Debates of 17 May 2007

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 9:58 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS 9:58 a.m.
AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 9:58 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings, Wednesday, 16th May, 2007. [No corrections were made.]
Hon. Members, we do not have the Official Report for today. Item 3 -- Questions. We shall start with the Minister for Food and Agriculture.
ORAL ANSWERS TO 9:58 a.m.
QUESTIONS 9:58 a.m.
MINISTRY OF FOOD AND 9:58 a.m.
AGRICULTURE 9:58 a.m.
Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with your kind permission, I would like to ask the Question for him.
Mr. Speaker 9:58 a.m.
I grant you permission.
Ejura-Sekyedumase District (Loan Disbursed to Farmers)
Q. 907. Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan (on behalf of Alhaji Issifu Pangabu Mohammed) asked the Minister for Food and Agriculture what amount of loans had been disbursed to farmers in the Ejura/ Sekyedumase District since 2002 and how much had been recovered.
Minister for Food and Agriculture (Mr. Ernest A. Debrah) 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, as a policy, does not deliver credit directly

to farmers. In all the projects we run the Ministry tries to encourage donors to include credit component. The Ejura- Sekyedumase District is a major bene- ficiary of the Ministry's projects some of which include:

a. The Food Crop Development Project;

b. The Root and Tuber Improve- ment and Marketing Project;

c. The Inland Valley Rice Develop- ment Project;

d. The NERICA Project; and

e. The Livestock Development Projects.

Mr. Speaker, most of these projects have credit components but these credits are administered through the Banks, mainly the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB). The Ministry is in the process of collating the necessary data from ADB as demanded by the hon. Member. It is the hope that these data would be made available soon.
Dr. Alhassan 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
like to know from the hon. Minister when the data as promised would be made available since “soon” does not suggest a time line.
Mr. Debrah 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I said,
these credits are administered by the banks and we have written to them to provide us with the necessary information dating back to 2002 with particular regard to that district alone. So they are bringing in the figures and so as soon as I get the figures I would let the hon. Member know.
Dr. Alhassan 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I know
that some of these projects have been running for a while and they are Ministry
of Food and Agriculture projects. Is there any arrangement between the Agricultural Development Bank and the Ministry to at least, account or brief the Ministry on status of loan disbursement since they implement the credit component of these projects?
Mr. Debrah 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, every year
they give us a report on these credits.
Dr. Alhassan 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether it was possible for the data that you have so far to be made available since the impression is about dates from
2002.
Mr. Speaker 9:58 a.m.
Your question? This is
not a question.
Dr. Alhassan 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
question is, the information says 2002 but when will that be available if the ADB briefs the Ministry on annual basis?
Mr. Debrah 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the
data he asked for began from 2002. Some of the projects have already run out so they are now going back to bring us all the data. The data they gave us is general but he is asking for specific with regard to the district; so they are extracting that. I will put pressure on them to get us the data.
Mr. Lee Ocran 9:58 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
like to ask the Minister -- These projects have been running for quite some time now but it seems in most cases some farmers who are interested in some of these projects are not even aware that credit is being given. Is there any mechanism that the Ministry has in place to let farmers be aware that they can approach the ADB for financial support when they are cultivating some of these crops?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would want to investigate that and see
whether some farmers want these loans and cannot get them. These projects do not run in all districts of the country; they are selected districts and in the districts that these projects are running farmers do know that these credits are available. So as he is saying now, I will investigate and see if some farmers are not aware of this.

Mr. J. K. Gidisu Mr. Speaker, this is not an Emergency Question and it is not an Urgent Question and one would have expected that for the Minister to have come to the floor in response to such a Question which is time-specific and specific to a particular district, he would have been more accurate in retrieving data to give an Answer to the Question.

