speaker, apart from Tema and Akosombo where we have centralized sewerage disposal facilities, we do not have any centralized facility anywhere in the country. Even in Accra, the national capital, we only have sectional sewerage facilities and I do not think that is the best.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the functions of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, I personally believe that we are now burdening that Ministry with so many things at a time when they do not have the capacity to meet some of their mission statement and objectives.
Let us take the issue of our solid waste disposal and sanitation. Most of our urban communities are still saddled with a lot of sanitation problems, and we are asking that Ministry to take on board again the issue of sewerage. This is a highly technical area and I would wish to appeal to Government to by way of policy review that policy and bring back sewerage under the administration of the Ministry of Works and Housing. This is because the then Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation, although never had money to concentrate more on sewerage, had a lot of technical personnel and they have the capacity to do this.
If we are not able to do this and we think the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development should do it, sewerage disposal in future might be a very serious problem to us in this country. This is rightly so because the Ministry has not even identified it as part of their mission statement or as part of their objectives and I do not think that it is fair enough.
Mr. Speaker, again on the issue of drainage -- Drainage also used to be one of the essential functions of the Ministry of Works and Housing. As part of the decentralization programme, drainage projects had been offloaded to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Yesterday, when the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development was moving the motion, he alluded to some projects that are ongoing
and which are under the direct supervision of that Ministry.
Mr. Speaker, those projects are on- going under that Ministry just because there are about four projects which are World Bank funded projects. But again, they have not captured drainage as one of their core activities and for that reason no provision has been made. So the question now is, if those projects are completed, what is going to happen to the issue of drainage? Just three days ago there was a heavy downpour in Tamale and we are being told about the extent of damage that most people have suffered directly from the storm and from flooding of some sort.
In Accra here a lot of mitigating measures have been taken to control flooding, but that has been on ad hoc basis. So here again, by way of policy I want to plead with the Government to make sure that drainage is actually brought back under the Hydrological Services Department under the Ministry of Works and Housing so that it could be properly addressed, rather than pushing all these things to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
Mr. Speaker, the third and final issue has to do with the payment of compensation for sites acquired for various government projects, particularly for our headworks at Owabi, Barekese and Weija. I believe the same goes for so many other places that have been similarly acquired. Compensation has not been paid and this is encouraging landowners to be emboldened in allocating parts of these catchment areas to property developers.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that treated water comes at a very high cost and if we allow people to continue to encroach upon the catchment area and thereby
Mr. B. D. K. Adu (NPP -- Okere) noon
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor, which is on approving the budget proposal for the Ministry of Works and Housing.
Mr. Speaker, as the hon. Minister said, under this Ministry there are so many departments and agencies which touch the life of everybody in this country. Mr. Speaker, a lot has been said about water; but may I crave your indulgence to say that last year or two years ago when I was -- and I am still -- a member of the Committee on Works and Housing we visited Kpong, and there we found out that Kpong, when properly taken care of, can service the water needs of the southern part of this country. The intake of water at Kpong has so deteriorated that it needs a lot of work to be done on it; and this requires infusion of resources. I would therefore ask the hon. Minister for Works and Housing that the money he spoke of, the ¢44 billion for water, he would make sure that Kpong would get enough for rehabilitation of the place. It is not Kpong only, but when we come to Accra, you go to the head works, you see that the whole structure needs renovation; and where we are getting water from should be very decent.
Mr. Speaker, on Housing, about two years ago, a research was made on housing deficit in this country and it was found out
that the deficit of housing was over four hundred and fifty thousand. This research was carried out with the help of Ghana Real Estate Developers Association. Two years ago, we had a deficit of four hundred and fifty thousand; by this time it should be about five hundred thousand.
The hon. Minister for Works and Housing, moving his motion, has promised one hundred thousand houses by the end of this year and he says also that he wants to build houses which will cost not more than US$8000 each. Mr. Speaker, a lot of factors go into building an affordable house.
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member, you may wind up.
Mr. B. D. K. Adu noon
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okere -- you can get cheap land to build eight thousand-dollar houses; it is not far from Accra. We can put buses in these estates or housing units to ferry occupants to Accra.
Mr. Speaker, on Public Works
Department -- PWD has got prime land, assets all over the country which when well resourced can generate internal funds to help build their set-up. I will therefore urge the hon. Minister to look at all these viable ventures so that he would resource them to enable them to help build the Department.
Mr. Speaker noon
Please wind up.
Mr. B. D. K. Adu noon
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am winding up. One of the projects in my district is the wood workshop at the regional yard, a state of the art wood workshop which when resourced can even provide the furniture need of almost all the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Mr. Speaker, I urge the hon. Minister to look at that for that would give a backbone to the PWD. Mr. Speaker, with this, I say thank you for the opportunity.
Mr. D. K. Abodakpi (NDC -- Keta) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, a small observation and my comment -- Mr. Speaker, when the hon. Minister was moving this motion I realised that he had a slip of tongue, which is natural. The way he said the housing aspect of the Keta Project had been completed -- I knew, reading from the Budget Statement, that it was a slip; so the idea was to correct him so that he could incorporate it in the statement, which he did. But when that was done, an hon. Colleague opened his microphone from the other side and shouted something across to me. I think this is unbecoming of hon. Members of this House and must be stopped.

