Debates of 7 Jul 2005

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:07 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10:07 a.m.
Hon. Members, order! Order! Hon. Members, it is my painful duty to announce to you the death of hon. Samuel Ayikwei Mankata, Member of Parliament for Odododiodioo consti- tuency. He died on Saturday, 2nd July 2005.
Now, may I call on all of you to be upstanding and then observe one-minute's silence in his memory.

May his soul rest in peace.

coRREcTIoN oF VoTES AND PRocEEDINGS AND THE oFFIcIAL REPoRT
Mr. Speaker 10:07 a.m.
Correction of Votes and Proceedings, of Wednesday, 6th July 2005. Page 1 . . .Page 6 --
Mr. Samuel owusu-Adjei 10:07 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was present yesterday but my name has been indicated as absent. So if that correction can be effected.
Mr. Speaker 10:07 a.m.
The correction will be made. Page 7 … Page 14 --
Mr. charles S. Hodogbey 10:07 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was in attendance with the Mines and Energy Committee, roman numeral (iv). My name has been written there as “Sohodogbey” -- “In attendance” -- page 14. It should be “S. Hodogbey”.
Mr. Speaker 10:07 a.m.
Thank you. Page 15 … page 16 --
Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo 10:07 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Trade and Industry Committee met yesterday at 1.00 o'clock at Alisa Hotel, but there is no indication at all in the Votes and Proceedings.
Mr. Speaker 10:07 a.m.
Thank you for the information. Correction will be made accordingly.
We have the Official Report of Thursday, 30th June 2005. If you have any corrections, you may direct them to the Clerk's Table. We will take item 4 -- Question 137 which stands in the name of hon. Joseph Y. Labik, hon. Member for Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo.
oRAL ANSWERS To QUESTIoNS
ASHANTI REGIONAL MINISTER 10:07 a.m.
Mr. J. Y. Labik 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, from the Answer given by the Regional Minister he has agreed that his visit to the area gave the people a sense of belonging to the region. He has also agreed that teachers refuse sto
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
already the Afram Plains are within District Assemblies. Before you can create a new District Assembly, you know what you are required to do -- the population in terms of how many people are living there. I believe that the place is sparsely populated and therefore it is difficult now for us to create a special district authority for the Afram Plains.
But what I can say is that I agree with him that there is the need for both the Eastern Region Afram Plains and the Ashanti Region portion to be merged, like an authority, to manage the area. I would rather prefer that because if you leave it to the District Assembly, as it stands now, it would take a longer time for the area to actually see the development that we all wish to see.
Mr. Labik 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in his Answer, he said that so far, the Ashanti Region portion of the Afram Plains is benefiting from four main programmes or activities, namely: roads, agricultural programmes, education and health. I want to concentrate on agriculture.
I worked in the Afram Plains before coming to Parliament in 1993. I have recently visited the area and it is still what I had seen. I would want him to tell us, specifically on agriculture, what he is doing to stop the felling of live trees in
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the only thing is education of the people. It is not that they do not know it is bad but it is lack of education. We all need to think together. I know my hon. Friend knows the area very well because of his former activities with the NGO, but I think it behoves all of us to take concerted efforts to ensure that the people are well educated on the dangers that may emanate from it.
I agree with you that there is the need for that but in terms of agriculture, there are a lot of fundings that have been opened at the moment to the farmers that will help them; and with such credit facilities available, they will be able to stop cutting trees for what it is not worth.
Mr. Kwame osei-Prempeh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will first commend the hon. Member who asked the Question on behalf of the four MPs of those districts. Let me also say that most of the things said by the Regional Minister are true, especially as they concern my constituency. But let me pose some few questions to the hon. Minister.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister, on the health activities, failed to mention the Aframso health post built with the support of the Saudi Fund, a big clinic with staff quarters, which was completed two years ago but has not been operationalised. What is he doing, or what will he do to have it operationalised to serve the purpose for which it was built?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think I have visited the area with my hon. Friend. When we all went there, we saw the difficulties and the challenges ahead of us. At the moment, as I stated elsewhere, the Ministry of Health is now posting officers