Notwithstanding that, the situation is that credit facilities are ongoing within his Ministry and since the past five years the Ministry has not got a feedback on disbursements so far made within that timeframe. How is it trying to give effective reconciliation and for that matter follow up as to the actual level of disbursements and the credit facilities granted to the farmers?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
You say how or what?
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say is that if for five years now his Ministry has not been able to pin down the level of expenditure and for that matter the repayment of loans within that district and they are continuing to give credit facilities, what type of monitoring is his Ministry doing to track the flow of credit facilities in that sector?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think in answering one of the questions I said that we get annual reports and then we follow up and monitor them. But these
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as a policy, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture tries to formulate and test all projects before implementation. In 2005, a feasibility study on Guinea Fowl Project was instituted and a project concept developed. This project concept has been given to a consultant, who has been tasked to have a full project developed.
Meanwhile, training of Agricultural Extension Agents, Agricultural Develop- ment Officers and Veterinary Officers in guinea fowl production started since 2006. The pilot phase of the project is expected to start this year with the hatching of guinea chicks by farmers in the Northern, Upper East and West Regions.
As the population of the guinea fowl increases, accompanied with increase in the production of guinea fowl eggs, the Ministry will then facilitate the establishment of hatcheries in other areas. The Ministry will then expand the pilot project into a full project serving the three regions and other regions in the country.
Mr. Ayariga 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the
Minister's Answer to the Question, he says that “this project concept has been given to a consultant who has been tasked to have a full project developed”, then he gives a series of activities which are obviously pursuant to the implementation of the project. The question is, has the consultant finished his work? If not, what is the basis of activities he has enumerated?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
The consultant has not finished his work and he needs not finish his work before we start putting in place certain things to facilitate or to speed up the implementation of this project. So while we are waiting for the consultant to finish his work, we are training people in guinea fowl handling. So that is what we are doing; these things can be done while the concept is fully developed.
Mr. Ayariga 10:10 a.m.
If he could go ahead and
implement without the involvement of a consultant in the first place, why engage a consultant? Secondly, if the consultant comes out with well-considered recom- mendations that are inconsistent with what you are already doing, what will be the implication?
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Hon. Member, one
question at a time. Minister for Food and Agriculture, you may answer one question.
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think with every project, we need some form of training. This is a project that we are putting in place and whatever be the case, there will be the need for training people on how to handle guinea fowls -- the traditional way and the modern way. So to help us speed up this programme, we have started training these people because whatever be the case, we have developed
the concept already and the fully blown project will come. So we have started training them in order to help our staff to handle it immediately we are ready to move on.
Mr. Ayariga 10:10 a.m.
When does he think that
the consultant will finish his job?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
consultant is supposed to finish his job by August this year. We hope that the Pilot Project will take off by September/ October this year.
Dr. Ampofo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would
like to know from the hon. Minister who this consultant is and why could he not have the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Animal Research Institute play the role of this consultant?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
consultant is with the Animal Institute of CSIR.
Alhaji Abukari 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
guinea fowl is known for very tasty meat. Anybody who has not tasted smoked guinea fowl has not eaten meat yet. Is the Ministry taking steps to ensure that these tasty reputation of guinea fowl is not in any way diminished by this artificial guinea fowls they are going to create?
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we are not
going to bring in artificial guinea fowls. This project is part of the rural poultry project that is trying to improve the rearing of our local poultry including guinea fowls. So we are not going to bring in new stock. We are going to hatch local guinea fowl eggs so the quality of the meat will not diminish.
Alhaji Seidu Amadu 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, having regard to the importance of protein in the diet of our people, I want to find out
Mr. Debrah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not
declare PSIs; probably when we start it and it is moving very fine, it may delight the President to declare it a PSI.
Mr. Speaker 10:10 a.m.
Minister for Food and
Agriculture, thank you very much for appearing to answer these Questions. You are discharged.
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. Acting Minister whether he is aware that works have been stopped on the Jirapa-Hamile road since the year 2000.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
from the information I have obtained, I cannot be aware. But since he has raised it, I will call for further information.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, maybe as
an acting Minister, I will ask him to confirm whether he knows the status of the Yagha-Gbetuori-Black Volta road. He might require some additional information because I am aware that there is a contractor doing some very shoddy work on that road. And he is saying that they will determine what intervention they will make on that road after studies. It means that they are not abreast of even works that are going on, on some of the roads.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, you have
not asked a question yet.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
I want the hon. Minister to
confirm that a contract has been awarded for works to go on on this Yagha-Gbetuori- Black Volta road.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
You are asking him to
confirm. But ask a question.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, can the hon.
Minister confirm that a contract has already been awarded for works to go on, on that road?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
in one breath, he is saying nothing is happening, and in another breath, he is saying that things are happening. That is what he said in the first place. But let us look at what has been stated for various sections and we will see that where works are being done, I have given the information to him. Where works are not being done, I have given the information to him.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon.
Minister does not probably know that we are talking about different roads. So I want him to recognise that the Jirapa-Hamile road is different from the Yagha-Gbetuori- Black Volta road. So they are different roads. Where I said no work was done was on the Jirapa-Hamile road.
I am drawing his attention to the fact that his Ministry is not abreast of developments on some of the roads in our country. Otherwise, he would not be providing this information at a stage where the work is already going on. He is now saying that they are yet to do a study and decide whether they will construct the road or not. In the meantime, work is going on with a contractor on it.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, definitely, if my hon. Colleague says he has additional information which is not known by me, the best I can say is that I will check up and confirm that later on.
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Jirapa, I will give you one more chance.
Mr. Salia 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Guo- Guokpala road, I see in his Answer that it was awarded for spot improvement. Is he aware that there was no existing road between Guokpala and Guo so there could not have been any spot improvement?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I would appreciate it if he can repeat that question.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Jirapa,
would you be kind to repeat the question?
Mr. Salia 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am asking
my hon. Colleague and Friend whether he is aware that between Guo-Guokpala and Somboro there has never been an existing road. So I wonder how spot improvements could have been undertaken when there was no road at all.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
