Debates of 28 Jun 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS
Mr. Speaker
Order! Order! Hon. Members, we shall take correction of Votes and Proceedings of Friday, 24th June 2005. Page 1… Page 5 -
Mr. J. Z. Amenowode
Mr. Speaker, under the list of Members absent, number 8, “Amenowode, Joseph Z., Hohoe South”, I was present in the House.
Mr. Speaker
The correction would be made accordingly. Page 6… Page 10.
Hon. Members, we have the Official Report of 23rd June 2005. Are there any comments?
Mr. A. K. Mensah
Mr. Speaker, when you read the Official Report, column 1254 -- that is, my contribution -- it says: “I am concerned about the siting”, not “sitting”. As it is, it is reading “sitting”.
Mr. Speaker
“Siting”? Thank you very much.
Mr. Lee ocran
Mr. Speaker, I was going to raise an issue with the Business Statement and the Order Paper. The Business Statement for today states that there would be the hon. Minister for
Fisheries to answer Questions but that is completely missing on the Order Papers so I wanted to know why.
Mr. Speaker
Hon. Member for Jomoro, this is the Order Paper we have at the moment so let us use it. [Pause.] Item 3, Questions.
Majority Leader (Mr. Felix K. owusu-Adjapong)
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure why the hon. Minister is still not in because before I left the office, I talked to him. So if we can maybe start with one Statement because I know he is on his way coming. I rang his office and he had left the office.
Mr. Speaker
We shall hear a Statement by the hon. Member of Parliament for Sawla-Kalba.
Mr. J. A. Tia
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is in his constituency attending the District Assembly meeting.
Mr. Speaker
Alright, shall we then hear the Statement by the hon. Member for Sissala West?
Mr. Tia
Mr. Speaker, for the same reason -- [Interruption.]
Mr. owusu-Adjapong
Mr. Speaker, we can go back to Questions. The hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning has just arrived. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker
Majority Leader, we have no alternative but to go back to Questions -- Item 3.
oRAL ANSWERS To QUESTIoNS
MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND
ECONOMIC PLANNING
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu
Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, I would want to
ask the Question on behalf of the hon. Member.
Mr. Speaker
I grant you leave.
Q. 74. Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (on behalf of Dr. Kwame Ampofo) asked the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning how the Tema Oil Refinery Debt Recovery Fund had been utilized and when he would submit to Parliament the Annual Reports of the Fund as required by Section 13 of Act 642.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Parliament enacted Act 642 in April 2003 on petroleum products known as the Debt Recovery Levy (DRL) Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) which shall be a fund under the Consolidated Fund. Mr. Speaker, the object of the fund is to finance the payment of debts incurred by the Tema Oil Refinery and the interest accruing on these debts.
Mr. Speaker, since its establishment, a total amount of ¢2,307,504,271,376.10 ( that is ¢2.31 t r i l l ion) has been lodged into the account out of which ¢2,188,182,528,159.25 (that is ¢2.19 trillion) has also been disbursed as follows:
To retire the bonds issued.
To meet i t s under- recovery operations.
Mr. Speaker, the annual report of the Fund would be submitted to this august House when the final audit report, which is being prepared, is finalized anytime soon.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister only states that ¢2.188 trillion was used to retire the bonds, and then to meet under-recovery. We want to
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that is a good question. The audit report, as I have just indicated, would be issued as soon as possible and that would confirm the detailed figures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when will that report be submitted to this House in accordance with the Act?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I just indicated, the auditors are working on the accounts and I expect that within a period of two months they must be able to complete it and submit it to this House.
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know from the hon. Minister, before the enactment of the Act how much was the exact figure owed by Tema Oil Refinery and as we speak today, having utilized the ¢2.19 trillion how much is the outstanding debt owed by Tema Oil Refinery?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think these questions would be properly resolved when the audit report is submitted. I do not have them here. If they come in the form of substantive questions I think we will be able to provide the details. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Members, let us cut it short because the hon. Member who originally asked the Question has not turned up. If you want to ask a question, go ahead.
Mr. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in his Answer, the hon. Minister did not indicate how much was used to retire the bonds and how much was used to meet under-
recovery operations. We want him to tell this honourable House how much was used for under-recovery operations because the Act in question is purely to settle the TOR debt which was incurred. On the part of under-recovery operations, the law is clear and we want to know how much was used for under-recovery operations.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority Leader, maybe you came in late. He answered this Question. He said he was not in a position to do so until the actual audited report came out. That is what he said.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, our problem is that he said he cannot respond to the Question until the audited account is out. He is an accountant and he knows that there is an account which should be audited. We want to know the figures in the account which is being audited. Thank you.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, by my training and being an accountant, I will defer till the audited accounts that will give the fair and confirmed figures. I believe when the audited accounts are in, we will be in a better position to discuss them.
