Debates of 2 Jun 2006

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
CORRECTION OF VOTES 10 a.m.
AND PROCEEDINGS AND 10 a.m.
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings, Thursday, 1st June, 2006. Pages 1… 12 -- [Pause.] Yes, hon. Member for Kwabre East?
Mr. Kofi Frimpong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I drew your attention to my name being wrongly written, but it has not been corrected in this issue.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
You did?
Mr. Kofi Frimpong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I made a Statement the previous day and the Statement was written in the name of hon. K. O. Frimpong and I drew your attention to it, but the correction has not appeared in this one.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
You are referring to a correction not appearing?
Mr. Kofi Frimpong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yes, a correction not appearing.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right, let us go on at this stage. Page 13… Page 15 -- [Pause.] Yes, hon. Member for Zebilla?
Mr. John Ndebugre 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I attended the Business Committee meeting
yesterday but my name was not included in those who attended.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Thank you very much for that. Page 16… Page 17 - [Pause.] Hon. Member for Abirem?
Mrs. Esther Dappah-Obeng 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, page 17, paragraph 2, my name has been addressed as “Mr.” -- “Mr. Esther Obeng-Dapaah” - [Laughter.] It should be “Ms”.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Member for Abirem, this is a clear mistake. Pages 18… 20? -- [Pause] -- Hon. Members, we have the Official Report for Wednesday, 31st May, 2006 - [Pause.] Let us move on to item 3, Business -- Statement for the Fourth Week.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE 10 a.m.
Majority Leader (Mr. Felix K. Owusu-Adjapong) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Business Committee met yesterday, Thursday, 1st June 2006 and determined Business of the House for the Fourth Week ending Friday, 9th June 2006.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee presents its Report to this honourable House as follows 10 a.m.
Arrangement of Business
Question(s)
Mr. Speaker, the Committee has scheduled five (5) Ministers to respond to various Questions asked of them.
The details are as follows:
No. of Question(s)
i. Minister for the Greater Accra Region 1
ii. Minister for Women and Children's Affairs 3
iii. Minister for Health 7
iv. Minister for the Interior 7
v. Minister for Transportation 10
Total Number of Questions 28
Mr. Speaker, hon. Members would observe that the hon. Minister for Transportation has been scheduled to answer ten (10) questions during the week. In the opinion of the Committee, Questions Numbered *597, *598 and *599 need to be answered ahead of others due to the severely deplorable nature of the affected areas as revealed by the Media recently.
Urgent Question(s)
Mr. Speaker, the honourable Minister for the Interior has also been scheduled to answer one (1) Urgent Question during the week. The Urgent Question stands in the name of the hon. Member for Bimbilla, Mr. Ibn Mohammed Abass.
Mr. Speaker, in all, twenty-eight (28) Questions and one Urgent Question have been scheduled to be answered.
Statements
Mr. Speaker may allow Statements duly admitted to be made on the floor of the House.
Bills, Papers and Reports
Mr. Speaker, Bills, Papers and Reports may be presented to the House for consideration. Mr. Speaker, those which have already been presented to the House may be taken through their various stages of passage.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee presents its Report to this honourable House as follows 10:10 a.m.
Motions and Resolutions
Mr. Speaker, the Business Committee has endorsed recommendations from the Chairman of Committee on Defence and Interior for the Minister for Defence to brief hon. Committee Members about the Gulf Stream III aircraft at a closed sitting. A meeting of the Committee on Defence and Interior and the hon. Minister for Defence has accordingly been scheduled for Wednesday, 7th June 2006.
Mr. Speaker, the time and venue of the said meeting will be communicated to hon. Members per the Order Paper.
Mr. Speaker, a closed Sitting of the House has also been scheduled for Thursday, 8th June 2006 after adjournment of the House. Hon. Members are kindly requested to take note of this Meeting and attend accordingly.
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.

Questions --

Minister for the Greater Accra Region - 431.

Minister for Women and Children's Affairs - 432, 526 and 582.

Statements

Laying of Papers

Motions

Committee Sittings

Questions --

Minister for Health - 284, 286, 469, 474, 478, 492 and 493.

Statements

Laying of Papers --

Report of the Appointments Committee on ministerial and deputy ministerial nominees will be laid.

Consideration Stage of Bills --

Persons With Disability Bill.

Committee Sittings

Urgent Questions --
Mr. Speaker, the Committee presents its Report to this honourable House as follows 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Ibn Mohammed Abass (Bimbilla) to ask the hon. Minister for the Interior what steps the Ministry is taking to improve public safety situation in Bimbilla so that the curfew that has been imposed can be reviewed for the return of normal socio-economic activities.
Questions --
Minister for the Interior - 408, 519, 521, 522, 537, 548 and 577.
Statements
Motions --
Adoption of the Report of the Appointments Committee on Ministerial and Deputy Ministerial nominations.
Closed Sitting of the House and let me advise that there will be no committee sitting other than, of course, Business Committee.

Questions --

Minister for Transportation - 320,

321, 322, 328, 329, 330, 331, 597,

598 and 599.