definitely, looking at the information provided by my staff, it looks like we are talking about different things. So one would need to find out whether what he is referring to is similar to what the engineers are telling me.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the Answer on page 6 of the Order Paper -- and with your permission, I read again:
Mr. Yieleh Chireh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
want to find out from the hon. Minister whether he is really telling us that the road has been engineered because in terms of the Questions that are answered on this floor, when a road is engineered it means something. Where there is no road at all and he says it is engineered, how can he reconcile the two?
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Wa
West, please ask a question.
Mr. Chireh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my question
is, is it true that the Guo-Guokpala road is engineered?
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Hon. Member for Wa West, would you be kind enough to repeat the question?
Mr. Chireh 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would repeat the question and the question is, is the hon. Minister saying that the Guo- Guokpala road is engineered?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the information available to me clearly indicates that it has been engineered.
Mrs. Alice Teni Boon 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the area in question is the area where my father comes from and I want to appeal to the hon. Minister and to ask him a question as to whether he would not, upon hearing this information which I want to confirm as true, reconsider going to look
at the issues again. Because it is factually incorrect and it would be misleading this House if we maintain the information given to him by the Ministry.
So Mr. Speaker, my question is, whether he would consider going to relook at the information given to him and come back correctly with the right information for us to know which direction we should go.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, seriously one would have to take the concerns raised by hon. Colleagues in the proper perspective in the sense that if, in fact, my officers had given me wrong information then that is a serious thing that calls for punishment. But I have just received a note and I am being urged to confirm that the road has been engineered.
Therefore her suggestion that I should have a second look at the matter, I take it but I want to also believe that our engineers there are competent people and there is no reason they should lie to the Minister for him to come and make a wrong presentation to this honourable House. So I take note of your statement.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Question number 352 -- hon. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo, Member of Parliament for Fanteakwa.
Mr. James Appietu-Ankrah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I would like to ask the Question on behalf of the hon. Member.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Go ahead, hon. Member.
Ehiamankyene-Huhunya Road
Q. 352. Mr. Appietu-Ankrah (on behalf of Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo) asked the Minister for Transportation when the Ehiamenkyene-Huhunya road would be tarred.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the answer to his Question is, tarring of the road is in progress? And Mr. Speaker, I am providing this additional information.
The Ehiamankyene-Huhunya feeder road is engineered. The road is 27.3 km long and is located in the Yilo Krobo District of the Eastern Region.
The entire 27.3 km road was awarded for surfacing in two phases in the year
2003.
The two-phase contract were as follows:
Phase one contract covers km (0-15) while phase two contract covers the remaining stretch between km
(15-27. 3).
Phase (1) Contract KM (0.15)
The contract for the surfacing of phase one, i.e. km (0-15) commenced in January 2004 and was completed in April 2007.
The project was funded under the IDA at a cost of ¢8.53 billion and was executed by Messrs Somuah Dapaa Limited.
Phase (2) Contract KM (15-27.3)
The contract for the surfacing of phase two, i.e. km (15-27.3) was awarded in December, 2003 to Messrs Kwadwo Asante Limited at a contract sum of ¢6.8 billion.
The contract which should have been completed in May 2004 was terminated in November 2006 due to non-performance by the contractor.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the New Baika-New Ayoma is 20.1 km long. The road is engineered and is located partly in Hohoe and Jasikan Districts respectively.
In the year 2001, the first 12 km section was awarded for surfacing to Messrs Hansas Limited at a contract sum of ¢3.2 billion.
The project which should have been completed in November 2002 had to be terminated in 2005 due to non-performance by the contractor.
At the time of termination the project was about 40 per cent completed. Works executed by the contractor at the time of termination was 6.2 km of prime sealing.
Payment made at the time of termination amounted to ¢1.3 billion.
The first 12 km stretch which was
Mr. Kamel 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is the second time a road contract in my constituency has been terminated for non-performance. I would want to find out from the hon. Minister what effort his Ministry is putting in place to weed out non-performing contractors.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that possibly my hon. Colleague had not been given a rather efficient Ghanaian contractor. But it is part of our duty to ensure that we encourage Ghanaians to take commanding heights of the economy. So I believe what the Ministry should be doing is to find out why such contractors do not perform and see how best we can upgrade them.
It would be a bad policy for the Ministry to say that because they are not performing we should throw them away and then create more problem for society. So let us concentrate on making sure we get efficient contractors so that they can perform very well. After all this country can be developed only by Ghanaians; any other person is only coming to assist us.
Mr. E. K. Bandua 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would want to find out from the hon. Minister whether apart from terminating the contract of non-performing contractors there are any other sanctions imposed on
them.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, since this is a contract I would have to look at the details of the contract and see what remedies are available to us. And therefore I would not attempt to imagine what the consequences are for defaulting under those specific contracts.
Mr. B. D. K. Adu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Minister's Answer he lamented about these contractors not performing. Is the hon. Minister thinking of getting the banks after the contract is awarded to help these contractors to perform very well?
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, this cannot be a supplementary question.
Mr. A. W. G. Abayateye 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer -- and with your permission, I quote:
“The project which should have been completed in November 2002 had to be terminated in 2005 due to non-performance by the con- tractor.”
Mr. Speaker, I would want to find out from the hon. Minister, why it has taken the Ministry so long a time -- over three and half years -- before they could terminate the contract.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to believe that when people go contrary to a contract, in some cases you may want to find out whether you can encourage them to come on line; and I can imagine this could have been the position. Again, there are procedures for terminating a contract and in some cases it is not the Ministry that does it; you have to refer it to the Regional Tender Board and things like that. As I said, possibly they wanted to encourage the contractor
to see whether he can pull himself up and perform; and when they found out that it was beyond correction, they decided to apply the ultimate sanction. I believe we need to handle our Ghanaian contractors gingerly.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Question number 545, hon. Raymond Tawiah, Member of Parliament for Upper Yilo Krobo?
Mr. D. T. Assumeng 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, with your kind permission, I would want to ask the Question on his behalf.
Upper Yilo Krobo Roads (Reshaping and Tarring)
Q. 545. Mr. David T. Assumeng (on behalf of Mr. Raymond Tawiah) asked the Minister for Transportation when the following roads in Upper Yilo Krobo would be reshaped and tarred:
(i) Akorwu Bana Junction to Akorwu Bana
( i i ) Akorwu Bana Junct ion to Tsotsunya
(iii) Agogo to Samlesi to Ahenkwa
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Akorwu Bana Junction to Akorwu Bana, Akorwu Bana Junction to Tsotsunya and Agogo-Samlesi to Ahenkwa feeder roads are all engineered and located in the Yilo Krobo District.
All the three roads have been programmed for routine maintenance this year.
Mr. Assumeng 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would want to find out from the hon. Minister whether on his rounds to the various constituencies he witnessed the bad nature of that road and whether it is very important for us to have some work done