Revenue Realized Between 18th and 22nd February 2005
Q. 94. Mr. John Akologu Tia asked the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning how much revenue was realized between 18th and 22nd February 2005 following the price increase in petroleum products.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, until recently, subsidies to Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) presented a significant burden on the budget and the size of its debt affected the financial sector through its
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister whether between 18th and 22nd February this year, Parliament passed any tax on petroleum products.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I can recall especially during the debate on the petroleum prices that an escrow account would be created for us to put that money in and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning would report to Parliament. In fact, we were in the process of making the report when this Question came. So it came at the opportune time for us to answer the Question. So Mr. Speaker, on the floor of the House, an undertaking was made and that is why we are fulfilling that undertaking. We can go back to the Hansard of that day to cross- check; and I am sure it is there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether the Minister has answered my question but the effect of my question is, does he realize that this money was illegally taken from Ghanaian taxpayers?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that hon. Members of the House will depend on the debate of the House and the details that went into the discussion; and I am making reference to the Hansard of
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Tia 10:10 a.m.
Well, it is now clear that some money was collected from Ghanaians. I want to know from the Minister what he intends to use the money for.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe there is some telepathy between the two of us. I have been working on that. Mr. Speaker, the Government has got three priority areas and these are: Human Resource Development, Good Governance and Private Sector Development - [Hear! Hear!]
Mr. Speaker, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning alone does not decide on what to use that sort of money for. I believe my undertaking on the floor of the House is to put it under an escrow account. I believe that now that we have worked on the figures, we can discuss and decide on which specific subjects we need to invest this particular sum of money. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister when he intends to bring back that money illegally collected, for this House to determine what should happen with regard to its use.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority Leader, I did not hear your question.
Mr. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are told that ¢28.2 billion has been collected which has not been authorized by Parliament before it was collected between the 18th and 22nd February. We want to know when he will bring it to this House for this House
to allocate the money to whichever areas they would want to invest the money.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, now that we have confirmed the figures, and referring to the discussions on the floor of the House, I believe that by next weekend we would be able to submit the figures for Parliament to have a discussion on an input from Cabinet.
Mr. Felix Twumasi-Appiah 10:20 a.m.
Mr.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, please,
repeat your question.
Mr. Twumasi-Appiah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Minister speaks of subsidy here and I am saying that the 2005 Budget Statement that was presented to this House clearly indicated that we realized more revenue from petroleum prices than expenditure. Will he tell this House by how much exactly they were subsidizing a gallon of petrol.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware that last year, there was an accrued amount of about ¢2.1 trillion that had to be used in subsidizing fuel. What was actually paid was about ¢1.7 trillion and when you refer to page 302 of the Budget Statement, you can see the amount of money that was used in subsidizing it.
Mr. J. A. Ndebugre 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the Minister whether he is not interested in correcting the impression that the money in issue was illegally collected, especially as those who
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief
Whip, is this a supplementary Question?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:20 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, that is so. I consider it so; Mr. Speaker, it is a very good supplementary question.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Chief
Whip, it is not a supplementary question.
Mr. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon.
Minister was saying that I was part of the discussion. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I have not been part of that discussion as to what they should use that money for and that is why the Minority Chief Whip posed the question. We made a statement on that matter but we never agreed as to what would be used with the money.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Deputy Minority Leader,
Mr. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, he was
misleading not only this House but the whole country. In fact, why we boycotted it was that what they did was unconsti- tutional and illegal; that was the basis -- That is why we now want to know how much they have collected. Now I am satisfied because he says he would bring it to the House next week. When he comes next week, then we would proceed from there.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority
Leader, you do understand that this is not a supplementary question at all?
Mr. F. K. owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, an important issue has been raised. I quite remember seeing a face like that of the MP for Avenor Ave on
are saying, it was illegally collected are now interested in sharing it.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
think that is a very good correction but in all my presentations, I have made it clear that we discussed this issue on the floor of the House, at least, on the 23rd of February; it was not illegal in any way. It was discussed on the floor of the House and we can refer to the Hansard.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Minister should draw a line between information, discussion and decision because we still maintain that the monies were illegally collected because there was no decision of this House to that effect.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minority
Chief Whip, you should ask a question. This seems to be a statement.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my
question is, who authorized him to collect the monies that he collected between the 18th and 22nd of February?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
have just indicated that the whole issue was discussed on the floor of the House on the 23rd of February 2005.