Statements

Motions

Committee Sittings.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have perused this Business Statement and conspicuously lost in it is a very important Bill which was introduced to this House
-- the Polytechnics Bill. We were told last week that we were supposed to take it through the Second Reading. That was not done and it appears that it has not even been captured for the purpose of the Bill. Is it lost? It is an important Bill for students and youngsters of this country and we want to know what the Government's position is on the matter.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, which Bill are you referring to?
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 10:10 a.m.
The Polytech- nics Bill.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, this is a very important Bill but I believe there has been some understanding between the leadership of the Committee and the hon. Minister for Education on the possibility of having a second look at some portions of the amendments that are being suggested by the stakeholders. In order that we do not have lengthy debates on some of these things, the Committee and the hon. Minister have agreed that we delay it for about two weeks to enable them have a second look at some of those concerns; that is the reason.
Mr. F. A. Agbotse 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, a
Question I asked was admitted as an Urgent Question because it had to do with the education of children in a remote area. I have seen it in the agenda as an ordinary Question, number 574. What makes it now an ordinary Question?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Thank you, we will look into that.
Mr. E. K. D Adjaho 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday when the Business Committee met, the issue of this Bill never came up. But Mr. Speaker, listening to the reasons
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
You may want to take this behind the scenes. I know you are a member of the Business Committee as well.
Mr. A. K. Agbesi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the course of the week the hon. Minister for Transportation appeared before the House. The issue of his Ministry came up and the hon. Majority Leader promised that the L.I. designating him as the Minister for Transportation will be laid before the House. I have noticed that that issue is not on the Business Statement for next week, but he is also due to appear before the House again under the new Ministry of Transportation. I would want to know from the hon. Majority Leader why it is so.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe he has raised two issues. One is that there should be a Legislative Instrument (L.I.). Leadership has been trying to look at our rules and internal arrangements to find how we could solve the current problem we have. We have a Deputy Attorney- General, who is also the Attorney-General-designate. I believe such an L.I. would come from that Ministry. We have been trying to look at what rules we should follow and until that is settled, it means we cannot get an Attorney-General to issue an L.I. So that is why the L.I. is not still with us.
Now, as regards the title, I thought that last week we had a compromised situation that the important thing was that somebody would be coming to answer Questions.
That somebody used to be called the Minister for Road Transportation and now he is the Minister for Transportation. We have been told by communications from the President that this is the new title for this Minister, except that my hon. Colleague, the Minority Leader said that we should firm it by bringing the Executive Instrument (E.I.).
If it is the wish of the House that because this is not the position we should stop all the Questions he should answer until this is clarified, I do not think I would have any objection to that; but I believe these are technicalities which when strictly applied may not advance the cause of our democracy and development. Therefore, I would want to suggest that since we have got the letter from the President indicating this title, which I believe is what may appear in the E.I., we allow him to answer the Questions. After all, some of the Questions he has been asked to answer, the framers mentioned Road Transportation.
Are we then to say that because it is Road Transportation, if he is now Transportation Minister he should not come and answer? I believe that we should agree that at the moment this could become interchangeable until we get the E.I.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Item 4 - Urgent Questions.
URGENT QUESTIONS 10:20 a.m.
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION 10:20 a.m.
Minister for Transportation (Dr. Richard W. Anane) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Bolgatanga-Bongo road is the regional road labelled R114 and joins the regional capital, Bolgatanga to the district capital, Bongo. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry decided to link Bolgatanga through Bongo to Feo which shares borders with Burkina Faso with a good paved road.
Mr. Speaker, Bolgatanga to Feo is a distance of 26 kilometres; 10 kilometres along its main corridor and 2 kilometres within the Bolgatanga township have been given out on contract.
The Bolgatanga-Bongo Project was awarded to Messrs Progressive and Modern Company on the 5th of December 2003 for completion by the 17th of October 2005. Mr. Speaker, 7.2 kilometres of the road have been primer sealed and the current overall percentage of work completed is about 50 per cent. Mr. Speaker, the main reason for the delay of the completion of the project has been the inadequate supply of chippings. The contractor has been given approval to haul chippings from Kumasi with its attendant cost implication to enable him complete the project. The contractor has also had to contend with some technical and managerial problems of his own.
Mr. Speaker, we have met the contractor and he has briefed us on the steps he is taking to have the works completed and we are currently satisfied with the brief that he has given us. It is expected that the current project would be completed by the end of December, 2006. After completion of this part of the project, the section from the ending part at Bongo to Feo, a length
Mr. Abongo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister said that the job is at a standstill because of unavailability of chippings around the area. But then there is still a portion that is about 3 kilometres that he can still continue to work on and that is on hold. What is his reason for that?
Dr. Anane 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the area that the hon. Colleague is referring to is the part within the township of Bolgatanga. That part of the corridor demands the laying of concrete drains and would require a lot of chippings to construct the drains before the works can go on. So that is how come he has been able to primer seal the part outside of the township, leaving the major part within the township. But we expect that this part also will be done.
Mr. Abongo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Minister has not gotten the situation correctly. In actual fact what I am saying is that within the 10 kilometres, about 3 kilometres of it, he could have put this material and do the sealing but that is not even within the Bolga area that he is referring to; that is towards the Bongo end; and it has nothing to do with the drains.
Dr. Anane 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in my answer I said that the Bolga township section of the road had not been done and the reason is because it requires the laying of concrete drains; and the laying of concrete drains demands chippings. And that is how come the contractor had to start from the Bongo end instead of the Bolgatanga end. So I am sure my hon. Colleague would understand what is meant by that.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Bongo, you may wait until you are called upon.
Mr. Abongo 10:20 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is that we have 10 kilometres of road to do. The contractor started from the Bolga end. He has done the sealing and then he is saying that at that end he should be doing some culverts, side drains in addition; that is right. But toward the Bongo end he has not even done sealing of the 10 kilometres; he still has about 4 to 3 kilometres left. That is what I am concerned about. What prevents the contractor from doing that portion?
Dr. Anane 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure my hon. Colleague is referring to the Bongo township, that is the Bongo end, just like I was referring to the Bolgatanga township. Whenever we are doing a road and you get to the township, generally we have to do drains and when we have not done the drains it becomes difficult to seal. And so the areas that we have not been able to lay the drains, he has not been able to seal; but we are hoping that now that we have agreed with him and we have permitted him to come down as far down as Kumasi to get the chippings, he would be able to meet some of the needs and therefore he would be able to do the drains in order to do the sealing.
I am sure he would be worried and surprised that he has to come down as far as Kumasi. The quarry at Pwalugu is not capable of supplying the type of chippings that he requires. The nearest place would have been Wenchi, which is also off the road and which is also unable to supply; and that is why he has to come down to
Kumasi to get chippings to do the work.
Mr. Abongo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the hon. Minister has not been well apprised of the situation on the ground. He is talking about tarring within Bongo township. I would like to know from the hon. Minister if he is aware that we do not still have even one inch of bitumen in Bongo District, not to talk about the township.
Dr. Anane 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am very much aware that his district had never had any tarring of any of the roads in that corridor, and it is because of this that when we visited the area, we took a decision to do what we are doing currently. And that is also how come we decided that because of the fact that Feo, which is about 16 kilometres from Bongo and which borders Ghana and Burkina Faso, also ought to have the road bituminized in order that, at least, our linkage to our neighbours would be under acceptable standard. But we are doing what we think is best for the area, at least, with the main corridor being bituminized; and then we can subsequently consider other areas which need similar attention.
Mr. Abongo 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to appeal to the hon. Minister to visit the project site because from the way he is making his presentation, it is quite clear that he is not getting the picture rightly. I would like to use this opportunity to urge the hon. Minister to visit the project site because the essence of my question is that the bitumen seal on the road has not even gotten to Bongo District yet; that is my question. He is talking about work in the township, but we have a district boundary and we have a township; that is different.
And so, I would want to appeal to the hon. Minister to visit the project site because he is being given a wrong report.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
That was not a question.
Dr. Benjamin Kunbuor 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is particularly very strange that the hon. Minister is indicating that an area that abounds in rocks from which chippings are made is deficient. I would want to know from the hon. Minister whether it is the nature of the chippings that is not available or it is the quantity that is required for that project.
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I mentioned that the quarry in the Upper East Region is not capable of supplying the chippings for the works that have been done.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the fact that they are unable to produce the requisite specifications of chippings to meet the demands, the quarry also does not have the capacity currently because their equipment produces at very low capacity and therefore they are unable to supply the needs of the industry players. We have, over the past few years, been trying to encourage people to get into the quarry industry and also to help those who are already in the industry by way of supporting them to acquire new equipment so that they would be enabled to produce and supply the required market demands. So Mr. Speaker, that is how come it is --