-- midwives and health workers -- to the area, and I am going to ensure that that clinic is also served with the personnel.
Mr. osei-Prempeh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister said that the Ejura-Dome- Oku-Blackee roads are ongoing, the Nsuta/Kwaman Junction-Birem roads are ongoing. Mr. Speaker, is the hon. Minister aware that for the past one year, all those contractors have left the locations and have allowed the roads to deteriorate back to the state in which they were before the contracts were awarded?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
I think I am a Minister who travels a lot, but I am not aware of this. I will check.
Mr. osei-Prempeh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, will the hon. Minister promise this House that he would undertake an immediate investigation into the reasons why those contractors have abandoned those roads, and ask the Committee on Government Assurances to do a follow-up to see that they are done?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is a reasonable request; I will do my best to investigate. To order the Committee on Government Assurances is not within my power but I will definitely set up a committee to find out what happened. I know as a fact that Hagfos Limited is on the job now, but the others, I am not aware.
Mr. J. Z. Amenowode 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Regional Minister rightly stated that teachers resist postings to the area in question, and mentioned the motivating factor, especially for Sekyere East District. From his response, I want to ask the hon. Minister if he considers the 2003 Best Teacher and Workers Award of a bicycle to a teacher who has served the area for ten years, rewarding and motivating enough?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
I think, to me, for the
area, a bicycle in Afram Plains would be better than probably a Benz. It depends on the area but where he is I think it will give him easy accessibility and movement; he will be more mobile with a bicycle in that part of the region. So that is why they need special bicycles that are adapted to the area. As to the award, I think, to me they deserve what they are given now.
Mr. Tanko A. Ibrahim 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my question to the hon. Minister is on Kumawu-Drobonso road. In his answer, he mentioned that the section of the road -- 0.4 kilometres -- that was awarded to Messrs Lone Star by Ghana Highway Authority, and then the 10 kilometres -- (4 to 14) -- to Messrs R. M. Soteg also for bituminous surfacing in November 2003 amounted to approximately ¢7.1 billion, and the project is now 35 per cent complete.
Mr. Speaker, the question I want to ask is this 10:30 a.m.
What was the value of the project, that is the 0.4 kilometres that was awarded by Ghana Highway Authority and the value of the 10 kilometres awarded by the Department of Feeder Roads; and what is the percentage of payment to date?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not determine how much is given to a contractor, naturally. But I will need notice to supply the answer to the House; it is very important. It is 0.4 kilometres and sometimes, they need to have culverts, drains before they come back to do the impact and the bituminous surfacing. So in all these things it may probably bring up the cost. Some people just do the roads without culverts and drains and I believe that might have probably accounted for the cost. But I will try to send him the appropriate breakdown. At the moment, I cannot.
Alhaji Issifu P. Mohammed 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Minister
when was the last time he visited the Afram Plains; and when does he intend to visit there again.
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. Friend was elected six months ago and he knows that I used to pass there to visit the place, if he would be honest. Just before the elections, I went to that part of the road with the District Chief Executive. At the moment, I have no plans to visit, but I intend to visit there in the course of the year.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister whether the hospital mentioned by the hon. Member for Nsuta-Kwaman (Mr. Osei-Prempeh) happened to be one of the hospitals started under the Saudi Fund before 2001?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think this particular one was started in 2002, not before 2000.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, looking through the Minister's Answer, it is the only Answer which has been highly politicized. You can read New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government all through. And he spoke about the promises made in the manifesto. The manifesto of 2000 made promises to open up the Afram Plains, and complete certain roads within the four-year tenure, but it is quite clear that all the contractors have abandoned the projects. So does he not think that they have deceived us?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I never
referred to campaign promises. I said manifesto. A party manifesto is entirely different from campaign promises. I