Mr. Adjaho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to
know from the hon. Minister when the matter was discussed on the floor. Was it on the 18th or on 22nd?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
my hon. Friend was on the floor when this discussion was effected on the 23rd of February 2005 and we can refer to the Hansard that his contribution was really recorded.
Mr. osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Minister whether he agrees with me that provided that the Government can justify any increase, the Government could increase the price of fuel to even ¢100,000 per
the date in question but he is trying to tell us that he was absent that day; and I am wondering whether we recorded the Votes and Proceedings correctly that day. So if he can confirm that he was absent, we can check up with the records.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Majority Leader,
this is not a supplementary question.
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
could the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning tell this House the legal basis for the imposition of the tax on February 18, 2005 -- the tax component of the fuel price increase.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Minority Leader,
this question was asked by your Chief Whip.
Mr. Bagbin 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, no, my
Chief Whip asked a different question. Mine is talking about the legal basis of the imposition of the tax on February 18,
2005.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
think, as I said on the 23rd of February, the whole issue was discussed on the floor of the House and the document was properly discussed on the 23rd of February and Parliament approved that. And this sum of money, we indicated that it should be put in an escrow account for us to discuss; so this question has come at the right time for us to put the record straight.
Mr. J. K. Avedzi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want
to ask the hon. Minister to tell this House whether it is right for the Government to impose tax on the people of Ghana on the 18th of February before bringing that issue to the floor on the 23rd of February.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, I thought
this question has been asked on many occasions. [Pause.] If you insist on it, I would ask the Minister for Finance and
Economic Planning to answer.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
think I would give the same answer, that on the 23rd of February, 2005 Parliament actually discussed this in detail and approved it.
Alhaji A. B. Sorogho 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I want to ask a question and I would be grateful if the hon. Minister would give an answer so that the questions that we keep on asking we can also stop because he is going round the answer. We want to know from him, between 18th and 22nd February, what was the basis upon which law did the Minister collect the tax component of the money that was collected as petroleum prices. We want to know, that between the 18th and 22nd before the paper came to Parliament, what was the legal basis for them to do what they did?
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, this question has been answered already. I thought the answer was obvious to all of us. Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that I said that on the 23rd of February 2005 -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Parliament discussed the issue and the details are there. Mr. Speaker, we can even refer to the Hansard and then see the debate that went on, on that day.
Dr. Ben Kunbuor 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have a main question and a short supple- mentary. I want to know from the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning when exactly the escrow account was opened. And when were the first payments made?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when the money has been escrowed, that means you cannot touch it. And that is exactly what the Ministry has done because we made an undertaking on the floor of this House that that money would be in an escrow account; that means it would not be touched by anybody. So from the 18th to 23rd of February, 2005 that money has been set aside and it can be used at any point in time. So Mr. Speaker, that is the answer.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Lawra,
I thought your question was “when?” Ask that question again.
Dr. Kunbuor 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want specifically to ask the hon. Minister, when the escrow account was opened and payments lodged into it.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the money is in the treasury's main cash account. It is in an escrow account and that means that it cannot be touched by you or me. So Mr. Speaker -- [Interrup-tions.] That is the answer I can offer.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
If there is any hon. Member who wants to confirm whether this money has been set aside in the Treasury Management's current account, they can verify. [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, the question is “when?” Was it 18th or 22nd or what date? If you have the answer give it; if you do not have it, well -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister knows the difference between set aside account and escrow account and receipted account. Can he give us details of this escrow account? Because he is saying, “set aside” and “escrow.” They are two different things.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member, you say details of the account or what?
Mr. Hodogbey 10:30 a.m.
The details of the escrow account; the account number because escrow account is different from ‘set aside'.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will go back to the Answer and the contributions we made on the 23rd of February 2005, that this money would be set aside; it would not be touched by anybody until the report is submitted to Parliament. In the Treasury's main current account or cash account, this money is there; if you want to touch it today, it can be touched. It is available for us to utilize at any point in time.