Mr. Speaker, some time ago, I did talk about a looming ecological disaster that is affecting this country.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Works
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 12:10 p.m.
On a point of information. Mr. Speaker, I just want to draw the hon. Minister's attention to something so that, as he is winding up, he can address it. I have realized from the Committee's Report that they are going to use ¢7.5 billion from internally generated funds (IGFs). He should just address the House as to the source of that retention at his Ministry, the legal authority to use that money. He should address it.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, let me start with the last one. I unfortunately do not have the necessary documentation for that but if hon. E. K.D. Adjaho is listening, I will look at it and see the source of that authority. But I believe it is not normally the use of IGFs but the fact that it is then ceded to the Central Government and given back; I do not think these are retained in the Ministry per se.
Mr. Speaker, I thank all hon. Colleagues for the points made. There were so many of them; the hon. Member of Parliament for Buem (Mr. H. F. Kamel) talked about the affordability of the rural housing department which we are going to work upon; the hon. Member of Parliament for Abetifi (Mr. E. A. Agyepong) talked about the possibility of prepaid metres and difficulties in Accra with water, and this is what is being tackled under $103 million grant from the World Bank.
The contribution of the hon. Member of Parliament for Upper West Akim (Mr. Sallas-Mensah) about the contribution of communities to boreholes and other water delivery system would be so well communicated to the various donors who help us with what we do. That point is well taken; it was also underscored by hon. Dan Abodakpi and it is well taken. And then the hon. Member for Yapei/
Kasawgu (Alhaji Seidu Amadu) made a very important contribution which I have noted about the sewerage being ceded to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the fact that it is not being given the necessary attention.
I think we can look at that point again. Then he talked about drainage but with the drainage, I have been there for only one month but what I gather is that it is the small drains which are given to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; because the big drains like the Tamale Stop Water Drain -- that big one is being handled by the Ministry's Hydrological Services Division; and I care. But it is a point well taken. We have to also concentrate on that, otherwise we will have difficulties as far as that is concerned.
Compensation for lands was also touched upon by the hon. Member for Okere (Mr. B. D. K. Adu). This would also be addressed in due course. He said he hopes the Ministry of Works and Housing would release the funds. Indeed, we do not release funds but I hope that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning would give us the fund to pay the people of Owabi and even Weija because there are a whole lot of problems there that we have to address.
So Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank hon. Colleagues for all the suggestions which are faithfully recorded and these would be added to enrich our workers' experience. I thank everybody and I want to say that we can never ever provide enough water or enough housing but with the continuous support of the House, I am sure we shall overcome the problems.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢964,754 million for the services of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 12:10 p.m.
Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines (Prof. Dominic Fobih) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, That this honourable House approves the sum of four hundred and fourteen billion, five hundred and fifty-three million cedis (¢414,553,000,000) under Heads 040, 043, 045, 049 and 420 of the Medium- Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines to implement its programmes, projects and activities for the year ending 31st December, 2005.
The Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines exists to ensure sustainable management and judicious utilization of the nation's lands, forest, wildlife and mineral resources for socio-economic development.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines will this year (2005) continue with policies, reforms, programmes, projects and activities that will enhance growth, create avenues for employment to reduce poverty and revenue mobilization in pursuit of the overall aims of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Sector objectives that will enable the Ministry realize the goals mentioned above are:
To develop and manage sustainable Land, Forest and Wildlife Resources;
To facilitate equitable access, benefit
Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines (Prof. Dominic Fobih) 12:20 p.m.
The above will be achieved through:
Policy formulation, implemen- tation, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of sector pro- grammes;
Promotion of sustainable forest and wildlife resource management;
Creation of an enabling environ- ment for effective private sector participation;
Participation of fringe communities in the management and utilization of resources; and
Motivation and retention of qualified and skilled manpower.
The sector programmes and projects will be implemented by Departments and Agencies with oversight supervision by the Ministry (Headquarters).
The Land Sector Agencies are:
The Land Title Registry (LTR);
The Land Valuation Board (LVB);
The Office of Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL);
Survey Department (SD);
Lands Commission (LC).
The Forestry Sector Agencies comprise:
Bamboo and Rattan Development Programme (BARADEP);
The Forestry Commission or the Corporate Headquarters which has the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), the College of Renewable Natural Resources (CRNR), the Resource Management
Support Centre (RMSC) and the Wood Industries Training Centre (WITC) as integral Units;
The Forest Services Division; and
The Wildlife Division.
The following are Project Oriented Agencies:
The Savannah Resource Centre;
The Forestry Planning Division.