assure my hon. Friend that this is the truth I wanted to present to the House; it has nothing to do with politics.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
my good Friend, the Chaplain, knows that campaign promises are based on manifestos. You tell the people what you will do if you gained power. You said that they made promises and the promises have not been fulfilled, because the contractors have even abandoned the site; and I am saying that he is even afraid of referral to the Committee on Assurances. So I am asking whether he has not deceived us. Does he not think that he has deceived this House by the kind of Answer that he has given? Look at the last paragraph of his Answer.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Deputy Minority Chief
Whip, are you asking a question or you are making a contribution? What is your question?
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
The question is,
does the Minister not think that he has deceived us by the sort of Answer that he has given?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do
not know if I may read it again, with the greatest respect --
“Mr. Speaker, the NPP Manifesto describes the Afram Plains as the Food Basket of the country.”
This is all and if you want my opinion, I think I am not supposed to give my opinion.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
asking about the several references that he made, including the following:
“Since assuming office, the NPP Government has made giant strides
by constructing some critical roads into the Afram Plains.”
Meanwhile, we have been told that the contractors have abandoned the site; so do you not think that you have deceived this House by this answer?
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Deputy Minority Chief Whip, you have not asked any question.
Alhaji collins Dauda 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
in his Answer the hon. Minister for the Ashanti Region has stated that a land bank has been established in the Afram Plains. I want to find out from him what exactly he means by “land bank”, and also to find out whether they have succeeded in getting local and foreign investors to deal with the landowners; and to what extent have they dealt with the landowners?
Mr. S. K. Boafo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
the description of “land bank” means, in the context, that when the hon. Member, for instance, visits the Afram Plains now he can get land and start work tomorrow on the same land. He can check from anywhere. If you are a farmer or an investor and you go to the Afram Plains, you are asked of your mission; they will give you the land and the following day, it is there for you to start work. He can check from even hon. Labik and he will explain it to him. It is a fact. So that is what “land bank” means; that the land is available for one to use anytime, including the the hon. Member. I can go with him tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Minister for
Ashanti Region, I thank you very much, for appearing to respond to this Question. You are discharged.
Item 3 -- Urgent Question; and it stands in the name of hon. Stephen Amoanor Kwao, Member of Parliament for Upper Manya Krobo.
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may
we seek permission to allow the Deputy Minister to act for the Minister who is not in the Chamber.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Where is the Minister for Health?
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
understand he is out of the country.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
I grant you leave.
URGENT QUESTIoN
MINISTRY OF HEALTH 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Kwao 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask
the hon. Minister whether he is aware that people are dying because of the absence of a medical doctor at the place, taking into consideration the wide catchment area of the hospital?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Member is aware of the critical staff shortage within the health sector. For that matter, we have been able to assign a medical officer from the Regional Hospital in Koforidua who goes there twice a week. Apart from that, we have supporting staff who may be providing physical health services when the need arises. In emergency situations, we have to rely on the Koforidua Regional Hospital.
Mr. Kwao 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask the
hon. Minister whether he is aware that our benefactors, General Electric Company of USA, are worried because up to this time there is no permanent doctor at the station to take care of the equipment that they have brought to the hospital?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Member is saying that General Electric Company is worried? I do not know whether they have really gotten in touch with the hon. Member, but the fact is that we have a critical staff shortage in the health sector which we are all aware of. We are trying to make every effort; that is, we are making every effort to make sure that we send a permanent doctor to the hospital very soon.
Mr. Kwao 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I know whether in the hon. Minister's programme for the hospital, he has in mind the provision of the following: Bungalows for the staff, a permanent structure for the Out-Patients Department (OPD), a mortuary block and a hospital vehicle or ambulance.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
want to assure the hon. Member that the hospital is under development and all these facilities will be provided in due course, as and when funds are available and provided for them in the budget.
Maj. (Dr.) (Alhaji) Mustapha Ahmed
(retd.): Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister says the hospital is being upgraded to the status of a district hospital. I wish to know from the hon. Minister when this process will be completed for the facility to be referred to as a district hospital.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister also says
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have just asked one supplementary question and that is enough for the time being. Let him answer the first supplementary question you asked.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
nearly got confused about the supple- mentary question he wanted me to answer. But it seems, if I am right, the first question was, when the upgrading to a district hospital would be completed. If I am right, then I would want to assure the hon. Member that the Government has a programme to upgrade one hospital in each district, to a district hospital. So Mr. Speaker, it is ongoing and it would be completed in due course.
Mr. Kenneth Dzirasah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister what the policy of his Ministry is, as far as accelerating the training of doctors generally to offset these shortages that we have in the system.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,

with regard to the training programme for the health sector, post-graduate training courses are now being offered in the country. He is aware of the post-graduate training programme currently going on in Ghana. The essence is to make sure that at least, we retain some of our doctors who go and do post-graduate courses outside the country.