on that section.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I have visited a number of roads in a number of constituencies in this country and I am aware that a lot of them need to be looked at. But Mr. Speaker, when Parliament could only give us 54 per cent of the budget for our programmed works for this year, that is where our problem starts. It is my hope that maybe in future more money would be given after we made more money for the country because what he is saying is true.
Mr. Assumeng 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would want to know from the hon. Minister the source of funding for this very road.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, all roads are to be funded by Government of Ghana (GOG) or the Road Fund. These are the two sources. Whenever there is any other special source, we come to Parliament and seek approval of the House before we can declare it. But I am not aware of any request we made to fund this road through any other source.
Mr. Chireh 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Question that was asked wanted to know when the roads would be reshaped and when they would be tarred. The hon. Minister only talked about programme for this year. Exactly when will these roads be reshaped and tarred?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as a Member of Parliament myself, I need to be very diplomatic with my hon. Colleagues. But from the Answer given, I think we can infer that it has not been programmed for tarring just because we have not got money. But I did not want to say so clearly and that was why I said what we could do now would only be routine maintenance. But if he wants to know when it would be tarred, I can say that it
is not on our programme yet.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Question number 546, hon. Robert Sarfo-Mensah, Member of Parliament for Asunafo North?
Mr. E. A. Gyamfi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is unavoidably absent and with your permission, he has asked me to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Please, go ahead.
Access Roads and Streets in Goaso (Upgrading)
Q. 546. Mr. E. A. Gyamfi (on behalf of Mr. Robert Sarfo-Mensah) asked the Minister for Transportation what plans the Ministry had to upgrade access roads and streets in Goaso to bituminous surface.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the tarring of the Goaso town roads is being undertaken in stages. Currently, 3 km of the Goaso town roads have been earmarked for upgrading in 2007. The project is due for advertisement this month.
Mr. Gyamfi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister the total length of the Goaso town roads.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Hon. Member, this cannot be a supplementary question. If you want it, then you may have to come properly.
Mr. Gyamfi 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the reason why I am asking this question is that I want to find out why only 3 kilometres of the total town roads have been selected for works.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if he is asking why we could not do, say,
ten but three, it is because we are looking at the funds available. That is why we are only taking 3 km for the moment. If tomorrow we are able to come by additional funds we shall definitely add more kilometres. It will be wrong for us to award contracts when we cannot foresee where the money is coming from.
Gomoa Town Roads (Completion)
Q. 556. Mr. Joe Kingsley Hackman asked the Minister for Transportation when the district capital of Gomoa (Apam) town roads as well as Mumford, Dawurampong, Dago would be completed.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the surfacing of 3.3 km of roads in Apam and Mumford town roads were completed on the 7th of May, 2007. This comprises 2 km of Apam town roads and 1.3 km of Mumford town roads at the cost of ¢3.3 billion by Messrs Joe Azar Co. Limited.
Additional 2.4 km of the Apam/ Mumford town roads was awarded to Messrs Prescon Ltd on 25th October, 2004 to be completed by 24th October, 2005. Progress is 52 per cent complete.
The project has been terminated for non-performance and is awaiting the concurrent approval of the Regional Tender Review Board before reaward.
Dawurampong and Dago Town Roads
The Department of Feeder Roads is currently carrying out engineering and hydrological studies on the Dawurampong and Dago town roads to assess the drainage needs of the two towns to enable appropriate intervention to be taken.
Mr. Hackman 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. Minister to indicate when the engineering and hydrological studies
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe these are detailed pieces of information that he wants. I can check up and give it to him.
Mr. Chireh 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer, he says the contract is to be terminated for non-performance. I want to know what really is the cause of the non-performance in the case of this particular contractor.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe if he is expected to complete a job on the 24th October, 2005 and as we speak he has done 52 per cent of the project in 2007, then definitely it means that there is something wrong with his ability to complete the project; and that is the only reason that the project is being re-awarded, unless he thinks we should use another word.
Mr. Chireh 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister has been at pains to explain to us how we can support the Ghanaian contractors. So in this singular case that he has mentioned, that there is non- performance by a contractor, I thought he would have been in a position to tell this House what really is the cause of their inability to perform. Could it be that his Ministry is not paying or something else is the cause, or they lack the competence as contractors?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe this calls for further analysis as to why contractors fail in completing jobs. I am not too sure whether this would be a direct supplementary question. But if he wants us to do that study, the Ministry is prepared to look at such suggestions and work with them.
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Transpor- tation, thank you very much for appearing
to answer these Questions.