The following are the Mines sub-sector Departments and Agencies:

The Mines Department;

The Geological Survey Department; and

The Minerals Commission.

These co-operate and complement each others roles to ensure integrated approach to success of Sector Programmes.

Major programmes, projects and activities to be undertaken with the budget this year include:

Land Sub-Sector

Establishment of ten (10) additional Customary Land Secretariats to improve customary land administration, facilitate easy access to land and creation of land banks for development.

Demarcation of customary land boundaries in two (2) Traditional Areas, namely, Wassa-Amenfi and Ejisu will be undertaken on pilot basis.

Deed Registries will be established in six (6) additional capitals to increase coverage from 4 to 10.

Systematic land title registration of clan lands at Ada to establish clarity in ownership will be undertaken.

Inventory of state lands will be undertaken in the three Northern Regions, the Eastern, Ashanti and the Brong-Ahafo Regions.

In addition, the Land Valuation Board will undertake a revaluation of properties in six (6) selected District Assemblies to help improve their revenue.

Systematic Titling involving about 30,000 parcels of land will be undertaken in parts of Accra, Nyhiaso in Kumasi and Asokore Mampong.

The Lands Commission will create Land Banks in Kumasi and Sekondi to facilitate easy access to land by Investors.

An aerial colour photo and orthophoto mapping of the entire Ghana coastline will be undertaken by the Survey Department. The exercise will help Tourism develop- ment, check coastal erosion and facilitate the establishment of the 200 Nautical Mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

The exercise will help extend Ghana's continental shelf limit for possible oil prospecting and prevention of poaching of maritime preserves by external fishing trawlers.

Forestry Sub-Sector The Plantation Development Prog-

ramme will continue with the following targets:

The Forest Services Division will develop 20,000 hectares and the Government Forest Plantation Develop- ment Programme will also develop 10,000 hectares.

The Forestry Commission (FC) will conduct there (3) competitive biddings for both plantation and natural timber in 2005.

The management of the competitive bidding process would be reviewed and improved to enhance its integrity as the optimal way of forest resource allocation.

Mines Sub-Sector

The Ministry will diversify the minerals base of the economy and increase investment in the sub-sector. This will be
-- 12:20 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Andrews Adjei-Yeboah) 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion and to present the Committee's Report before the House. Mr. Speaker, before I go on, I wish to request that some amendments relating to some figures in the Report be made.
Introduction
The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for the 2005 fiscal year was presented to Parliament by the Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning on Thursday, 24th February 2005 in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The Budget Estimates of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines (Volume 13) were accordingly referred to a Joint Committee of Lands and Forestry and, Mines and Energy for consideration and report pursuance to Orders 140 (4), 152 (b) and (o), 177 and 188 of the Standing Orders of Parliament.
The Committee met with the Hon. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, heads of agencies and officials of the Ministry and deliberated thoroughly, the estimates of the Ministry.
The Joint Committee wishes to express its gratitude to the officials who acknowledged its invitation and attended its sitting. Reference
Your Committee referred to the following documents at its deliberations:
i. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana
ii. The Standing Orders of the House
iii. The Budget Statement and Financial Policy of Govern- ment for the year ending 31st December 2005.
Mission Statement
According to its Mission Statement, the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines exist to ensure the sustainable manage-ment and utilization of the nation's lands, forests, wildlife and mineral resources for the socio-economic development and growth of Ghana. This is to be achieved through:
(1) Efficient formulation, implemen-tation, co-ordination, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes of the sector agencies.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Andrews Adjei-Yeboah) 12:20 p.m.


2005 ALLOCATIONS BY COST CENTRES

;

AGENCY ITEM 1 : P.E. . ITEM 2: ADMIN ITEM 3:SERVICE ITEM: 4 INVEST

DEPT GOG ‘“ GOG GO

G DONOR' GOG DONOR TOTAL

GEN ADM 965,274,412 2, 000 000 000 832000.000 81,000.000.000 8,274,000.000 53,738,788,000

146,810,062,412

LAND 472.353 472 710.000 000 100.000,000 626,000,000

1,908,353,472

TITlE R.

