Debates of 30 May 2007

MR. SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Members, correction of Votes and Proceedings of Tuesday, 29th May 2007. [No correction was made in the “Votes and Proceedings” of 29th May, 2007.]
Hon. Members, we have the Official Report for Tuesday, 22nd May, and that of Wednesday, 23rd May, 2007.

Hon. Members, may we take Item 4 on the Order Paper.

Majority Leader /Minister for

Parliamentary Affairs (Mr. Felix K. Owusu-Adjapong): Mr. Speaker, if we can take Item 5 on the Order Paper.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Item 5 -- Laying of
Papers. The following Papers would be laid.
PAPERS 10 a.m.
MOTIONS 10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing on the Grant and Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N.V. of The Netherlands for an amount of seventeen million, six hundred and nineteen thousand, two hundred
and eighty-two euros (€17,619,282) for financing the proposed Kumasi (Barekese/ Owabi)Water Supply Rehabili-tation and Expansion Project may be moved today.
Mr. K. Agyei Addo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.

Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing

on the Grant and Loan Agreement between GOG and FMO/ORET and

Fortis Bank N. V. of Netherlands
Chairman of the Committee (Nii Adu Daku Mante) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing on the Grant and Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N. V. of The Netherlands for an amount of seventeen million, six hundred and nineteen thousand, two hundred and eighty-two euros (€17,619,282) for financing the proposed Kumasi (Barekese/ Owabi) Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project.
Mr. Speaker, in so doing, may I present to you the Report of your Committee. Mr. Speaker, I may read the Background and then the Conclusion.
1.0 Introduction
The above loan agreement was laid in the House on Tuesday, 29th May 2007 and referred to the Joint Committee for Finance and Works and Housing for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House.
[NII ADU MANTE] To consider the loan agreement, the Committee met with the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, the Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, hon. Christopher Addae, the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. A. Akoto Osei, Mr. Cobbie Kessie Jr., Managing Director for Ghana Water Company and officials from the two Ministries and reports as follows:
2.0 Background
Kumasi, which is the capital of Ashanti Region and the second largest urban centre in Ghana, has a current population of approximately 8 million. The water system serves a population of about 1.1 million, living in over 30 towns and villages covering a large area. The water source of Kumasi is the Barekese Reservoir on River Offin, and the Owabi Reservoir on the Owabi River.
The revised Barekese/Owabi Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project is to be undertaken by Messrs Taylor Woodrow B.V. of Netherlands. The treatment and rehabilitation works at Barekese/Owabi water treatment plants is to be designed with incremental expansion to meet the demand for water for Kumasi and its environs up to the year 2030.
Members may recall that a similar facility amounting to €27 million was approved by the honourable House for the implementation of the above project. This facility was mainly to be used to undertake major civil, mechanical and electrical works. However, during detailed follow- up discussions with the Donor Agency and the contractor, it was noted that for the expected benefits of the project to be realized there was the need to undertake additional works. These additional works led to an increase in the scope of works resulting in a review of the project.
3.0 Scope of Works

The initial project scope covered major civil and mechanical works and this included the following:

Replacement of intake pumps

Additional raw water pipeline

Expansion of the aerator

One clarifier

Additional high lift pump

After the review, additional scope of works, supply and services among others were included and these are:

Rehabilitation of the Kumasi water network and laying of additional distribution lines

Provision of 23,000 domestic water meters

Leakage reduction programme

Provision and installation of 60 zonal meters

Provision of technical experts for a period of two years to provide training

A complete study of Kumasi's water resources to prepare a master plan for Kumasi's water needs over the next 20 years.

3.1 Financing Cost of the Project

The total cost of the project is estimated at €37,807,485.00. This will be financed by:

(i) Oret Grant - €19,807,485.00

(ii) Loan Amount -- €17,619,282.00

4.0 Terms and Conditions of the Loan

The terms and conditions of the loan are as follows:

Contract Cost -- EUR 37,426,767.00

ORET Grant -- €19,807,485.00

Loan Amount -- €17,619,282.00

Repayment Period -- 10 years

Grace Period -- 2.5 years

Interest Rate -- Euribor + 0.5%

Management Fees -- 0.5% (flat)

Commitment Fees -- 0.25% per annum

Grant Element -- 4.66%

Total Grant Element -- 55.2%

5.0 Observations

The Committee observed that the revised project would support the rehabilitation and expansion of the existing capacity, including the extension of transmission and distribution network, as well as construction of new water treatment plants at Barekese and Owabi, in order to improve water supply to Kumasi and surrounding communities.