But Mr. Speaker, I still want to assure

my hon. Colleague, the main questioner, that for all these years ,this area had not had any tarring; this Government is doing it. And we are going to make sure the Bongo District get its fair share of the national cake.
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Regional Office of the Department of Feeder Roads in Tamale, the Staff and residency of some senior personnel were attacked and vandalized by a group of youth on the 20th of December 2005.
Mr. Speaker, the incident was
consequently reported to the Regional Minister, the National Security Council and the Police for their investigation and report. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry is awaiting the report on the incident. Follow-ups have, however, been made on some of the reports that we received from our offices.
Mr. Speaker, an eyewitness account indicates that two senior staff, while on their way to work in the early hours of the day, were warned of the impending incident by an anonymous caller. Prior to this incident the Regional Engineer had heard rumours of the impending attack and had therefore left Tamale for Sunyani. The two officers later sought police protection. Later, two other members of staff who had received various degrees of injury from the attack of the mob went to the police station to lodge a complaint.
While at the police station information came that the office of the Department of Feeder Roads and the residency of the Regional Engineer and the Quantity
Surveyor had been vandalized. The police later escorted them to their residency to ascertain the extent of the damage. Some of the damages done to the residency included the destruction of the external lights, the door and the polytank.
Mr. Speaker, the following actions were taken 10:30 a.m.
1. The office was temporarily closed down on the 20th of December 2005 and the key staff advised to leave Tamale. The Regional Engineer, his assistant, and Quantity Surveyor were posted to other regions for their safety.
2. An official of the Department of Feeder Roads visited the region to acquaint himself with the situation. He held discussions with the Regional Minister, the Executive and members of the Road Contractors' Association and staff of the department on Wednesday, the 4th of February, 2006. This was to calm down the situation and facilitate the reopening of the Regional Office.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Feeder Roads Office in Tamale reopened on Monday, 6th of February 2006. So far, there have been no further incidents; the Regional Office is running smoothly. We are, meanwhile, awaiting the reports of the outcome of the investigations of the police.
Mr. Jagri 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with regard to the vandalisation, can the hon. Minister tell the House the cost involved with respect to the items that have been damaged -- if he has any knowledge as to the cost of the items that have been destroyed in the course of the attack?
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am yet to be given the full extent of the cost and therefore I am unable to give the cost, currently.
Mr. Jagri 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, is the hon. Minister telling the House that so far no arrests have been made with regard to the attack?
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the police are investigating. We have been in touch with the police to give us their formal reports and if the august House would permit, I would on receipt of the report advise the House on the contents of the report which would enable us to know the people who were involved and what actions have been taken on them.
Mr. Jagri 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, would the hon. Minister assure the House that within the year he would be ready to come back to this House to inform hon. Members with regard to the situational report from the police?
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have been in touch and I believe I may even get a preliminary report by next week; therefore, I would submit this for the information of the House.
Alhaji Sumani Abukari 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want the hon. Minister to tell the House the identity of the youth that attacked his department and why they did so. Because he said youth from Tamale -- it would send wrong signals.
Dr. Anane 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, this is under investigation and I expect to get the report. I have been given the assurance that by next week I would be given a preliminary report. Since I have already indicated to the House that I would be
submitting this report for the information of the House, I think when it is made available we should know who and what has been involved in this incident.
Alhaji Abukari 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am particular about this question because Tamale and Yendi have been known to be troublesome areas for some time now. We are now building the bridges very fast to return it to the peaceful era that it was. And Mr. Speaker, when he says “youth from Tamale”, the impression is that it is an NDC youth because Tamale is known to be an NDC town.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale North, do you also know the answer? [Laughter.]
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the hon. Member will be very helpful in this investigation because he is just informing me about some things I do not know. So I may have to ask the police to contact him for some further information. Meanwhile, I have already indicated to the House that I will be presenting the report for the information of the House.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Question (c), hon.
Alhaji Collins Dauda (Asutifi South).
Mr. Eric Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, hon.
Alhaji Collins Dauda has asked me to ask the Question on his behalf because he is not present - [Interruption] -- I want to seek your permission to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Has he granted you
permission?
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
When? [Laughter.]
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Yesterday, sir. He called
me yesterday and asked me to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
All right, go ahead.
Goaso-Tepa Junction Road
Mr. Eric Opoku (on behalf of Alhaji
Collins Dauda) asked the Minister for Transportation when the Goaso-Tepa Junction would be asphalted as promised by H.E. the President at Hwidiem in the Asutifi South constituency in 2001.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the 64-km
TepaGoaso road is the regional road, R63, joining the Sunyani-Kumasi road which ends at Tepa Junction to Goaso, through Tepa. It is tarred but in fair-to- poor condition. Mr. Speaker, it must be explained that during the visit of His Excellency the President in 2001, the Hwidiemhene made the request to His Excellency the President for the Goaso- Tepa Junction road to be asphalted. Mr. Speaker, His Excellency the President, who did not make any promises at that time, indicated that the request could be considered for future programmes.
Mr. Speaker, the road is currently
under rehabilitation by the Mobile
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
want to ask the hon. Minister if he is aware that after His Excellency the President had made this promise, the crowd applauded and the Hwidiem Omahene thanked the President for making such a promise.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, His