Some time back, you would be aware, we were sending all our medical staff outside for postgraduate training and we know of the situation where some of them did not come back immediately after the courses. Now, the Ministry has established a postgraduate training programme in Ghana with regard to the specialities; and they are coming bigger in the country. The likelihood is that when you train doctors in your country, they would be inclined to stay in the country rather than going out. That is the experience we are getting at the moment. When you train your staff in the country, the possibility is that they will remain in the country rather than going out, like I have said.

Apart from that there are other courses;

the universities are expanding their training programmes to cover the doctors. We have the University of Ghana Medical School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, School of Medical Sciences; they are increasing their intake. And then we have also recently heard of University of Cape Coast and others, which would want to establish medical schools. So there are plans really to expand the training programme for our medical doctors. The same way also, we have plans for nurses. Nurses also, you are aware, we are increasing the places for the training of nurses. The Ministry started about two years ago and it is ongoing; and health-aid training is also ongoing at the moment.
Mr. B. D. K. Adu 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the
hon. Deputy Minister's Answer, he said a doctor is sent to the hospital once a week. I would want to know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether it will not be possible to increase it from once to twice a week.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in
my presentation, I said twice a week; I did not mention once a week. But at the same time if he wants the visitation to be increased to twice a week, he would have to get in touch with the Regional Medical Officer in Koforidua who would arrange for more visits to the hospital.
Mr. Raymond A. Tawiah 10:50 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I would want to ask the hon. Deputy Minister what the Government is doing about poor salaries and conditions of service of medical personnel. This has been identified as one of the major problems facilitating the brain drain of doctors and other paramedical staff away from this country.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I

Mr. Speaker, apart from the normal

salaries which are paid to health workers, we also have additional duty hours allowances given to health staff as incentive for them to remain in the service. In addition to that, we also have the deprived area incentives, which was started last year, ranging from twenty-five per cent to thirty-five per cent, depending on the degree of depravity of the area concerned. So apart from the salary, as I said, we have deprived area incentives and we have additional duty hours allowance which really are meant to provide more incentives for our health workers to remain in the country.
Mr. James Klutse Avedzi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. Deputy Minister about the notion among the nurses that the additional duty hours allowance is being monopolized by doctors; that when the money is transferred to the various facilities, doctors take the chunk of it and leave very little of it for the other health workers. I would want to know if he is aware of that; and if he is aware, what steps he is taking to address that problem.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the hon. Member was a former staff of the Ministry of Health and so probably, he is speaking from experience. There were some problems with regard to disbursement of funds to the districts for the payment of additional duty hours allowance. As to whether doctors were disproportionately taking higher amounts than nurses is something that he himself probably may be able to tell all of us.
But the issue is that if there were distortions in the disbursement of funds for additional duty hours allowances, we started addressing those distortions last year, and the distortions are being addressed even now. And I do not think there is a situation where the doctors would go ahead and disproportionately allocate more funds to themselves as probably the hon. Member is saying.
Mr. osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as a measure to retain medical officers in the system, the hon. Deputy Minister has alluded to increasing the number of training facilities in the country; and he talked specifically about a medical school at the University of Cape Coast. And then he also alluded to providing a postgraduate facility in the country to
ensure that postgraduate training takes place in the country.
Mr. Speaker, given the fact that many
medical officers go outside in pursuit of trying to upgrade their living standards, would the Ministry consider having a programme to allow medical officers who might have served for a period to go outside on a training duty and come back to the system after some time? This obtains in some other countries. Would the Ministry consider that option?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
would want to assure the hon. Member that we have short attachment courses which are offered for doctors to go out on attachment programmes. There is a fear that probably when they go on those attachment programmes they will not come back. But I would want to assure him that for short attachment programmes they do come back, and we continue with that particular programme that we are pursuing.
Mr. John D. Mahama 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
would like to ask the hon. Deputy Minister whether he is aware that the Asesewa hospital is already designated a district hospital and that the discouragement for medical doctors coming to the hospital is because of the non-completion of the facilities there, especially the operating theatre.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Asesewa hospital has been designated as a district hospital and we are aware that any process takes time. It is being upgraded to a district hospital and constructional works will take time to complete. I am assuring hon. Members that the project would be completed and when it is completed we are certain to get medical doctors.
I am aware about this theatre he is talking about and I am sure that when it is completed we will have a permanent medical officer within the constraints of the staff resources that we have in the Health Service.
oRAL ANSWERS To QUESTIoNS
MINISTRY OF HEALTH 11 a.m.
Mr. Ackah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister has indicated in his Answer that they are providing a purpose-built health centre; may I know what he means by that.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about “purpose-built health centre”, it means a health centre which
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.