The technical team informed the Committee that after the initial loan was approved, there were detailed follow-up discussions with the contractor and the donor agency. After these discussions, it was agreed that there was the need to include additional works to ensure that the project is not only completed but that water reaches the consumers.

The Committee was further informed that a master plan to meet the water demand for Kumasi and its environs up

to the year 2030 is being developed and there is the need to include this in the project design. Furthermore, as part of the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency, there is the need to procure a sludge treatment plant to treat the sludge created by the treatment before it is released back into the watercourse.

The Minister informed the Committee that as a result of the revision of the project, this loan agreement replaces the earlier agreement approved by the House in December 2005. He explained that it was necessary to replace the earlier agreement so as to include the additional works in the project.

The Committee further observed that the project when completed would increase the level of service coverage and ensure a safe and constant supply of treated water which will improve the health and socio-economic condition and reduce the high level of non-revenue water.

The Committee noted that the project if implemented would --

improve access to potable water supply;

improve the level of service by increased service coverage in the metropolis and surrounding towns and villages, and reduction of the high level of non-revenue water;

improve the growth in productivity of the inhabitants leading to economic development and poverty reduction;

[NII ADU MANTE] boost business opportunities mainly tourism and oil processing industries, and

maximise the social and health benefits of clean, safe and reliable drinking water.

The technical team informed the Committee that the project is expected to be completed in 24 months.

The Minis t ry of F inance and Economic Planning has indicated that the terms of financing proposed by Messrs Taylor Woodrow for the project meets Government of Ghana's conditions for concessionary financing and The Netherlands Government also has confirmed its support to the project which is to be financed on concessionary terms by FMO/ORET of The Netherlands.

The Minister further informed the Committee that the ORET facility is due to expire on 31st May 2007 and this grant forms 50 per cent of the total cost of the project. Due to this, failure to approve the loan before the end of May means that Ghana would lose the ORET grant.

6.0 Conclusion

Having satisfied itself with the benefits to be derived from the project and the terms of the loan, the Committee respectfully recommends to the House to approve by Resolution the Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana (GOG) and the FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank of The Netherlands for an amount of €17,619,282.00 for the Revised Barekese/ Owabi Water Supply Rehabili-tation and Expansion Project in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970, Act 335.

Respectfully submitted. Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo (NPP -