Mr. John Mahama 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the philosophy around escrow accounts is that monies are kept in a certain place where one interested party to a transaction cannot have access to it. Mr. Speaker, does the Treasury keep accounts, and if so, what kind of accounts and what are the details of
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will go back to my answer, that is, the money is available. It has been set aside and nobody is using it and if today, we want to touch that money, I think it is available.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
I will take the last one from the hon. Minority Leader.
Mr. Bagbin 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, could the hon. Minister tell us where the money is. Where is the money?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is at the Bank of Ghana.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
All right. We shall now take Question number 116, which stands in the name of hon. Yaw Effah-Baafi, hon. Member fot Kintampo South.
Mr. Stephen Kunsu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I need your permission to ask the Question on behalf of hon. Yaw Effah-Baafi, who has travelled to his constituency.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
All right, I grant you.
Workmen's compensation
Q. 116. Mr. Stephen Kunsu (on behalf of Mr. Yaw Effah-Baafi) asked the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning what measures the Ministry had put in place to ensure that the workmen's compensation due employees was paid without further delay.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the Workmen's Compensation Law 1987 (PNDC Law 187) provides that an employer shall be liable to pay compensation to a workman who sustains an injury by accident out of and/or in the course of his/her work.
The Law also provides that compen- sation shall be paid in court to dependants of a fatally-injured workman.
Mr. Speaker, since 2002, the Govern- ment has demonstrated its commitment to honouring its liabilities under the Workmen's Compensation Law by paying appropriate compensations due to injured Public Servants.
Mr. Speaker, in 2002, an estimated amount of eight hundred and sixty-seven million, seven hundred and nineteen thousand, three hundred and thirty-five cedis and fifty-six pesewas (¢867,719,- 335.56) was released through the Depart- ment of Labour to pay compensation to 143 out of 230 registered injured workmen. That was about 62 per cent. The Auditor-General could not clear the 87 remaining persons at the time to enable them to be paid. After their clearance, they were added to the 2003 list.
Mr. Speaker, in the 2003 financial year, an amount of two billion, four hundred and twenty-five million, one hundred and seventy-five thousand, seven hundred and forty-five cedis and ninety-nine pesewas (¢2,425,175,745.99) was released to pay 232 out of 338 injured persons who had submitted their claims for settlement. And that was about 68 per cent. The actual payment was effected between December 2003 and April 2004.
Mr. Speaker, again, a total of 106 of the claims could not be processed for payment due to audit queries raised on them. These outstanding claims were however rolled over to the current number
Mr. Stephen Kunsu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know from the hon. Minister if there is any plan to adjust the entire payment of applicants who were injured years ago but have not yet been paid to be commensurate with the current inflation trend in the country.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
think these things are processed through the appropriate rules and regulations. Probably, there are certain adjusting mechanisms to help them to reflect the current figures. So we have to go through the rules and regulations and the law guiding the payment of the compen- sations.
Mr. Felix Twumasi Appiah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Minister's Answer, he said that in 2002, about 87 claimants were left out without receiving their compensation and in 2003, about a year later, 106 of them were left out. Will the Minister tell us what steps he is putting in place to remove all bottlenecks and to ensure that all these claimants are adequately catered for?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, one
of the processes for payment is that it goes through the Auditor-General's outfit. So if queries are raised, then obviously, we have to make sure that the queries are properly answered. So as long as the Auditor-General clears such payments, it becomes easier for us also to settle.
Mr. John Mahama 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, is
the Minister interested in finding out what causes such a high number of injuries per year at the workplace? Is he interested in finding out, as we have such huge numbers of workmen that get injured at the workplace?
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, you will
realize that, in fact, this does not arise out of this Question but the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, if he has an answer, he can give it.
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
as I indicated, there are laws, rules and regulations regarding the compensations; so we need to go by the provisions of those laws, rules and regulations.
Mr. Mahama 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, even
though you gave him leave to answer my question he seems to have avoided it. My question is, being the Minister responsible for the prudent and judicious use of the State resources in respect of the budgetary expenditure, is he interested in finding out why there are such high rates of injuries at the workplace so that remedial measures can be put in place to cut down the amount we are paying on workmen's compen-sation?
Mr. Baah-Wiredu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
did not dodge his question. Mr. Speaker, any planner knows that he has to project. If the projection is that we are going to have about a thousand people and what you have now is less than that, then obviously you are within the confines of
your plan. That was why I said that the rules and regulations are there on the floor or wherever people are working and they get injured.