will have all the critical facilities that any health centre requires.
Mr. Ackah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Dadieso is over 50 kilometres from the district capital, Enchi. The road network is very deplorable; therefore, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister what plans the Ministry has in the interim, in improving the existing facilities and health delivery to over 30,000 people since that small centre is being headed by only one (1) midwife and a medical assistant.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, plans are in place to improve upon the quality of provision of services in that particular health centre.
Mr. Ackah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, at the concluding part of the Minister's Answer he said, “The sector project would commence next year if a provision is finally made the capital budget of 2006.” May I know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether he is only promising or he is assuring us that the project would start from 2006.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, normally the process for approving budgets is that the final budget must come here for approval, but the initial recommendation or proposal must come from the district or region to the sector. So I cannot say here that definitely a provision would be made in the budget. The budget is being prepared at the moment and I cannot say that definitely a provision would be made in it. That is why I have said that work on the health centre would commence next year if a provision is finally made. So kindly let us wait for the Budget to come out. If the Budget is able to accommodate that particular project for the 2006 fiscal year then we would continue with the project.
Mr. Ackah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Answer

indicates that the chief and people of Dadieso have donated land for the project and title to the land is being processed. May I know from the hon. Deputy Minister to what extent the processing has gone.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is necessary that when we are constructing any health facility, we have land donation from the people of the area. It is important because we have had a few cases where there has been persistent demands for payment of compensation, very large amounts of compensation. So the essence of processing the title to that particular land is that we must have access to that land before the project comes on board. The essence is that the people of the area have agreed to donate a land for that particular project.
It is a way to obviate the possibility of, in future when the project has come on board and it is operating, us having demands for compensation. So that is the reason why we said that the title to land is being processed and it is really important. That assures the Ministry that they have title to the land and they can go ahead to do it. If there is no title to the land then we have to consider a situation where we could get another plot of land which will be unencumbered.
Mr. Ackah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not think my question has been answered. My question is, the land has been donated; to what extent has the processing gone so that it would facilitate the project to take off next year as proposed?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
To what extent has the processing gone? That, I cannot answer here. I have to get the Regional Director to give me the information. When I get the information I will provide it to the hon. Member.
Mr. John Gyetuah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister, what are the criteria for selecting a place for a hospital?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in selecting an area for a hospital there are certain factors which must be taken into account. I would just mention one or two.
You have to consider the size of the population in the catchment area. That is a major consideration. Accessibility also to the area is important; you have to locate the hospital or the health facility in an area which would easily be accessible from all directions. These are just a few of the factors taken into account when determining the location of a hospital.
The Ejura District Hospital Administration Block (completion)
Q. 97. Alhaji Issifu P. Mohammed asked the Minister for Health when the administration block of the Ejura District Hospital would be completed.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the administration block at the Ejura Hospital was started in 1999. In that same year, the construction of the District Health Management Team's (DHMT) office block for Ejura was started. The two projects came to a standstill in the year 2000 when there was no budgetary allocations for their continuation.
Funds have been provided in the 2005 approved budget for the continuation of the DHMT office block.
The administration block for the hospital will be tackled after the completion of the DHMT office block.
Alhaji Mohammed 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Deputy Minister, when does he think the DHMT block for which funds have been provided would be completed to enable the start of the administration block?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said that the administration block was being constructed up to a point when it got suspended together with the DHMT block, but the construction of the DHMT block is still ongoing and we hope that this year it would be completed. When that is completed, we hope provision would be made in the next budget for the completion of the administration block.
Alhaji Mohammed 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Deputy Minister, what kept the Ministry away from these two projects in the Ejura-Sekyedumase District for the past five years?
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, normally, projects are prioritised; when you receive your draft budget you have to prioritise the projects. Maybe, when the projects for the region were prioritised, the two did not come on board at the same time, as I said. So we hope that the DHMT block would be completed this year and then the next year this other one would also be completed.
Alhaji Mohammed 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the question I actually wanted to put across was -- The hon. Deputy Minister has agreed that the two projects stopped after 2000 elections and it means that for the period of five years the Ministry never thought of it. That is why I am asking whether it was not important to the Ministry that is why they have neglected these two projects for the past five years.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure hon. Members that these
are not the only two projects that have been held up; there may be several others. Hon. Members who have experience in construction of government projects know what really happened. If you go all over the country, you will see projects which were started several years ago -- several years ago, as I am assuring him -- and still have not been completed.
So Government attaches importance to these two projects and that is the reason why one has been restarted and would be completed this year, we hope so; and then the other one would be tackled. It is not that these are the only two projects all over the country which have been suspended.
Alhaji collins Dauda 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from my hon. Colleague exactly how much has been provided for, for the continuation of the DHMT block in the 2005 budget.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I do not have that information with me right now, so I will provide that information later.
Mr. E. K. D. Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister whether if he says that the project would be completed this year, he is sure that sufficient funds have been made in the Budget that we approved this year to complete this project.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, from all indications it seems that little work is required to complete that particular block; and my hon. Colleague is aware that normally, if a project is accorded priority, there is the possibility of reallocating funds from slow-moving projects to complete a fast-moving project.
So if I say that this project would possibly be completed this year, what I mean is that even if we do not have enough budgetary allocation for that particular project, there is the possibility
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.


of reallocating funds or viring funds from a slow-moving project to complete this project. I know that this is a very small project so there is no reason why it cannot be completed if we have a good contractor working on the project.