Fanteakwa): Mr. Speaker, I beg to second
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important agreement to assure the people of Kumasi, a very dominant business district of our country, of access to potable water. But I have perused page 4, paragraph 4 of the Committee's Report and Mr. Speaker, pursuant to article 181 of the Constitution, I am at a serious loss - and with your permission, I would like to quote the paragraph:
“The Minister informed the Committee that as a result of the revision of the project, this loan Agreement replaces the earlier agreement approved by the House in December 2005 . . .”
Mr. Speaker, I do not think that loan Agreements approved by this honourable House ought to be replaced simply or easily by another report of a committee, just purporting to undo what this House did somewhere in 2005. I believe that the proper thing must be done. The Minister must come through a motion to withdraw what was passed in 2005 and then persuade this House -- I am sure that we are united in ensuring that the people of Kumasi have access to water but I do not think that we can undo what was passed by Parliament.
I have referred to article 181 of the Constitution, and once a resolution of the House was passed -- Mr. Speaker, I need your guidance and direction on this important matter. But, wholeheartedly, I am all for this Agreement to assure the people of Kumasi of access to potable water.
Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr. Hackman Owusu-
Agyemang): Mr. Speaker, I think I should clarify the point that I made at the committee. I drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that in 2005, we had put here a proposal for the sum of twenty-seven million euros plus for the Kumasi Rehabilitation Programme -- [Inter-ruptions] -- Mr. Speaker, I was taking directives from my boss here.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs/ Majority Leader (Mr. Felix K. Owusu- Adjapong) 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thought he wanted your guidance and I knew you were going to give appropriate guidance but since he has already started discussion on the matter -- Mr. Speaker, what will be the effect of the decision we take today? The effect of the decision we take today will be to annul the earlier decision, which we have the right to do, and then replace it with this. Should he have come here to say that he wanted the old Agreement removed? particularly when it is adding money --
What is happening is that we are being given additional funds and therefore the government there is telling us that you can take the old smaller amount and take additional amount so that you can complete the exercise. If we take a decision to endorse it today, what will be the effect? The effect is that it will replace the old amount, unless they are not interested in getting us to get the water for Kumasi. If that is the idea, then let us go on.
Mr. Speaker, why I am saying this is that the hon. Minister told us that because we had to take a bit more time in negotiating for the grant, we have only today to take a decision on this matter, otherwise it will lapse. Moreover, these are all pieces of information that were made available to the Committee. And the Committee has recommended. So I thought that this is where you will
normally say that he could have discussed that with his leader on the matter.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I thought you could give your guidance as to the way we solve this problem without losing this money for the development of water for the people of Kumasi.
Minority Leader (Mr. A. S. K.
Bagbin): Mr. Speaker, basically it is a procedural matter, definitely, whether a resolution of the House could be treated in the way it is being treated. Could we just, based on the submission of another Committee, set aside an earlier resolution of the House and proceed to review that earlier resolution because there is an additional funding?
Mr. Speaker, as at now we do not have sufficient information to set aside our earlier Resolution and replace it with what has been requested. An amount, according to the hon. Minister, was approved by this House, €27 million. Now looking at the review of the project and the scope, there was the need for additional funding.
Now, if there is the need for additional funding, the loan will have to be on the additional funding and then we approve it because the €27 million, I believe coming from the same source, was approved by this House. So if there is something to be added to it, then the Report or the loan Agreement should talk about the addition for us to approve that addition to the original amount.
But now this one is talking about us setting aside our earlier resolution and replacing it with this one. Mr. Speaker, it is a procedural problem. I am not comfortable with it because of the implications. What weight do we place on our resolutions? If we pass resolutions in this House, could
a Minister at his end disagree with us and then resubmit something, saying that we set aside our resolution without giving us adequate information as to why we should set aside that resolution. I think that is the issue here.
The way the Report has been presented, Mr. Speaker, I would have preferred that they came before us to convince us that there was the need for us to revise, review, reject or whatever the earlier Resolution and then they submit a second resolution, which will then give us the opportunity to debate the new terms.

When I read the Report, for example, there are a lot of discrepancies in the amounts. I am not clear in my mind what the actual amount is anyway, but that is where we are. I think that we are always being pushed with this issue of time, urgency; the thing is coming at the nick of time. If we do not approve it today, we will lose the money and that kind of thing. The fault of the Executive should not be placed on the Legislature.

The Executive is aware that time is of essence in this matter yet they kept the thing until just a few days ago, when they brought it to the House. I think the Committee met just yesterday, and today their Report is before us. We are setting aside Standing Orders and we are being told that if we do not approve it today, we will lose it and that if we raise issues like this then it means that we are against it and against the people of Kumasi getting water.

That is political chicanery; it will not market here. Nobody is against the people of Kumasi getting water. All of us need water; water is life. In fact, my good friend, the hon. Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing is aware that these are issues that were initiated, at least, when I was Chairman of the
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Hon. Minority Leader, you said it is procedural. You are also saying that if we do not approve it today, we may lose it. I direct then that this is a matter you must resolve outside. Please, go and resolve it and come back.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:20 a.m.
With the utmost of respect, I think I need to set
Mr. Speaker 10:20 a.m.
Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, I have directed that you go out for some few minutes, resolve this matter and come back; that is all.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Order ! Orde r ! Leadership, have you made any progress?
Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong 10:30 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had a quick discussion on the matter and we have all accepted the fact that we have a procedural problem. But the good thing is that the House is the master of its own procedures and relying on that we now seem to be coming with a solution to this problem.
Mr. Speaker, it is a fact that the House had an earlier resolution. One method would have been for the Executive to have informed the House when they could not execute the contract based on the old resolution because they had some problems there. If that had been done, I am sure that resolution would have been expunged from our system. Unfortunately, that was not done and this was because the government of the other side changed those that were managing the whole project for them. That was why they could not even sign the former contract.
Mr. Speaker, what we now have is an enhanced loan and therefore a new agreement has now been prepared for us to sign after we pass the resolution.
So the understanding Leadership has reached is that since we have only
today to take a decision on the matter, we do not want to debate as to why it was brought late. We did not have control over the grant; we were waiting for the grant from the government of the other side. Therefore, we are changing our own procedures and maybe involve new procedures for the future.
Perhaps, in future, when we pass such resolutions, we should expect some feedback from the Executive as to what has happened to such resolutions -- it could be by annual report -- so that we would know the state of our resolutions and the way that they have been used.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we have agreed that we would go on and debate this motion, and hopefully agree to the motion and go on to pass the resolution, with the understanding that possibly, we need to evolve some new procedures to guide such situations.
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Minority Leader, do you agree we should go on?
Mr. A. S. K. Bagbin 10:30 a.m.
That is so, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we actually looked at the issue critically and we came to the understanding he just put across. But just permit me to clarify the fact that the resolution that was passed in 2005 was to authorize the Government to enter into an agreement with ORET, and we were just told that the Government could not enter into agreement with ORET for some reasons.
Mr. Speaker, they have done a review of the situation, the scope of work has expanded and the normal procedure should have been for us to be informed that the Government could not enter into an agreement and that this is definitely a new set of arrangement. That has not been done and that is what has created these
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
Thank you very much, Leadership of the House. Leadership, the question I would want to pose is this: Assuming this particular paragraph which the hon. Member for Tamale South referred to had not appeared at all, would we have had any problem? I do not need any answer. Let us continue.
Mr. Bagbin 10:40 a.m.
It is not only the