LVB 1,0032,190,116 1,600,000,000 500,000,000 600,000,00

0 12,732,190,116

OASL 2,490.000.000 400,000,000 50,000,000

400,000,000 3,340,000,000

FORESTRY 0 0 300,000,000 11,290,000,000 500,000,000 5,213,744,O59

17,303,744,059

PlANNING

SAVAANA 0 0 200,000,000 8,938,420,000 200,000,000

6,100,000,000 15,438,420,000

RES. CENT

BARADEP 120,000,000 200,000,000 150,000,000 400,000,000

870,000,000

SURVEY 5,232,000,000 1,600,000,000 1,501,650,000 800,000,000

9,133,650,000
DEPT 12:20 p.m.
, 12:20 p.m.
Alhaji Collins Dauda (NDC -- Asutifi South) 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to add my voice to that of my hon. Friend who read the Report requesting the House to approve the annual estimates for the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines for the year 2005.
In doing so, I want to indicate that in the Forestry sub-sector, focus must be on plantation development. Mr. Speaker, I say so because at the beginning of the century, Ghana had about 8.2 million hectares of forest cover but today we can only boast of one million and thirty-four thousand hectares of forest cover. It is very alarming and if care is not taken very soon, we may not have forests in Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, this has been caused by bush fires and slash and burn methods of farming and other human activities. Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to manage these causes of devastation or degradation to our forests because population continues to grow and it is very difficult to control population growth. Therefore, as we look at conserving the forests, it is important to place more emphasis on plantation development.
Mr. Speaker, I know that in the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines there is the plantation fund that is established by law to embark upon plantation development in the country. I also know that HIPC funds
I also want to propose that the Forestry Commission (FC) should give out plantations by way of competitive bidding. The revenue generated as a result, from giving out our plantations to private timber companies, must be ploughed back into plantation development. After all, you cut the tree that was planted and the revenue generated must be used in replanting the tree. I think the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has to take a look at this one so that you do not use your financial instrument to say that you are keeping all that.
The money must be paid into the Consolidated Fund and later you decide how much must be given to the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines. I think it is an issue that we need to look at if we really want to re-green Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, there is also a challenge. The Forestry Commission has power under its enabling Act to borrow money. I do not see why they are not taking steps or making efforts to borrow money for Parliament to guarantee so that such moneys would be used in plantation development. Mr. Speaker, I am making all these suggestions so that we can have our forests back -- [Inter-ruption.] The Government guarantees with the approval of Parliament.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. Friend from Kumasi Magazine. I am making this suggestion because I know that an organization like the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) sometime ago procured some loan to buy buses and requested Government guarantee which was done. I cannot see why the Forestry Commission which has the power under the law that established it would not take steps to borrow money.
Mr. Speaker, we may not succeed in our
efforts to re-green Ghana by the methods we are using now, that is asking farmers to do plantations for us. We would end up getting small, small pockets of tree farms but I do not think that is what we need. We need to contract serious silviculture companies, as exists in South Africa and la Cote d'Ivoire. Mr. Speaker, this is highly capital intensive and therefore we need to take such bold steps to be able to have plantations in this country.
I also want to say that I have identified one source of revenue for the Forestry Commission but I have a difficulty with it. The difficulty has to do with the legality about the collection of those moneys. But Mr. Speaker, I am ready to discuss this issue further with the Ministry. I only hope that immediately after the approval of the Estimates, the Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, my good Friend, Professor Fobih will organize a meeting for us to meet to think through this issue and find out whether steps would not be taken to regularize such collections of levies. For now, this is what I would say.
Mr. Speaker, on this note I would end by asking my hon. Colleagues to vote massively for the motion so that the Ministry can embark upon plantation development for us.
Mr. Sallas-Mensah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg your pardon, but there is a technical problem with the Report which must be clarified first before we go on debating it, if you would not mind.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
What is the problem?
Mr. Sallas-Mensah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the technical problem is that this House is being requested to approve an estimate of ¢414,553 million for the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines. In the micro- ceiling of the budget proposal given to us by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, they have been allocated
¢307,993 million.
As Parliament, we cannot go above this ceiling provided to us by the Government, and it is very unconstitutional in the first place. So if the Chairman of the Committee can explain to this House how he arrived at ¢414.5 billion instead of the ¢307 billion, we can go ahead and debate this Report.
Dr. A. A. Osei 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the point he has raised is partially correct but the true amount is what -- [Interruption.] There were a lot of mistakes. We forgot to add in the budget document the internally generated funds (IGF) from the sector to make a total. We have presented the new Estimates but for every Ministry you have to add the IGF to it and you will get the correct amount. It is in the Budget Statement, the IGF is at the back, so you need to add it to the total. That is the explanation.