I think the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is not there but the rules that capture those who have been injured are already there. And then when we are planning, I think these factors are taken into consideration. So in the utilization and allocation of funds, I think these factors are taken into consideration and Parliament even approves them. The Parliamentary Committee which is in charge of the Estimates works on all those things.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Minister for Finance and
Economic Planning, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions. You are hereby discharged.
Item 4 -- Statements. Statement by Member of Parliament for Suaman constituency.
STATEMENTS 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, other social amenities lacking include 10:40 a.m.
good health facilities, potable water, access to communication facility and adequate infrastructural development.
Mr. Speaker I want to take this opportunity to appeal to the Government to come to the rescue of the people of Suaman, if they have to feel that they are part of Ghana and are citizens of Ghana.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker for this
opportunity.
Mr. John Gyetuah (NDC -- Amenfi West) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity given me to contribute to the Statement made by the hon. Member for Suaman.
Mr. Speaker, when you look at the
terrain of Western Region, as we all fall within the forest zone, the roads are very deplorable.
Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether article 36, clause 2 (d) of the Constitution -- and I quote with your permission:
“(d) undertaking even and balanced development of all regions and every part of each region of Ghana, and, in particular, improving the conditions of life in the rural areas, and generally, redressing any imbalance in development between the rural and urban areas.”
Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether this
constitutional requirement is being adhered to, looking at the problem that we are going through in the district. Western Region is the food basket of the nation and when you look at the roads, specifically in the Aowin/Suaman district, you will realize that not even a single road is tarred. And when you take Aowin constituency, for instance, the roads are very deplorable. So I would like to appeal to the Government to ensure that equity is actually adhered to. When you look at the road network and the lighting system, everything is very bad. So in this case, I would appeal that we should adhere to and then ensure that every part of the nation is being given a fair share of the national cake.
Mr. Lee ocran (NDc -- Jomoro) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is the third Statement about the state of roads in the Western
Mr. Akwasi Afrifa (NPP -- Fomena) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to contribute to the Statement and in reference to article 36 of the Constitution, that is, the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Mr. Speaker, interestingly this
Constitution came into effect as far back as 1992 and, like the hon. Member who last spoke said, we have had governments and not only President Kufuor's Government since 1992.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that the
Western Region, yes, contributes so much to the economy of this country in terms of our exports. In the same way all other regions are also doing the best that they can in contributing to the development of the country.
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the
Directive Principles of State Policy require the Government to evenly develop all parts of the country. But President Kufuor's Government has been in power for only four years; others have been there and they saw the bad roads in all parts of Ghana, more especially those in the Western Region. So as the hon. Member said, I would call on President Kufour's Government to give the people of Western Region what others failed to give them.
Mr. Albert Abongo (NDC -- Bongo) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with
Mr. Albert Abongo (NDC -- Bongo) 11 a.m.
the hon. Member for Suaman who made the Statement.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the problems
that confront the Western Region need to be tactically approached. With the Western Region, we all know that it is a region with torrential heavy rainfalls. And for contracts to be awarded, they must be done such that such contracts can be executed over short periods of time. But it appears it is done like contracts done in other regions and so for contractors who fail to bid properly, they may start a project only to abandon the project because the rains have come and made useless all the jobs that they have executed.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that what the Government needs to do is to ensure that contracts for execution of projects in the Western Region are done over short periods of time. In that case, funds should be made available for the contractor to continuously execute the project and not abandon the project half-way because funds are not available and then the rain comes to wash everything away.
Mr. Speaker, the other point that I
would like to make -- and this is common with all regions -- is the way contracts are awarded. It appears we only have contracts awarded when it is about a year or two to elections. And then after elections the contracts are no longer done. I would like to draw the Government's attention to one particular project in my constituency; and that is the Bongo/ Bolga road.
Mr. Speaker, after the elections that
project has not seen any meaningful work on it. Meanwhile, the contractor has dumped a lot of gravel on the road, and that nearly took the life of my District Chief Executive.
So, Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is more economical for the Government to execute projects that the Government is sure funds are available for, and not just award contracts because, maybe, a senior person has passed by the area and promised that he would do this road. And so I would call on the Government to ensure that funds are usually made available before projects are started.
With this, I associate myself with the Statement.
Mr. Samuel K. Adu-Gyamfi (NPP
-- Aowin): Mr. Speaker, I would wish to associate myself with the Statement.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, if you look at the
nature of roads in the Western Region, particularly roads in Aowin/Suaman, and when one travels along the road that has been described, one becomes very sad. During the rainy season, it is very difficult to travel between Enchi and Dadieso, as the hon. Member said. What you would see is that vehicles cannot move and travellers carry their loads on their heads, especially women with their babies at their backs which leaves very much to be desired.