Deputy Minister for Communications (Dr. B. Aggrey Ntim) -- rose --
Mr. Chireh 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, you announced to us the hon. Minister for Communications. I do not know this young man who wants to be -- [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
For purposes of the record, he is the Deputy Minister.
STATEMENTS 10:50 a.m.
Minister for Communications) 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister is away on duty outside the country and it is for this reason that I am here today to make a Statement on the occasion of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
Mr. Speaker, I deem it an honour to present to hon. Members of this august House, the warm felicitations and goodwill of the Ministry of Communications and in doing so, I also convey to hon. Members the sincere appreciation and respect of the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day that falls on 17th May, 2007.
Mr. Speaker, this year's celebration of World Telecommunication and Infor- mation Society Day is unique in the sense that it reflects the commitment of Member Administrations to implement
the Declarations for the establishment of the Information Society as adopted by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in November 2005.
It is for this reason that the celebration is no longer “World Telecommunication Day” (as it used to be known) but a World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
Additionally, it is also the first celebration for the new Secretary-General of ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Toure of Mali, having been elected in November 2006 at the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU in Turkey.

Mr. Speaker, may I take the opportunity to report that the honour and elegance of this august House was soundly proclaimed at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Turkey when hon. Members from both sides of the House including Ministers of the former administration demonstrated commendable solidarity and a common purpose in the promotion of ICT development in Ghana.