Mr. Adjaho 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, as hon. Sallas-Mensah said, it is a very serious issue so let us just clarify and be very sure, because this is a document approved by the House; if it is there then there is no problem.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Members, I am sure in the course of the reply, if any, we would get to these matters and settle down.
Mrs. Gifty E. Kusi (NPP -- Tarkwa Nsuaem) 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the motion on the floor. It was a joint committee and the Committee on Mines also made inputs.
Mr. Speaker, from the Report, we realized that the Mineral's Commission, the Geological Survey Department and the Mines Department are the departments involved in the Mining sub-sector. But the Estimates approved for these three departments, the Mineral's Commission
was asked to use their internally-generated funds for their activities. But we realized, when you look at page 19, item 44, that the Commission was able to raise only ¢15 billion which constitutes about 70 per cent of their requirement for the year. So Mr. Speaker, leaving them to use the internally- generated funds leaves much to be desired; something should be done about it. The Ministry has to do something.
Then looking at the Geological Survey Department, last year the Committee recommended that the Department should be given enough funds. They have some materials to be used for their land but they are not able to raise money to do that, and they have still not been given enough money.
So we are recommending that the Ministry should make available to them part of the Minerals Department funds; because this year, they have a programme to resettle the galamsey operators and the Geological Survey Department is supposed to look for places where they can get some minerals to mine; and if they have to do this they would need more money.
Then the Mines Department, they also have the same problem. So we are recommending that they are allowed to use part of their internally-generated funds to help them to procure vehicles, especially in the light of recent increases in mining activities in the country. They need to be resourced to do all these services.
Mr. Speaker, with these few remarks, I beg to support the motion.
Mr. Edward Salia (NDC -- Jirapa) 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to contribute to this motion for the approval of the Estimates of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines, would you please wind up.
Prof. Fobih 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, in my winding-up, I would like to assure the first hon. Member who spoke that the emphasis of the Ministry is on plantation and so we would take his advice seriously.
We also observed that he had made a suggestion of borrowing moneys for plantation programmes. The Forestry Commission will take note of this but there is the need also to use the plantation programmes to create employment and that is why we are diversifying the mode of plantation development. However, we will also incorporate his suggestion.
I think he is also equally aware that the Ministry itself has proposed a meeting of the Select Committee because we see that there are new members on the Committee who need to be briefed about the workings of the Ministry as a whole. I assure him that the proposal is still on board and it will soon come on. I think he would be well informed about some of the things we are doing in the Ministry.
As for the North, I think it is one of the regions in which we are engaged in plantation; and a lot is being done. But
as you know, plantation programmes are usually in the forest or in the bush, so unless one takes interest in visiting these degraded forest reserves or these areas, one will not see the plantations going on. So I will suggest that those who are keenly interested in seeing the extent of what we have done so far in their various districts or regions, if they make the request we will take them round their various places for them to be familiar with what is taking place.
On this note, I thank Members for
their useful contributions, ideas and suggestions.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢414,553 million for the services of the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Leadership of the House,
kindly put your heads together and see what other matters we can deal with before we adjourn.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, if we can handle item No. 18 and, thereafter, if we are able to go through it quickly, we take item Nos. 13 and 14. I believe we can work fast on those items.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
If only we can, because
we are not going to have any extended Sitting today.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:40 p.m.
That is so, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
All right.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 12:40 p.m.
T O T A L 12:40 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion to approve the sum of ¢144,289 million for the Ministry for Private Sector Development and PSIs, and to present the Committee's Report.
1. Introduction
Mr. Speaker, the Government's Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the financial year 2005 was presented to the House by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 constitution of Ghana on 24th February 2005.
Mr. Speaker subsequently referred the Annual Estimates for the year 2005 of the Ministry for Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives to the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism in pursuant to Standing Orders 140(4) and 159 of the House.
Chairman of the Committee (Nana Akomea) 1 p.m.
To facil i tate innovation and entrepreneurship with both formal and informal sectors to enhance factors of productivity.
To bring efficiency into the public sector management of private sector promotion by co-ordinating the roles of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
To ensure that private sector interest is effectively included in the entire process of governance, especially in providing input into legislative and policy issues. To encourage increase in both domestic and foreign direct investment in the country.
To create a supportive mindset of the population towards the private sector.
7. Est imates for Ministry for Private Sector Development & PSI
The Ministry for Private Sector Development and PSIs has been allocated ¢144,289 billion of which ¢12.737 billion is from Government of Ghana (GOG) sources and a donor component of ¢131.552 billion.
i . T h e M i n i s t r y f o r P r i v a t e Sector Development
The breakdown is as follows:
Personal Emoluments
-- ¢373,000,000
Administration
-- ¢2,576,000,000
Service