paragraph. There are other words used there like “replace” in other paragraphs - That this one is to replace the earlier one. There are some problems with the language.
Mr. Speaker 10:40 a.m.
The problem is the language. Thank you very much indeed.
Any further debate on this?
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we have agreed that the rendition was not the most appropriate hence the difficulty. But I think the explanations given by the two leaders are also germane to the issue. However, I need to place it on record that the tardiness of this was not due to the Executive.
What happened was that there was a change of the management of the grant facility with the Dutch Government from the FMO to Price Waterhouse. In the process, delays occurred and we got the letter of approval the very day that His Excellency the President was leaving the country.
Constitutionally, you either have to get the Cabinet approval or the Presidential approval, which he was gracious enough to do even at the Airport. I would want to assure the hon. Minority Leader that we did not delay it. When we got the facility, we immediately acted on it. I apologise for the delay and the rush but it was not due to the fault of the Executive. However, the point is well made; it is taken on board and we shall not delay in future. And I think we have understood ourselves.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLuTION
GOG/FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N.V. of The Netherlands Agreement
(Barekese/Owabi Water Supply)
Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Prof. G.Y. Gyan- Baffour (on behalf of the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament.
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and Fortis Bank N. V. of The Netherlands for an amount of seventeen million, six hundred and nineteen thousand, two hundred and eighty-two euros (€17,619,282.00) for financing the proposed Kumasi (Barekese/Owabi) Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 10:40 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Kwadwo Agyei-Addo 10:40 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Nii Adu Daku Mante: Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 80 (1) which require that no motion shall be debated until at least forty-eight hours have elapsed between the date on which notice of the motion is given and the date on which the motion is moved, the motion for the adoption of the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing on the Mixed Credit Facility Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N. V. of The Netherlands for an amount of four million, one hundred and thirty-one thousand euros (€4,131,000.00) for additional works on the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plan Rehabili- tation and Expansion Works in the Central Region may be moved today.
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:40 a.m.


Resolved accordingly.

GOG and FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N. V. of The Netherlands

Agreement (Kwanyaku Water Supply)

Nii Adu Daku Mante: Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that this honourable House adopts the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance and Works and Housing on the Mixed Credit Facility Agreement between the Republic of Ghana and the FMO/ORET and Fortis Bank N. V. of The Netherlands for an amount of four million, one hundred and thirty-one thousand euros (€4,131,000.00) for additional works on the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Expansion Works in the Central Region.

1.0 Introduction

The above additional funding request was laid in the House on Tuesday, May 29, 2007 in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and referred to the Joint Committee for Finance and Works and Housing for consideration and report pursuant to the Standing Orders of the House.

The Committee met with the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, hon. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. A. Akoto Osei, the Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Ltd., Mr. Cobbie Kesse Jnr. and a technical team from the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and reports as follows:

2.0 Background

In order to meet the water demand of the Kwanyaku water catchment area up to the year 2020, the Government of Ghana signed a contract with Messrs Denys Engineers and Contractors B.V. of The Netherlands on 18th December 2003 for the rehabilitation and expansion of
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:40 a.m.
[NII ADU MANTE] [NII ADU MANTE]

the Kwanyaku Water Treatment Plant by additional 21,000 m3/day. The expansion project was to increase the capacity of the plant from 14,000 m3/day to 35,000 m3/day.