Binduri Health Post

Q. 150. Mr. Mark Anthony Awuni asked the Minister for Health when work on the Binduri Health Post will be completed.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, constructional works on the Binduri Health Centre was awarded to Messrs Amokapco (Box 299, Bolgatanga) on 15th August, 1996 at a contract sum of two hundred and eleven million, three hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred and four cedis (¢211,350,504.00) with Architect Co-Partners as the Consultant.
The work was abandoned at the end of June, 2002 when the project was 96 per cent completed. On 4th February, 2003 the Ghana Health Service secured funding from the Heath Fund for the completion of the remaining constructional works. The contract was awarded to Messrs Bedadi Enterprise of Bolgatanga at a contract sum of twenty-one million, four hundred and twenty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty-six cedis, fifty pesewas (¢21,423,226.50) to be completed in four (4) weeks.
The Centre was handed over to the GHS on 17th March, 2003 following final inspection and certification of works and it has since been in use.
Mr. Awuni 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether any provision has been made for the people of Binduri since the distance is far from the main hospital where there is an ambulance.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I cannot say offhand here whether we would make a provision for the supply of an ambulance, but I want to assure the hon. Member that apart from the national ambulance service which has started operation to cover emergency services on certain highways, we are also considering providing ambulances for facilities, that is for the hospitals, clinics and others. So this particular health centre would be considered alongside others when we have ambulances in the system.
Mr. Awuni 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would also want to know from the hon. Deputy Minister whether some basic pieces of furniture were included in the contract to be supplied to the health post.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, normally, when a contract is awarded the details will indicate whether furnishing is part of the contract, but this information is what I do not have offhand. I would have to find out.
Mr. Awuni 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, last but not least, I would be grateful to find out from the hon. Deputy Minister since Binduri is not connected to the national grid and there is no electricity, would there be a provision for a generation plant to save or to assist the medical staff during their work at night.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. Member that the Ministry normally supplies generators to health centres, health posts and hospitals which are not connected to the national electricity grid. And then also we have solar panels -- solar panels are being provided to some particular health facilities. So the Regional Medical Officer or the Regional Health Administration would consider the need for that particular health centre to be provided with electricity either by way of giving that particular health facility a
generator or a solar panel; and I think that would be considered.
Mr. U. A. Abdul-Razak 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is common knowledge that diabetes has finally and slowly gotten its root into this august House, picking its victims one after the other. I would like to know from the hon. Deputy Minister what his Ministry is doing to conduct a special in-House test and probably to upgrade the clinic here so that, at least, we would go there for periodic check-ups.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, your question does not arise out of this Question. You may advise yourself later.