-- ¢1,000,000,000

Investment

-- ¢2,000,000,000
TOTAL 1 p.m.
GRAND TOTAL 1 p.m.
CHANGE 1 p.m.
Mr. Dan Abodakpi (NDC -- Keta) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support the motion and wish to make some very brief comments.
Clearly, Mr. Speaker, this Ministry seems to be the main instrument that the President wishes to use to realize this vision of the Golden Age of Business, and this reflects in the mandate that it has been given. From the mandate, it seems that it is going to perform a coordinating function, coordinating structural policies, et cetera, to ensure harmony towards the realization of this goal.
But what beats my imagination is how you can expect a Ministry such as this to achieve this with inadequate offices, with inadequate personnel, et cetera, given that, that area of activity at this point of our country's history, is crucial. It is in this respect therefore that I think that the issues that they raised in terms of additional resources, would be looked at.
Mr. Speaker, looking at the mandate and the objectives of the Ministry, I also see a problem that I want to use this opportunity to look at. How can we avoid the possibility of turf wars between this Ministry, the Ministry of Trade, and the Ministry of Tourism?
It would seem to me, Mr. Speaker, that perhaps a way out of this is to have a trade promotion co-ordinating commission. This trade promotion co-ordinating commission
will take over all that the Gateway Secretariat has been doing, so that this Ministry, so christened into a trade promotion co-ordinating commission, will become the umbrella body to oversee our country's effort at generating greater momentum for industrial expansion, trade promotion to make this country a preferred hub.
This is just an advice and I hope that His Excellency the President would look at this so that we can ensure the smooth functioning of the various Ministries devoid of turf wars, which turf wars will go to impede and negate the very things that we want to realize within the economy.
On this note, Mr. Speaker, I support the motion.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/Ave) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support the motion. Ordinarily, I would not have passed any comment but looking at the figures in the Committee Report, at page 5, I am a bit disappointed -- disappointed indeed. If we say we really want to make the private sector the engine of growth and yet from our resources,
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢144,289 million for the services of the Ministry of Private Sector Develop-ment and President's Special Initiatives for the 2005 fiscal year.
Ministry of Trade and Industry
Head 060
Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr. Alan Kyeremateng) 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this august House approves the sum of ¢210,317 million for the Ministry of Trade and Industry to accelerate the pace of its programmes and activities for the year ending 31st December 2005.
Mr. Speaker, the need for Ghana to embark on a growth agenda, which can contribute to sustain wealth creation, is critical to the attainment of the objectives of the GPRS. In recognition of these initiatives, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has launched a new Industrial Reform and Accelerated Growth Programme, which is anchored on two parallel strategies. First, it is an export- led industrialization strategy, which is focused primarily on agro-processing and other manufacturing activities, and which involves mass mobilisation of rural communities and other vulnerable groups.
To complement this, Mr. Speaker, is a comprehensive domestic market industria- lization strategy, which also targets the production locally of a substantial proportion of non-petroleum products that are currently imported by Government, private companies as well as individuals.
Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the
implementation of these core strategies, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has
rose
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Hon. Member, you want to contribute?
Mr. Osei-Adjei 1 p.m.
No, sir. Mr. Speaker, just to comment on what the hon. Deputy Minority Leader has just said. I think the donors inflow is for investment; what
has been allocated is for the services, to promote these investments; and I am not sure whether we are on the same wavelength.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Would you allow the hon. Minister for Private Sector Development and PSIs to take it up and wind up?
Mr. Kwamena Bartels 1:20 p.m.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking all hon. Colleagues for the advice that they have given and the very useful suggestions. We will take it up with the appropriate bodies and ensure that the various gaps are filled in. The contributions that have been made so far show the level of commitment of hon. Members to the growth of the private sector in Ghana.
With this, I wish again to urge all hon. Members to vote unanimously to approve the budget of the Ministry for Private Sector Development and PSIs for the fiscal year 2005.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
Mr. Speaker, under the Technology Improvement Programme, technology audits will be undertaken for forty companies to establish the viability of re- tooling such companies. And it is hoped that out of these forty companies, ten to fifteen of these enterprises would actually be assisted to re-tool.
Mr. Speaker, in order to further
improve the competitive edge in terms of quality of products for the local and external markets, a hundred and fifteen standards will be developed by the Ghana Standards Board for review and adoption and to be gazetted thereafter. And furthermore, three hundred and fifty locally manufactured products would be certified whilst four thousand two hundred product samples would also be chemically and physically examined for quality evalua-tion, certification and for destination inspection.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, hallmarking
of precious metals is very important in the marketing of gold. For this reason, a centre of hallmarking of precious metals would be established this year.
Mr. Speaker, the Free Zones Programme
will receive further boost with the expansion of the free zone enclave being turned into a multi-purpose industrial and scientific park. In order to accommodate important scientific and industrial projects, two of such projects, Mr. Speaker, will be what would be described as a furniture city. This furniture city will seek to relocate small-scale carpenters in the industrial park to enable us establish service centres and provide factory space for these industries.
Mr. Speaker, under the National Board
for Small Scale Industries, ten additional business advisory centres would be
established in various districts to promote rural entrepreneurship, create employment opportunities and reduce rural/urban migration and also increase income levels for the rural population. An amount of ¢5.2 billion would be disbursed to five hundred entrepreneurs to start and expand their businesses.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, twenty
thousand female-owned enterprises would be supported to improve their entrepreneurial skills, which would enable them access credit through the Women Development Fund.
Mr. Speaker, hundred graduates
from our country's tertiary institutions, including agricultural colleges and vocational institutions would also be trained to enable them establish innovative hi-tech businesses. The Ministry of Trade and Industry would intensify its aggressive promotional programme to cover a broad range of made-in-Ghana goods. In this regard, a national products gallery will be established and this will initially be based on an electronic platform, which will showcase locally a significant number of made-in-Ghana products. It means that a new website for made-in-Ghana products, which can be accessed for both local and external orders would be outdoored.
Mr. Speaker, to enhance our trade and
investment portfolio, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will appoint fifteen foreign trade representatives in key strategic countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. They will be required to coordinate their work with our diplomatic missions abroad.
Mr. Speaker, as indicated, a national
trade policy has been formulated to ensure predictability and transparency in the trade regime in Ghana. During the course of the fiscal year 2005, a trade sector support programme would be formulated to guide the implementation of the new trade policy.
The Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP) will thus become a major vehicle for the Government to realise its objectives and vision for accelerated growth under “Positive Change Chapter Two”.
Mr. Speaker, in order to restructure
the Gateway Project to better respond to Ghana's overall private sector development and growth agenda, the implementation of the Gateway Project has been reviewed. The review exercise has resulted in the inclusion of new implementing agencies, which will hopefully contribute to the achievement of the enhanced objectives under the project.
Major activities to be carried out in 2005 under the Gateway Project include the construction of roads, drainage, water and sewerage systems and supply of electricity to the Tema Export Processing Zone to make it more attractive to investors as well as construction of arterial roads that would connect the Tema Port to the new container devanning area; and this is aimed at decongesting the Tema Port, among others.