We appeal to the Government that these roads should be made, at least motorable, if not tarred, so that economic activities can move on in such areas. We are very, very sad sometimes when we go there and we see that our friends are actually suffering. They say that we do not talk about the roads. But when you go to the Ministry, it is “no funds”.

We beg the Government that if we want to progress and develop the area then the road network should be improved. I think the Minister for Road Transport is here; the Deputy Minister is just in front of me. I visit their offices very often but still the situation is the same. We are appealing to
Alhaji Collins Dauda (NDC - Asutifi South) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement and to add that this deplorable situation in the Suaman constituency is not peculiar to that constituency. I think that the situation affects almost all feeder roads in the country. I do not know why, but what happens is that most of our feeder roads are not tarred and therefore during the rainy season the roads get bad.
Mr. Speaker, this House established a
Road Fund and the purpose of establishing this Road Fund was to generate resources or money to be able to keep our roads in good shape.
Mr. Speaker, we have had cause as a House to look at the Report on the Road Fund and most times the disbursement of the Road Fund is skewed against feeder roads. Feeder roads constitute the bigger chunk of the road network in Ghana, but unfortunately they take a smaller chunk of the Road Fund; and I think that it is an area that I would call on the Minister for Road Transport to take a critical look at to see whether it would be possible for us to allocate a bigger chunk of the Road Fund to the maintenance of feeder roads in this country.
Mr. Speaker, again, Suaman is
predominantly a cocoa growing area and we are told that for every metric tonne of cocoa, Government deducts some money for the purpose of rehabilitating cocoa roads. But you go to most of the cocoa
Mr. A. E. Amoah (NPP - Mpohor Wassa East) 11 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity. I would want to associate myself with what my hon. Friend from Aowin Suaman constituency has said.
In fact, what he has said is a reflection of what is happening in the whole of the Western Region. Indeed, if you look at roads in the Western Region they are really very sad to comment on as an hon. Colleague has said. Most of the roads are very bad yet contractors who are given contracts to work on these roads always say that in the Western Region they have torrential rains and that roads are difficult to actually construct.
Some of us do wonder whether in the rural communities when contractors are given roads the Ministry of Road Transport actually monitors them. This is because most of the roads that have been given on contract in the Western Region, the contractors have abandoned them; and if you come to my constituency, for instance, almost every other day the road is closed and people would have to carry their loads as an hon. Colleague has said.
If you come to some other social infrastructure like water, the situation is very bad; if you come to electricity, in most of the constituencies you see that very few of them have been connected to
the national grid.
I n my cons t i t uency, Mpohor Wassa East, for instance, we have 228 communities and only 13 of them have been connected to the national grid. Such a situation actually makes the people think that the Government is truly not thinking about them. It is not only water, electricity and roads, but if you look at the Western Region, how people are suffering from environmental pollution as a result of mining, the Government needs to do more.
In fact, I am happy that when President Kufuor was in Takoradi during the last days of the electioneering campaign he mentioned that the best comes from the West, yet we have the worst. And he mentioned that during this time he is going to pay attention to the Western Region. We are praying that, indeed, something is going to be done to improve the situation in the Western Region.
What some of us think is that we have to approach the development of the Western Region as a project. We need to manage it as a project so that special strategies would have to be mapped out in order for the Western Region to develop. If we think that we could treat the Western Region as only one of the regions, since Western Region itself is one of the golden hens that lay the eggs, one day it may not be able to do so; it will refuse to give out the resourcing that it is giving for the development of the whole country.
In conclusion, I want to say that the
development of the Western Region should be treated as a project, where it would be managed as a project in order for the Western Region to develop.
BILLS -- FIRST READING 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Item 6 - Laying of
Papers, Chairman of the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs.
Mr. osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Paper is ready for laying. Unfortunately, the entire committee is attending a seminar at Miklin Hotel so with your indulgence I may wish to lay the document on behalf of the Chairman.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Should it be deferred?
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, we could lay it on behalf of the Chairman.
PAPERS 11 a.m.
Mr. owusu-Adjapong 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
move that this House do now adjourn till tomorrow 10.00 o'clock in the morning.
Mr. Abuga Pele 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJoURNMENT
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 11.10 a.m. till 29th June, 2005 at 10.00 a.m.