The contract sum of the works amounted to twenty four million, one hundred and thirty six thousand euros (€24.136 million).

The FMO/ORET of The Netherlands approved of the project and the Loan and Grant Agreements were subsequently approved by Cabinet and Parliament.

The scope of the works included dredging of the reservoir, rehabilitation of the existing 12,440m3/day plant to its designed capacity of 14,000m3/day, construction of a 21,000m3/day treatment plant, construction and improvement of transmission and distribution pipelines with emphasis on poverty-stricken communities and construction of service reservoirs.

The project which is to benefit an estimated population of 725,000 has since been completed and commissioned.

A complete computer model of the distribution network which was done as part of the works showed serious inadequacy in the existing Senya-Bereku branch of the network. A detailed study

was therefore undertaken of the town distribution networks including ten villages and towns connected to the Kwanyaku Headworks. The study showed that the cost of the necessary additional extensions of the networks cannot be financed from the Principal Agreement.

3.0 Purpose of the Loan

The purpose of the agreement is to provide an additional amount of €3,783,761.67 to the contract sum, plus €347,238.33 to the financing cost; bringing the total to €4,131,000.00 for the financing of the necessary additional extensions to the networks.

4.0 Terms and Conditions

The Conditions of the Principal agreement (as earlier approved by Parliament) remain unchanged and applicable to this addendum.

Total Contract Price -- €4.13 million

Fortis Bank Buyer Credit Loan Facility i.e. 50 per cent of additional amt Plus 25 per cent of additional financing cost

-- €1,978,690.42

Dutch Government ORET (Grant) Fa- cility, i.e. 50 per cent of additional amt Plus 75 per cent of additional financing cost

-- €2,152,306.59

EURIBOR + 1.15 per cent Interest Rate -- (i.e. 2.06 per cent + 1.15% = 3.21per cent) Moratorium (Grace Period) -- 3 years

Repayment Period (Maturity) -- 13 years

5.0 Observations

It was observed by the Committee that the additional works are expected to be completed

within 12 months.

The Committee further observed that the communities to benefit from the additional works are Senya-Bereku, Dominase, Buduatta, Amoada, including poor and deprived

communities in the Kwanyaku and Estwakura areas.

The Committee observed that the ORET facility is due to expire on the 30th May 2007. In order not to lose the grant element which forms 50 per cent of the total credit, Parliament's timely approval is necessary.

The Committee noted that the additional works would benefit an estimated additional population of 30, 000 persons and would include the following:

Construction of 10 km of 400 mm diameter HDPE

Construction of 3.7 km 200 mm diameter HDPE pipeline to Dominase and Amoada

Construction of 7.2km of 110 mm HDPE pipeline, and 0.8 km of 25 mm HDPE for town distribution and water supply improvement to the poorest in the Kwanyaku and Estwakura area, Buduatta, Amoanda and Dominase

Construction of standpipes

Accompanying civil works.

It was again observed that the successful completion of the project would improve access to potable water supply especially to the poor in the target communities.

The project would a lso br ing improvement in the general health status of the beneficiary population as a result of the availability of safe drinking water.

The Committee was further informed

that the project would help improve the level of service through increased service coverage in the beneficiary communities and reduction in the level of non-revenue water.

6.0 Conclusion

After careful consideration of the agreement, the Committee concludes that it will be immensely beneficial to the target communities by improving availability and access to safe drinking water whilst reducing water -elated and water-borne diseases such as guinea worm, dysentery, cholera, et cetera.

The Committee therefore recommends to the House to adopt its report and approve by Resolution the mixed credit facility of an amount of €4,131,000.00 from The Netherlands Government and Price Waterhouse/ORET for additional works on the Kwanyaku Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335).