Mr. Speaker, it is the target of the Ghana Export Promotion Council to achieve an annual growth rate in non- traditional exports of 19 per cent which will thus generate around US$819,000,- 000 as earnings for the year 2005. Hon. Members of Parliament may wish to note that this would be a significant increase from the level of $400,000,000.00 that was recorded at the end of the year 2000.

Mr. Speaker, to conclude, for the administration and realization of the Ministry's plans, programmes and projects, a total of ¢210,317,000,000.00 is required.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to move that this
Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Industry (Nana Akomea) 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present the Committee's Report on the motion to approve the estimates for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
1.0 Introduction
On 24th February 2005 the Government Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the Financial Year 2005 was presented to the House by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning in accordance with article 179 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Pursuant to Standing Orders 140 (4) and 159 of the House, Mr. Speaker referred the Annual Estimates, for the year 2005, of the Ministry of Trade and Industry to the Committee.
2.0 Terms of Reference
The Committee was charged to critically analyze the estimates and report to the House.
3.0 Deliberations
In response, the Committee met and deliberated on the estimates with the Director of Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in charge of Budget, Mr. J. K. Quartey, and the Chief Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mr. A. S Bekoe as well as officials from Departments and Agencies under the Ministry, namely:
1. National Board for Small Scale Industries
ITEMS 1:20 p.m.
AMOUNT 1:20 p.m.
ALLOCATION 1:20 p.m.
ITEMS 1:20 p.m.
TEMS 1:20 p.m.
AMOUNT 1:20 p.m.
ALLOCATION 1:20 p.m.
SERVICE INVESTMENT 1:20 p.m.
TOTAL 1:20 p.m.
Mr. D. K. Abodakpi (NDC -- Keta) 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and urge my hon. Colleagues to approve the sum proposed for the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Clearly, for our country to meet the challenges of globalization we would need to pay special attention to our trade development and trade promotional efforts. I think that the Ministry has set in motion the right measures which if seriously implemented can help us achieve some level of global competitiveness.
However, Mr. Speaker, there are some other issues that we need to be addressing seriously. We need to constantly keep in focus the implications of micro and macro level fiscal measures as they impact on the private sector, especially the manufacturing sector within the economy.
The hon. Minister right now told us about the attention they are going to place on support for small and medium enterprises, which is what we need to do. Unfortunately, even as the services sector, mainly the financial institutions have been responding to the signals within the economy, they still see the manufacturing sector as a high risk area and therefore are most often not as proactive as they ought to be in driving this sector forward.