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, it was the Hwidiemhene who made the request. His Excellency the President did not -- and I want to repeat -- did not -- make a promise because I have consulted the Regional Minister who was present at the time and it is very clear that His Excellency the President did not make a promise. But he did indicate that this is something that should be considered for the future; and we are doing that.
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
want to ask the hon. Minister when exactly will this road be asphalted, according to the Ministry's plan.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
What is your question,
please?
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
My question is that I want
to know from the hon. Minister, in the plan of his Ministry, when exactly will that road
be asphalted.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have
indicated that this is one of the projects that have been captured under the Transport Sector Development Programme.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. Colleague is very much aware that most of our major corridors have been left in tatters and there is the need to put them into shape. And while putting the major corridors in shape by asphalting, there was the need to at least maintain the bypasses and the other arteries to manageable levels until we put them on stream in the Transport Sector Development Programme, which is coming on in 2007. Therefore, within that programme, I believe that this will also be put into shape.
Mr. Opoku 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Minister if he is aware that that section of the road records the highest number of road accidents on that corridor because of its bad nature.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not very
sure whether my hon. Colleague is aware of the statistics, that the major corridors, Accra-Kumasi, Accra-Cape Coast and Accra-Aflao constitute the major accident spots in the country and take as much as 64 per cent of all the accidents in the country. Therefore, that short and small corridor, in spite of its bad nature, can still not be the corridor that has the highest number of accidents. But we do acknowledge that we have to make sure all the roads in the country are put to proper shape, and we will definitely will do that.
Ms Akua Sena Dansua 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
would like to know from the hon. Minister, what timeframe he would describe as
“the future”, as far as this road project is concerned.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon.
Colleague does know that and did hear me very well when I talked about the Transport Sector Development Programme which starts in 2007. So when we are talking in terms of the country it can still be said to be akin to now, because we are just about preparing and finishing the programme. When we do finish, we will have to launch it, and when we launch it, all the projects will come on course.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Question (d), hon.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Member of Parliament for Suame?
Dual Carriageway from Maakro to Afrancho
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu asked the Minister for Transportation if he is aware that the proposed extension of the dual carriageway from Maakro to Afrancho on the Kumasi-Offinso road is now terminating at Kronum instead of Afrancho, and if so what is the Ministry doing to revert to the original design.
Dr. Anane 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Maakro-
Afrancho road forms the first 5 km stretch of the rehabilitation of the Kumasi- Techiman road project Lot One, which is currently under contract funding by the European Union. Mr. Speaker, the contract was awarded to Messrs Taysec Construction Limited on the 8th of October, 2004 and it is scheduled for completion on the 31st of May, 2007. Mr. Speaker, currently, the progress of work is about 68 per cent. The scope of work comprises widening, upgrading and strengthening of the existing road to asphalting concrete standards.
Mr. Speaker, the Maakro to Kronum section of the road is designed as a median separated dual carriageway with two lanes, including 2.5 metre wide stopping lanes and 1.85 meter wide pedestrian footpaths on either side. The Kronum to Afrancho section, that is kilometre 3 to kilometre 4.65 is designed as median-separated dual carriageway with two lanes and 1.85 wide pedestrian footpaths on either side but without stopping lanes.
Mr. Speaker, from Afrancho, that is kilometre 4.65 to kilometre 40, the road is designed as a two-lane single carriageway with 2.5 metre wide shoulders on either side. Parking areas and lay-bys are provided at vantage points in towns and villages along the road.
Mr. Speaker, the dual carriageway section from Maakro to Afrancho will be extended under a variation order to about 700 metres to go beyond the Afrancho township. This will take care of the curves and the narrow nature of the road in the township.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask if the hon. Minister is aware that the width of the curve leading to Afrancho township has been narrowed by the construction works going on and that the sharpness of the curves has already started causing many serious accidents. Is the hon. Minister aware?
Dr. Anane 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was
tempted to say that I am aware but I think I have to explain further. Mr. Speaker, in my Answer, I said that the dual carriage- way section of the road from Maakro to Afrancho will be extended under variation order by about 700 metres to go beyond Afrancho township. This would take care of the curves and the narrow nature of the road in the township. Mr. Speaker, these are actions taken to address the concerns raised by the hon. Member.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10:50 a.m.
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Transportation (Dr. Richard W. Anane) 10:50 a.m.
The road from Apesokubi through Asato to Kadjebi, route R25, links the Jasikan-Nkwanta road and the Kpando-Worawora-Dambai road. The section from Asato-Kadjebi has gravel surface.
The section from Apesokubi to Asato is 8.0 km. This corridor had not been opened up and was therefore non-existent. Engineering and design studies were carried out from 2001 to 2002 for the rehabilitation of the road.
Current Programme
The Asato-Apesokubi feeder road was awarded for rehabilitation in June, 2003 to Messrs Kassap Limited at a contract sum of ¢3.4 billion under HIPC funding.
Works done to date are clearing of 8 km and cutting of steep sections. The project is about 21 per cent completed. Amount paid to date is ¢771.29 million. The project which was scheduled for completion in September 2004 is behind schedule. It appears the delay in the execution of the project is due to managerial factors. The Department of Feeder Roads has recommended the termination of the contract.
Mr. Speaker, it is pertinent to note that this project is located in a difficult
Minister for Transportation (Dr. Richard W. Anane) 10:50 a.m.


and rocky terrain and the Ministry is aware of the difficulty of the Regional Tender Review Board of hiring competent contractors who will not be prepared to locate in that corridor.