Respectfully submitted.
Mr. Agyei-Addo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question proposed.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu (NDC -- Tamale South) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to associate myself with the motion and to urge hon. Members to support the approval of the said fund for the additional works on the Kwanyaku Water Project. Mr. Speaker, indeed, may I refer you to paragraph 6.0, the Conclusion of the Committee's Report at page 4 which
Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr. Hackman Owusu- Agyemang) 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my very good Friend there knows that most of his comments are very much misplaced. They are misplaced because at the point in time when we were putting together this project for Kwanyaku, to take the last issues first, the limit imposed by the grant facility was what was done. Subsequently, an appeal -- and a constant appeal is going on; dialogue and discourse are going on and we agree that we should expand it. It is not as if that -- [Interruption.]
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Tamale South, do you have a point of order?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 10:50 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the opening words of the hon. Minister, I believe, are offensive. He said that I know that my comments are misplaced. Mr. Speaker, there is no comment that I have made which has no basis. Indeed, I wholeheartedly supported the motion. I have encouraged him to look for additional funding. I have used Tamale as a hypothetical case to tell him how bad the water problem is -- even in Accra. So
for him to say that this is misplaced -- I am not sure that he will even be better guided and his attack is an attack on my harmless comments and integrity.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that extrapolation is completely out of place. [Laughter.] Mr. Speaker, I think that my dear Friend knows because we have been discussing the issue pursuant to the Tamale project.
Indeed, most of the time there are ceilings and urban water benefits from 50 per cent grant facility from ORET; and that is why it makes it very concesssional. Under the circumstances, we take what we can get at any point in time and expand. He would understand that for Kwanyaku, for example, capacity of the treatment facility is adequate. It is the transmission line that we did not have money to do.
Mr. Speaker, I do not see what his beef would be if those who are giving us the benefit and the grant have decided to expand it further. Indeed, only yesterday, my dear Friend came to me and we spoke about Tamale; so did his other Colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, the issue in Tamale is the fact that we have this project ongoing but already other communities are asking for expansion to them and that is why we always take them in our stride. But basically, this Administration, at least, when we are taking water from one source to an urban area, we make sure that all communities enroute are served.
I think we have moved from the old time practice of taking water, say from Kpong and bringing it to Accra without
Dr. Kwame Ampofo 10:50 a.m.
On a point of
order. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister is misleading the House because the fact is that borehole water can be inferior. Because, some of the borehole water actually is not potable; it cannot be drunk because either it contains too much iron or it contains too much of certain trace elements. So it is not true. Some are very saline, very salty and you cannot describe that as safe quality for human consumption.
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my hon. dear Friend is a scientist. When a Minister gets up on his feet to say that borehole water, I mean borehole water which has been certified and passed by -- [Interruptions] -- It is assumed. Mr. Speaker, if he were a practitioner in the field he would know that if the CWSA passes borehole water as drinkable, it is - [Interruption] -- He was talking about
borehole water which has been certified; I do not always have to go back and explain.
Dr. Ampofo 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I can take the hon. Minister to several working boreholes in this country, and near my constituency, where people are drinking the water because there is no other thing; and it is saline. I have moved around my constituency tasting some of the water because the people are not using it. You cannot even use it to wash, because the soap will not foam. These are facts and I tell you to rather move on. I am only cautioning that he had misled the House, and he is continuing to mislead the House.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Hon. Members, let us speak to the motion.
M r. O w u s u - A g y e m a n g : M r. Speaker, it is important that the people of this country understand the processes, otherwise people are going to believe that the borehole water is not good. What happens is that the CWSA would pass -- and we test them at periodic intervals. Where a well is yielding water which is not potable -- either at times there is too much iron, too much floride, or too much salt -- we do not pass it. So the boreholes which are functional, I want to assure this nation that the CWSA and the Ghana Water Company as well as the Ghana Standards Board always pass these things; and periodically they are done. Maybe the taste buds of hon. Ampofo are not good that is why he tastes salt after they have been done. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the people of this nation that indeed the water is tested and approved.
In conclusion, I want to inform our dear Friend from Tamale South that -- and I have explained it for quite some time that in this particular instance -- and I think the hon. Minority Leader has come to explain the situation but he still insists on saying that it was the fault of the Government. If you have to get a grant, and the people are not ready for the grant we could not have come to Parliament because Parliament
will ask us for the evidence.
So as soon as it was approved -- and I have explained that we did not have that facility when we came. It is a bit out of place, Mr. Speaker. To keep saying the Government was tardy -- the Government was not tardy. So in future as soon as we get it we will bring it; that is what we did. And so I want him to understand that the Government is not culpable; the Government is not to be blamed in this instance.
So I thank my hon. Colleagues for supporting this facility which is just pipe- laying exercise in respect of the Kwanyaku Water Project.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLuTION
Mixed Credit Facility Agreement between GOG and FMO/ORET
and Fortis Bank N.V.
Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Prof. Gyan- Baffour): Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, that
WHEREAS by the provisions of article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), the terms and conditions of any loan raised by the Government of Ghana on behalf of itself or any public institution or authority shall not come into operation unless the said terms and conditions have been laid before Parliament and approved by Parliament by a Resolution supported by the votes of a majority of all Members of Parliament.
PURSUANT to the provisions of the said article 181 of the Constitution and section 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and at the request of the Government of Ghana acting through the Minister responsible for Finance, there has been laid
before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Mixed Credit Facility Agreement between The Republic of Ghana and the FMO/ ORET and Fortis Bank N.V. of The Netherlands for an amount of four million, one hundred and thirty-one thousand euros (€4,131,000.00) for additional works on the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation and Expansion Works in the Central Region.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 11 a.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 11 a.m.
BILLS -- SECOND READING 11 a.m.
Mr. Eugene Atta Agyepong 11:10 a.m.
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, at the back of the Report it said, “Joint Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Defence and Interior”. Normally, if there is a joint committee, the names of the two Chairmen and the Secretaries appear.
Mr. Speaker, the second point is that we have not -- My Vice Chairman came this morning to consult me -- taken part in any meeting where this matter has been discussed -- [Uproar.] We have not. Mr. Speaker, what really happened was that this matter was referred to us; we started going round the prisons. We went to Nsawam, we went to Sekondi and so this matter has not been -- I do not know which members of my Committee on Defence and Interior took part in that meeting. And if they did then the Report should be properly presented before the House. The Report, as it is, now is not all right before the House.
Deputy Majority Leader (Mr. Abraham O. Aidooh): Mr. Speaker, I believe that if my Colleague and his friends or committee members have not performed their duty as you had directed, that should not be the reason why they should hold us back. And at any rate the document has been laid without objection and he is now out of order. It is too late in the day to raise the point that he is seeking to raise. I therefore invite you to rule him out of order.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee, continue.
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw 11:10 a.m.
I thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Commonwealth Secretariat has proposed a scheme for member countries to enact legislation to facilitate
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Minority Leader, I will give directions later. Let him go on.
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw 11:20 a.m.
Twenty-five member countries of the Commonwealth have so far enacted legislation in this regard.