Mr. John Mahama 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, since the hon. Deputy Minister has spoken about generators, I would like to ask him if there are any plans to supply the district hospital in Bole with a generator.
Mr. owusu-Agyei 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will take notice of this particular request.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Minister, thank you very much for appearing to respond to these Questions. You are discharged.
STATEMENTS 11:20 a.m.
Mr. George Kuntu-Blankson (NDc -- Mfantsiman East) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to make this Statement to highlight the bad state of infrastructure and equipment in schools in the Mfantsiman East constituency.
Mr. Speaker, Mfantsiman East constituency is largely a farming and a

fishing community in the Central Region. Central Region is one destination where education is highly regarded.

Mr. Speaker, educat ion in the Mfantsiman East constituency, however, leaves much to be desired. At present, the constituency has one secondary school, Essakyir Ahmadiya Secondary School.

Mr. Speaker, the school is facing acute shortage of accommodation for staff who as a result, are reluctant to accept postings to the area. The position of students' accommodation is no better. The school lacks dormitories for both boys and girls. The situation has led to frequent absenteeism and lateness to school. Mr. Speaker, this has seriously affected teaching in the school and has contributed to the poor academic performance of students.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, there are few classrooms in the school and no Home Science Block. The Home Science Department of the school has very few equipment and the few are in bad condition. The science laboratory is a virtual empty room with scanty and outdated equipment.

Mr. Speaker, students of this school are clearly disadvantaged when it comes to performance at the Senior Secondary School Examination.

Evidently, the Mfantsiman East constituency has 33 pre-schools, 37 primary schools and 26 junior secondary schools (JSS), enrolments for boys in the pre-schools are 828, primary 3,264, JSS 1,096, totalling 5,188. Girls enrolment in the former order are pre-school, 1,228; primary, 3,030, JSS, 1,204. The total number of girls is 5,462.

Mr. Speaker, from the figures provided it could be clearly seen that there are more

girls enrolment in schools as against boys. This development is a boost for advocates for the girl-child education and I am proud to say I belong to this group.

Mr. Speaker, I have tried to collect the statistics for the dropout rate of school boys and girls in the constituency. Surprisingly, the educational authorities in the district claim to have no available records on the dropout rate for students.

Mr. Speaker, this is a sad state of affairs which calls for immediate steps to ascertain the figures for students who have dropped out of school.

Mr. Speaker, my personal inves- tigations point to the fact that the drop- out rate in the constituency is alarming. I therefore call on the Minister for Education and Sports to institute a study into the dropout rate of students in the constituency and find adequate measures to tackle the alarming rate at which students drop out of school in the area.

Mr. Speaker, even though trained teachers outnumber the untrained ones in Mfantsiman East, there are quite a substantial number of untrained teachers. This means that measures should be taken to either train the teachers or ensure that there are more trained teachers in the constituency.

Mr. Speaker, there are 85 pupil teachers in primary schools in the constituency with 43 others teaching in JSS. The figures for trained teachers are 104 and 88 respectively.