The Ministry will advise the Regional Tender Review Board to terminate the project as soon as possible so that this project and the people within that corridor would have access and be able to do their normal economic activities. Due to the importance of the road it will be repackaged for reaward immediately the termination is effected.
Mr. Gyapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know if the hon. Minister is not aware that the delay in the execution of the project was due to non-payment or delay in payment and not because of managerial factors?
Dr. Anane 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this road was
placed under HIPC funding and no project under HIPC funding had any constraints with respect to payment. Mr. Speaker, the problem with the project had to do with the management of the company and that is a management issue and that is for the company.
Mr. Speaker, we are very conversant with the problem. However, we did appreciate the problems of the Regional Tender Review Board since few people were prepared to locate in that area so we were trying to encourage that contractor to still do what can be done but we realise it would take a long time if we continue to depend on the contractor. That is how come we have reconsidered and have advised the Regional Tender Board to take the action.
Mr. G. K. B. Gbediame 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in an Answer to the Question, the hon. Minister said that the Department of Feeder Roads had recommended the termination of the contract. I want to know
the policy of the Ministry for a project that was awarded and for over three years the contractor did not even appear on site.
Dr. Anane 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure
what my hon. Colleague is asking because this contractor was on site. The contractor did some works, however, he encountered some difficulties. This particular company is an offshoot of an original company and we are aware of some of the difficulties encountered by way of management and Mr. Speaker, that is not a subject for discussion here. The contractor was on site but he has not been able to deliver. We are also aware of the difficult terrain that that corridor lies within and it is based on these, that is how come we thought the Regional Tender Review Board had been flat-footed or slow in terminating the project. But we have to get the project on course and that is why we have had to recommend for its termination .
Kadjebi District Capital Roads
Q. 318. Mr. John Kwadwo Gyapong asked the Minister for Transportation when the roads in Kadjebi, the District Capital will be tarred.
Dr. Anane 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Kadjebi is the capital of Kadjebi District. The total length of roads in the township is 5.7 km.
The Department of Feeder Roads awarded 2.7 km of roads in the Kadjebi town in August 2002 at a contract sum of ¢1.4 billion under GOG funding. The project which was executed by Messes Catrol Gh. Limited was completed in July 2003. So currently, one can say that 2.7 km out of 5.7 km had been tarred. The works which were completed under the contract were, laying of 2.7 km of sub- base, construction of 965 million concrete drains and three culverts and sealing of 2.7 km.
Current Programme
Two (2) kilometres of the Kadjebi town roads have been programmed for tarring this year. Bids were received on 17th May, 2006. The bids are being evaluated. The remaining one (1.0) kilometre will also be awarded for tarring after completion of the 2.0 km currently being evaluated for award.
Mr. Gyapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I ask the hon. Minister if he is aware that most of the projects that are funded by GOG are usually not well done or are delayed because of non-payment or delays in payment. If yes, what is his Ministry doing about it?
Dr. Anane 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, again I am not very clear about my hon. Colleague's question because Mr. Speaker, 2.7 km of 5.7 km of the township roads were awarded on contract. This has been completed. Mr. Speaker, we have also put to the bid 2 km of the remaining 3 km of the roads in the township and we are evaluating this for award. So Mr. Speaker, I really do not understand and appreciate what is meant by the question that my hon. Colleague raised.
Mr. Gyapong 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am
saying this because for goodness sake, if you go to Kadjebi now - I am a layman -- you will not see that anything has been done at all since 2002 to 2003, that is why I am saying that maybe the job was not well done or it was not done at all because I did not see anything there at all. But maybe because of technicalities something has been done. That is why I am saying that, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
But that is not a question.
Mr. J.Y. Chireh 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
question I want to ask the Minister from his own Answer is, if there is no managerial problem here, is the Minister sure that the contractor has been paid, and if not, why?
Dr. Anane 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I still do
not understand what is being asked. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Kadjebi town road and I do not think that there has been an issue of non-payment of the contractor. Mr. Speaker, 2.7 km of roads were done and were completed in July 2003. Mr. Speaker, I have been there on about three or four occasions and even there was the need to extend the tarring to the District Chief Executive's residence. And, in fact, it was also because of a missing-link, which was a matter of great concern to me, that I had to go there on these occasions. And whenever I went there, I went to the township as well so I do know that the works were done and I cannot understand the issues that are being raised. But the contractor has been paid for his work.
Somanya Township/Somanya District (Road Tarring)
Q. 319. Mr. D. T. Assumeng (on
behalf of Mr. Raymond Tawiah asked the Minister for Transportation when roads in Somanya township and major roads in the district would be tarred.
Dr. Anane 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, all the major trunk roads leading to Yilo Krobo District have been tarred and are all in fair to good condition. These include:
Koforidua-Asesewa road
Somanya-Agomeda-Dodowa-road
Mr. Assumeng 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know from the Minister the fate of the Somanya Mount Mary College road which
is also within the Somanya township.
Dr. Anane 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Mount
Mary is a well-known institution which has served this country so well. And Mr. Speaker, since we have already entered into the township, we will definitely get there. However, because of the delay in the execution of the Phases I and II, we have been stalled. That is why we are going to terminate, repackage and re- award the Phases I and II into one package to enable us to move forward to construct the other township roads.
Mr. Michael Teye Nyaunu 11:10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I want to draw the hon. Minister's attention to the Somanya-Mount Mary road. The drainage system has been completed for some time now but there has been no regravelling. As such, it is not passable and I think that that is what my hon. Colleague is referring to. At least, if it can be given the earth's surface that it can be motorable for some time -- If he can do something about that or he can tell us something about it.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have
not asked any question yet.
Mr. Nyaunu 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want
to know if the hon. Minister can tell us whether he will be in a position to re- gravel that place or make it motorable since the drainage has been done. I want to know whether he has a programme like that.
Dr. Anane 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure
my hon. Colleague is asking about motorability, at least, for the precincts but we had been looking at tarring of the roads, and the terrain in the area demands that we do our drains. But I do appreciate the concern that has been raised. So I will
Mr. Nyaunu 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon.
Minister responded in respect of Somanya Zongo and other roads (1.6 km) and was saying that the delay was due to shortage of chippings. May I know whether the hon. Minister endeavoured to know this as a reality or he relied on information just given to him. This is because we have a quarry there, at Doryumu area and then we have one at Akuse and contractors have been coming to buy chippings from those places. That is why I want to know whether it is information that was given to him or he tried to ascertain the truth himself.
Dr. Anane 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, when I
reported on the issue of shortage of chippings, I was talking about market demands. Mr. Speaker, currently there is so much demand on the restricted supply that if you do not belong in the very high shoulders, it may be difficult for you to get some of the supplies because there is a very strict competition for them. And this has caused an increase even in the prices of the supply but that is what has sent us to intervene and to make sure contractors get their supplies.
So I do appreciate the fact that we have a quarry nearby but the fact that it is nearby does not mean that the contractor can easily access it based on the competition that he has to go through to get his supply. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Charles S. Hodogbey 11:10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I believe his Ministry has a policy of tarring roads in every district capital; my question is, is the Minister supposed to tar all roads within the district capital