I think that with the various measures that are being put in place we would get the financial sector, especially the non- bank financial sectors that are emerging, to be more proactive than they have been before in supporting the Government's agenda towards sustainable growth. This is because within the spirit of Ghana
Mr. Akwasi Afrifa (NPP -- Fomena) 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to concentrate my contribution on the GRATIS. To a very large extent I am disappointed at the ¢2 billion allocated to GRATIS for investment. Iam saying so because GRATIS until this year was under the Ministry of Communications and Technology and I was the Chairman of the Committee at that time and we had the opportunity of visiting the institution in Tema.
Mr. Speaker, GRATIS has a very, very great role to play in rural industrialisation as well as rural water supply. They are doing quite well. But if one looks at this year's Budget one finds that a paltry sum of ¢2 billion has been allocated to that institution for investment. And of course, one might say that the Ministry and for [that matter Government and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in particular should do much to put enough money into GRATIS so that it can contribute effectively to rural development, especially in micro processing of our agricultural produce.
Mr. Speaker, the rural enterprises programme which the hon. Minister just spoke about where about fifty are going to be set up this year as well as the President's Special Initiatives (PSIs) where simple agricultural produce like sunflower and so on and so forth are going to be processed, if the GRATIS institution is encouraged, for example, to team up with sister institutions in India, they would be able to produce very simple machinery at a relatively cheaper cost to promote integrated rural development in this country.
This will also go a long way to find employment for our youth who are always coming to the urban centres to find jobs that do not exist. With this simple
contribution, Mr. Speaker, I support the motion and also call on all hon. Members to approve the budget that has been set for that Ministry.
Mr. Alan Kyeremateng 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank hon. Members for their very valuable contributions and I can assure them that all these suggestions and proposals would be taken on board.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved:
That this honourable House approves the sum of ¢210,317 million for the services of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the 2005 fiscal year.
ANNUAL ESTIMATES 1:40 p.m.
Minister for Manpower, Youth and Employment (Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda) 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House approves the sum of ¢5,875 million for the services of the National Labour Commission for the 2005 fiscal year.
Mr. Speaker, the Labour Act (Act 651) was passed by Parliament on the 25th of July, 2003, and received Presidential Assent on 8th of October the same year. The Act became operational on the 31st day of March, 2004.
The underlying principles of the Labour Act are:
Stability in labour relations;
Maintenance of human dignity in

APPENDIX 1

SUMMARY BY GoG, DONOR YEAR 2005

Total Estimates Personal Administration Service Expenses Investment Expenses Expenses

Emolument GoG Donor GoG Donor GoG Donor

04 Ministry of Trade and

Industry 210,200,000,000 21,552,000,000 10,546,000,000 - 54,542,000,000 37,500,000,000 10,373,000,000 75,687,000,000

Headquarters

010 General Administration 14,306,000,000 350,000,000 2,896,000,000 11,060,000,000 - -
- - 1:40 p.m.
- 1:40 p.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Paul Okoh) 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Mr. Speaker, I will proceed to give the Report of the Committee.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Paul Okoh) 1:40 p.m.


1.0 Introduction

In pursuance of article 179(1), (2) and (10) of the Constitution of the Republic and Standing Order 140(1), the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the 2005 Financial Year was presented to the House on Thursday, 24th February 2005 by the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, hon. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu.

In compliance with Standing Orders 140(4) and 184 the 2005 Draft Estimates of the National Labour Commission were referred to the Committee for consideration and report, and the Committee having held a meeting to so consider the Estimates reports as follows:

1.1 Acknowledgement

The Committee is grateful to the sector Minister, the Deputy Minister- designate, the outgoing Deputy Minister, and officials of the Ministry who attended the Committee Budget hearing session to assist the Committee deliberate on the Estimates.

2.0 Reference Documents

In considering the Estimates of the sector Ministry the underlisted documents were referred to:

i) The 1992 Constitution of the Republic

ii) The Budget Statement and Economic Po l icy o f the Government of Ghana for the 2005 Financial Year.

iii) The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Govern- ment of Ghana for the 2004 Financial Year.
DONOR -- 1:40 p.m.
-- -- -- 1:40 p.m.
-- 1:40 p.m.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu (NDC -- Central Tongu) 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion for the approval of the Annual Estimates of the Labour Commission. Mr. Speaker, as noted by the sector Minister, the Labour Commission is the most important body or Commission that is being set up to look at how best to harmonise the labour relations that will be the concern of its activity among the stakeholders in the labour market.
Mr. Speaker, just like other com- missions and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the budgetary
provision as is being laid before the House would be nothing except that at the end of the year, the actual releases that would be made would be very relevant in carrying out the activities of those bodies. And as a new body, I think that it is going to be faced with a lot of challenges. I would therefore plead with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to look at the schedule of releases that would be going to the Commission so as to let it be independent in its true sense; that it would not be a pawn in the hands of other stakeholders who may take advantage of its deficiencies in terms of resources to divert it from its objectives.
With these few comments, I am urging other hon. Members of the House to fully support the Annual Estimates for the Commission.
Mr. Speaker 1:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister for Manpower Development, Youth and Employment, do you have anything to say in winding up?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the time reading is 10 minutes to 2.00 p.m. We may not really need the motion so we should adjourn. But just to announce that there are some outstanding businesses which we could not complete today. They have not been captured in the Business Statement for next week so we pray that we take them next week Tuesday.
Mr. Speaker 1:40 p.m.
If that is all, we could do so.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I then move, that this House do now adjourn until Tuesday, next week at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
Mr. Adjaho 1:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
ADJOURNMENT 1:40 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 1.52 p.m. till 15th March, 2005 at 10.00 a.m..