Mr. Speaker, it is also worrying that in these days of cement block and spacious classrooms there are 6 schools in Mfantsiman East which are built of mud. I therefore humbly propose that,

to improve the standard of education in Mfantsiman East, there is the urgent need for the educational authorities to repair deteriorating school buildings and supply adequate equipment for the schools.

To conclude, Mr. Speaker, I would humbly repeat my appeal to the sector Ministry to find the root cause of the high- school-dropout rate in the constituency and find a lasting solution to it.

I hope that when the above conditions are fulfilled, many children would have the opportunity for sound education which would guarantee their future and also enable them to contribute to the development of the country.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker for your indulgence.
Mr. A. N. Tettey-Enyo (NDc -- Ada) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Statement that has been made by the hon. Member for Mfantsiman East (Mr. G. Kuntu-Blankson) on the state of affairs in his constituency.
In a period when we are all concerned about the falling standards, examination leakages and o ther examinat ion malpractices, the major concern should be towards improvement of the conditions of teaching and learning in the areas being pointed out. And on occasions such as this, when attention is being drawn to the state of affairs in a particular area, it behoves the sector Ministry to do something special and urgent to alleviate the problems on the ground. A number of issues were raised in the Budget this year to improve upon the conditions of most of our schools. A number of basic schools have not got enough teachers and more so --
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ada, you may continue.
Mr. Tettey-Enyo 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I
was saying, the conditions in most of our schools are very poor and the programmes provided in the budget for this year should be seen to be implemented so that at least, during this fiscal year, some improvement would be seen in the schools that have been programmed for improvement.
I add my voice to the call on the sector
Ministry, the Ministry of Education and Sports to critically examine the conditions of the schools mentioned in the Statement, that is the schools in the Mfantsiman East constituency so that at least, before the end of the year, we would create conducive conditions, conditions which would be attractive to the youth in that area to love to go to school and to encourage the teachers also to perform their duty in respect of our young boys and girls in the constituency.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you and I hope hon. Members would support this call not only for the improvement of the school situation in the Mfantsiman East constituency but also areas where the school conditions are very poor.
Mr. A. K. obbin (NPP -- Prestea/
Huni-Valley): Mr. Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the Statement on the floor of the House. Mr. Speaker, the problem of education in Mfantsiman East is something that must be of great concern to all of us, and on that I also rise to support him and also ask the Ministry of Education and Sports to do something for the Mfantsiman East constituency.
Mr. Speaker, the problem of education is not peculiar to Mfantsiman East
Mr. Tettey-Enyo 11:30 a.m.


constituency; it is a national problem, and one of the major problems is the rural- urban divide in educational development. If you look at the performance of children in the public schools, one could realize that the performance in the rural areas is far below that of the urban areas and this is because Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of problems in the rural areas. The rural areas are not attractive to teachers.

There are a lot of facilities that one can get from the urban centres that the teacher cannot get in the rural areas and as a result most teachers prefer to stay in the urban centres instead of the rural areas. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the statistics of the performance over the years, you could see that the dropout rate is great in the rural areas more than the urban centres. I therefore suggest that the rural areas must be opened; more social amenities must be provided to the rural areas so that they become attractive to teachers also to be there to teach.

Mr. Speaker, maybe, the Mfantsiman East constituency has a lot of rural communities and that is why they are facing such problems. I believe that, especially the Members of Parliament whose constituencies are mostly rural, face this problem. Especially road network to these areas, there are certain areas that if you post a teacher, the teacher will just go to the Director and tell him that if he does not transfer him, he is going to transfer himself because he feels that --
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in
view of the --
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Members, may we
take item 6 -- Minister for Parliamentary Affairs?
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may
we seek your permission to allow the Minister for Energy to lay the Paper on behalf of the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, in view of the intermittent

power outages, I beg to move for adjournment.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Deputy Majority Leader, can we lay this Paper before we adjourn?
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
PAPERS 11:40 a.m.
Mr. A. o. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move that this House do now adjourn.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJoURNMENT
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 11.45 a.m. till 8th July 2005 at 10.00 a. m.