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member for North
Tongu, would you be kind enough to repeat your question? I did not get it.
Mr. Hodogbey 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I said I
believe his Ministry has a policy of tarring roads in each district capital. Mr. Speaker, if that is true, are they supposed to tar all roads within each district capital or only a certain portion is supposed to be tarred?
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, this is not a supplementary question at all.
Mr. S. A. Kwao 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my
interest in the Somanya roads relates to Somanya-Adjikpo which is supposed to be about 2.3 kilometres. When you are coming from Asesewa through Ashite to Adjikpo to Somanya, that route is the shortest and the hon. Minister talks of the road from Somanya to Adjikpo. It continues to Ashite where it joins the Odumase-Asesewa road. May I know whether the hon. Minister has plans to join that part of the road to make it shorter to enter Somanya from Asesewa area.
Dr. Anane 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
agencies under the Ministry are currently inventorizing that steps ought to be taken under the Transport Sector Drawing Programme and it is our wish to make access as easy as possible. Therefore, I want to believe that this should be one of the roads that can qualify for such attention.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Hon. Minister for
Transportation, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions. You are discharged.
MOTIONS 11:10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. Samuel Sallas-Mensah) 11:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Public Accounts Committee on the Report of the Auditor-General on Statements of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of the Bank of Ghana for two half-years of 2002.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure hon. Members
have got the Report, which were distributed yesterday and therefore I do not intend to read the whole report because it is quite technical in nature. What I will instead do is to give you the background which is the introduction and also capture certain issues which are very important for the House to debate.
Introduction
1. The Report of the Auditor-General on the Statement of the Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of the Bank of Ghana for the two half-years of 2002 was laid before Parliament on 18th March 2005 in accordance with article 187 (2) of the Constitution. Pursuant to Standing Order 162 (2) of the Standing Orders of the House, the Report was referred to the Public Accounts Committee for consideration and report.
2. The Committee held five sittings to deliberate on the Report. Evidence was taken from officials of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP), the Controller and Accountant-General's Department (CAGD) and the Ministry of Food and
PART II 11:10 a.m.
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon.
Member for Sefwi Wiawso, do you have a point of order to raise?
Mr. E. P. Aidoo 11:20 a.m.
Yes. Mr. Speaker,
I would want to draw your attention to Order 48(2) of the Standing Orders. Looking at the number that we have in the House, especially on the opposite side, I do not think it will be appropriate for us to continue with the proceedings. So I suggest that we end our proceedings for today; that is the proposal I am making.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
If we do not form a
quorum, say so; I do not see anything which has any bearing on brethren or hon. Members on the other side; I do not know. What is the point you are making?
Mr. E. P. Aidoo 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the issue is on quorum. Order 48 (2) reads that “if at the time of Sitting a Member, takes notice or objection that there are present in the House, besides the person presiding, less than one-third of the number of all the Members of Parliament, and after an interval of ten minutes a quorum is not present, the person presiding shall adjourn the House without Question put until the next sitting day”.
Mr. Speaker, if we look at the number
now, we are not even up to sixty; it should be one-third or more but we are less than one-third. So I think that we should end proceedings and adjourn.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, of course, when it comes to voting and we do not have the requisite number as provided for, either in the Constitution or the Standing Order, a valid point may be raised. I am submitting that this particular
Standing Order has been misunderstood, but it is time for us to appreciate its import. I therefore submit that the hon. Colleague's application -- I would not say it is misconceived, but it seems to me that it is unmeritorious and ought to be dismissed. I therefore urge Mr. Speaker to let the House continue its business.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Sefwi Wiawso, we are at the moment not taking any decision; let us go on with the debate. I will address your point when the proper time comes.
Mr. K. K. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was making a point before I was - That it is heart-warming to note that as a result of - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, are you taking a point of order or you are challenging the decision?
Mr. Alfred Agbesi 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I did not hear your ruling on the matter and I wanted your guidance.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Thank you very much; maybe, you may consult the hon. Member for - [Interruption.]
Mr. Agbesi 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what I was going to say -- I was asking for your ruling because I did not get it. But I thought that the matter has been adequately provided for in the - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Ashaiman, your point is that you did not hear my ruling; you may consult - [Interruption.]
Mr. Agbesi 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, because the process is continuing after the objection has been raised -- Mr. Speaker, the issue has been adequately - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Are
Mr. Agbesi 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am not in any way challenging your ruling. Mr. Speaker, I am only - [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
A l l right, then let him continue. Hon. Member for Amansie West, please, continue.
Mr. K. K. Mensah 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the point I was making was that, as a result of these debt reliefs given to Ghana we were able to benefit to the tune of $42 million during the period. This is a good achievement which must be praised.
The other point I want to make is
that, as relates to part two of the Report, paragraphs 18 and 19, you may notice that the Foreign Exchange Act of 1961, Act 71 is very notorious for its breach rather than for its observance. It is therefore time to review the Act in the light of the economic circumstances of the country.
The other point I want to make, Mr.
Speaker, is that the Bank of Ghana should, as a matter of urgency, redesign the Ghana export form to facilitate accurate reporting for export dealers. I fully endorse the Report of the Committee in that aspect.
Finally, I want to also recommend that
it is not enough for the Bank of Ghana to more than introduce robust measures; it should take serious penal actions and sanctions against defaulting institutions so that they will respect the law.
On Act 3, which is the management issue, I will make a few comments as follows: In view of the serious breaches I have noticed in the Report, is it too much to ask the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning or the hon. Minister for Food and Agriculture or the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB)
to provide further and better particulars about the accounts? I think that would be in order because quite too often the amounts involved are too alarming and we should be too happy to see some results in this area.
Without prejudice, I will say that it is
likely that some malfeasance may have been committed and therefore the Auditor- General should take, as a matter of quick action, deliberate and diligent steps to investigate the matter thoroughly.
The other point is that, there are other
outstanding matters which should be dealt with as expeditiously as possible and the Bank of Ghana and the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning should take steps accordingly, because since the Report was dealt with in 2001 nothing has been done. The Bank of Ghana, it is noted by article 55, has no effective mechanism for determining actual volumes and values of diamond exports. That is very worrying indeed, Mr. Speaker. I think they should take immediate steps to regularize this because it is not enough to export; we should be getting benefits from these exports so that the country will stand to gain.
On recommendation 53, I noticed that an amount of 2.5 million pounds was given without any proper procedure or narration about this and that 1.5 million pounds was subsequently released; and then they came again to say that there were no records on these and that there was no reason assigned and therefore the money should not be paid. The matter, Mr. Speaker, I submit, should be thoroughly studied again and proper answers found for that.
As regards the Japanese aid, I consider the figure of 20 per cent very excessive; that is outstanding beneficiaries who refused to pay what they had borrowed as money. When we were young boys in school we used to have a book called Who Are They? I believe that these