At this juncture and with the kind indulgence of hon. Members, I wish to spare a thought for the late and former Chairman of the Select Committee on Communications, hon. Akwasi Afrifa, whose captivating and enigmatic presence made a lot of friends for Ghana at the ITU Conference.

May the good Lord grant him eternal peace.

Mr. Speaker, the ITU has designated 17th May to mark its inception, having been established in 1865 as an impartial, international organization within which governments and the private sector could work together to coordinate the operation of telecommunication networks and
Mr. Henry Ford Kamel (NDC -- Buem) 11:10 a.m.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement and in doing so, I want to associate myself with the interventions expressed by the hon. Member.
Mr. Speaker, the telecommunications industry is now regarded as very serious business in the whole world. Indeed, calls have gone out to governments all over the world to see the development of the industry as a necessary panacea for our democracy and socio-economic develo-pment. The recent CTO Conference on governance in Accra, for example, highlighted the relevance of telecom-munications to the democratic development of every nation.
Mr. Speaker, in recalling this day, it is important to remember the recent satellite launched in Nigeria and to see this launch as a revolution of the industry on the continent. Countries like Rwanda and others have already subscribed access to the industry and it paves the way for the African continent to move very far, insofar as telecommunication is concerned.
Mr. Speaker, but in recalling this Day it is necessary that we look at communications within the context of our national ICT policy, and in doing so I would want to make a few observations.
Mr. Speaker, between 2001 and 2006, the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Communications to embark on our ICT programmes does not seem to suggest that we are serious as a nation that is taking the development of our telecom-munications infrastructure seriously.
So it is important that if we want to take the development of telecom-munications
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
At the Commencement of Public Business -- item 4.
Mr. Abraham Ossei Aidooh 10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I beg to move, that we adjourn proceedings till tomorrow morning at

.
Mr. Alfred Agbesi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 10 a.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 11.15 a.m. till 18th May, 2007 at 10.00 a.m.