people should know them. Who are these beneficiaries? Are they too big to refuse to pay?

Finally, Mr. Speaker, while I agree

that recommendations in paragraph 55 should be immediately looked into; the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning should enforce the recovery of all the overdue loans and if need be, penal sanctions be applied.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Speaker, and for allowing me to make a contribution.

Mr. J. K. Avedzi (NDC -- Ketu

North): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to make comments on the Report of the Public Accounts Committee.

First of all I would like to commend the Committee for doing this thorough work. But Mr. Speaker, I have a few observations. If you look at the Report which is for 2002, and we are looking at it in 2006, it will tell you that the relevance of the Report is lost. If we are in 2006 and we are looking at 2002 Report, what action are we going to take now?

What I want to say in this respect, Mr. Speaker, is that the Report of the Auditor- General in coming to the House is always delayed; and when a Report is delayed, what are the causes? Sometimes resources for the Auditor-General's Department are most of the time not adequate for them to carry on with the work. If the department is resourced well, where they are financially independent, they will bring reports that are very current to the House for this House to look at. So I think it is time for us to start considering how we can resource the Auditor-General's Department for them to bring current reports to the House.

Then, Mr. Speaker, if you look at the time that the Report was submitted to this

House, March 2005, and the Report of the Public Accounts Committee is being discussed in June 2006, it has taken one good year for this Report to come from the Public Accounts Committee to the House. This tells us that the Public Accounts Committee is also not well resourced.

In the first place, we do not even have Committee rooms where we can sit to look at Reports. Therefore, the issue of the relevance of the Report again comes into play; we have to look at that situation very well. Excuse me to say, even the attitude of we hon. Members of Parliament - When this Report was being read by the hon. Chairman, some hon. Members were leaving the Chamber, which means hon. Members do not care whether that Report is passed or not.

So I think that we hon. Members of Parliament who are supposed to play oversight role over the Executive must take keen interest in the work of the Public Accounts Committee. When we take issues that are raised in the Report seriously, then we would be doing the work the way it should be.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to say that the Public Accounts Committee, which is to look at the Report of the Auditor- General's Department, must do thorough work and take action. What I mean by that is, after the Report is submitted by the Public Accounts Committee and we discuss it on the floor here, what happens next? If you look at the Report, the hon. Chairman mentioned that some of the issues were raised in the previous Report and they are raised in this Report as well which means that after the previous Report was issued no action was taken.

Who is supposed to take action on issues or recommendations by the Public Accounts Committee to the House?

We need to have a body that whatever Report or recommendation is issued by the Public Accounts Committee, that body takes it up and makes sure that the institutions that are involved comply with the recom-mendations. If we do not do that it becomes a ritual; every year we come, the Public Accounts Committee submits a report, we debate it and that is the end.

So I think that, it is time that we started looking at issues about the Public Accounts Committee seriously. In other countries like Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Public Accounts Committee is a very powerful Committee of Parliament. In fact, they go and even initiate independent investigations; this is time that we have to start looking at something like that. In fact, very soon I am coming out with a Statement on how we should empower the Public Accounts Committee to take some initiatives so that the people of this country, the Executive can take the work of Parliament seriously.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words,

I support the motion and urge hon. Members of this august House to approve the Report.
Mr. E. A. Agyepong (NPP -Abetifi) 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the motion.
In the first place, I think I agree with the last hon. Member who contributed. Some of us have been worried since 1997 about these post-mortem reports by the Auditor- General to the Public Accounts Committee and their work to Parliament.
If figures for 2002 are now being discussed, what is the relevance of
discussing cocoa prices? The cocoa receipts as against gold receipts, what benefit are we going to derive from such an exercise? We would therefore want to urge the Chairman of the Committee to properly find a way of working and bringing some of these things up-to-date.
Again, as my hon. Colleague said, after this what do we do? Mr. Speaker, if you look at it, there is what we call the authorized dealers -- the banks that are authorized to deal in foreign exchange. They are supposed or expected to give reports to the Bank of Ghana but they do not do it and we do not know what the Bank of Ghana does with them. Act 612 of 2001, I think, empowered the Bank of Ghana or gave enough powers to the Bank of Ghana to carry out its work.
Therefore, if there are recalcitrant banks, as mentioned in the Report, what does the Bank do to bring them to book? Not only them, those who are allowed to keep foreign account, what we call the external account holders, if they do not bring their reports, I doubt whether the reports which are submitted to the Auditor- General, and the Auditor- General's investigation to the Public Accounts Committee could be regarded as correct or very appropriate.
If we do not have all the figures, how do we marry most of these figures? How do we even do comparison with the previous years, if some figures from some sources are not in? How do we conjure the figures and work on them? Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I think the Bank of Ghana should be up and doing in this regard.
Again, I would say that we would like Parliament to empower the Public Accounts Committee to look at this Report and see if in the recommendations they have made, the anomalies that are inherent in the system which they have highlighted are being corrected by the banks. How do we know if they are corrected? If still it
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC - Jomoro) 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion but in doing so I would like to concentrate on the Japanese non-project grant.
If you look at table 12, you can see that people have been owing since 1987. In fact, because of people's inability or unwillingness to pay back the grant that they have taken - they ordered rice, sugar, which they have sold -- and refused to pay the money back to the Bank of Ghana.
In 1998, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning decided that any beneficiary of the Japanese grant should be guaranteed by his bankers. Yet we can see from the table that from 1998 to the year 2000, the total amount owed is about ¢43 billion.
I wonder why the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has not held those banks responsible for the collection of the monies. That notwithstanding, I am not saying that those who owed from 1987 should not pay, but in particular, in 1998- 2000 we have banks that guaranteed those loans and therefore the banks are under obligation to pay back those monies.
In 2001 when hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo took over the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, he announced that he was going to publish in the dailies the list of people who owed, but he did the first publishing and that was the end. I wonder what happened or what he saw that made him develop cold feet. But whether the feet were cold or warm the monies should be paid, and we as a House should take all measures, put all pressures possible on the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to make these people who collected state monies from 1987 - imported rice and sugar and sold them and did not pay the monies back to the Ministry of Finance and Economic but rather used the money to do their own thing, to pay back the money. We must set an example, otherwise we would continue suffering. We would be sitting here and approving grants, the proceeds of which do not come to the State as such but go to individuals.
With these few words, Mr. Speaker, I
support the motion.
Mr. K. Opare noon
None

Adenta): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to support the motion on the floor. In doing so, I would want to just pick one or two areas to comment on.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to take it from

where my hon. Friend left off. Very often, we have the nation contracting loans and

grants for on-lending to individuals and to some organizations. Mr. Speaker, the practice has been that people take these monies and they refuse to pay back. This attitude of Ghanaians is seriously affecting the general well-being of the economy.

Why am I saying this? Yesterday, we had lunch with the bankers and one of the issues that they raised was of course non-payment of loans. We have told them they should reduce the interest on the loans and they told us that the risk factor in giving money to Ghanaians is so high that they do not like giving out monies to individuals and organizations in this country without collateral; because those who take monies refuse to repay. Mr. Speaker, naturally because of this attitude, they are reluctant to give out loans.

Mr. Speaker, this is seriously affecting the growth of our economy. One other area that we need to consider is the area of grants or loans. These loans or grants are usually given for specific projects. However, almost every year when we look at the report, we come across a situation whereby these loans and grants are left unutilized for several years and yet we have to pay all the interest on these loans. For instance, if we take a look at the report, an amount of 1.7 billion cedis was left in the account of Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) for several years whereas the project for which it was appropriated could not take off.

Mr. Speaker, this money, I believe, was used by ADB as lending to other individuals and organizations but because of the account into which this money was launched no interest was paid on it. We are talking about an amount of 1.7 billion cedis that this bank has used and yet not a single cedi has been paid as interest to

the Government of Ghana.

I wish to call on the Bank of Ghana to take up this issue as a very important matter and at least to ask that ADB pay some interest on the money. I do not believe they can tell Ghanaians that they did not use the money at all. Therefore, as a matter of urgency some form of interest should be demanded on this money for the Government of Ghana.

Mr. Speaker, let me go back to some of the issues that my hon. Colleague have raised about the fact that this report has so much delayed. It is of no use to us and to the nation at this time. Whatever are the causes of the delays, Mr. Speaker, I want to ask that as a House we should help them to overcome or to remove these impediments so that we can discuss these reports when they are current. Mr. Speaker, I would like to request that the Public Accounts Committee be made to follow-up on the recommendations or findings, otherwise, we would be undertaking an exercise in futility.

I want to use this opportunity to ask that your Committee on Public Accounts be given certain powers or authority so that we can follow-up on the recommendations and bring back a report to the House that would indicate whether the recommendations are being carried out or not.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I want to once again support the motion. Thank you.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu (NDC -- Central Tongu) noon
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would be very brief in terms of my associating with the motion on the floor and by referring to part two of the Committee's report.
Mr. Speaker, it is quite worrying to note
Mr. Speaker noon
Leadership, at this stage do you have any indications? We may wish to continue, but not today.
Mr. K. A. Okerchiri noon
Mr. Speaker, it does seem we have exhausted what is here for the day and there are other committee meetings. So Mr. Speaker, today being Friday I will respectfully move that this House adjourns to Tuesday at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
Ms. Akua Sena Dansua noon
Mr. Speaker, I
rise to second the motion for adjournment.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT noon
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 12.12 p.m. till 6th June at 10.00 a.m.