In addition to the above, the President of the Republic continues to receive persistent requests during his visits abroad from citizens abroad for Ghanaian convicts to serve their prison terms in Ghana. The introduction of the Bill was informed by the above-stated concerns. 5.0 Object and Purpose of the Bill

5.1 The Bill seeks to facilitate the transfer of convicted persons from the Republic to another country and from another country to the Republic for the purpose of serving a prison term and for related matters.

6.0 Provisions of the Bill

The Bill comprises three main parts as follows:

6.1 Part one deals with the subject matter and provides for request to be made by competent authority of sentencing country to the Republic, request to be made by convicted person, qualification for the transfer of convicted person, the grant of application for transfer of convicted person, issue of warrant by the Minister of the Interior, receiving of convict by the Director-General, information on enforcement, and application for adaptation and adoption of a foreign order.

6.2 Part two focuses on the transfer of a convicted person out of Ghana and

This does not lead to plane loads of prisoners coming into Ghana or plane loads going out of Ghana. It says in clause 2 (3) that, the Attorney-General shall upon receiving an application communicate a decision on the request to the competent authority of the specified country after consultation with the Minister for the Interior and the Director-General of the Prisons Service and other relevant state bodies.

The import of this is that the decision is a decision which is taken after wide consultation and takes into account all the circumstances; and it is clear that each case would be considered on a case-by- case basis.

Mr. Speaker, I so move.

Question proposed. Chairman of the Committee (Mr.

Kofi Osei-Ameyaw): Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the motion and in so doing seek your indulgence to direct the Hansard Department to capture the Committee's Report in its entirety.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The Transfer of Convicted Persons Bill was presented and read the First time in Parliament on 17th May, 2006. Mr. Speaker referred the Bill to the Joint Committee of Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Defence and Interior pursuant to article 106(4) and (5) of the Constitution, and Standing Orders 179 and 158 respectively for consideration and report.

2.0 Deliberations

2.1 The Committee held a number of meetings and consultative sessions with relevant stakeholders. In attendance at its meetings were the Director-General of the
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw 11:20 a.m.


makes specific provision for the Attorney- General to request the transfer of a convict, the issuance of a warrant for transfer out of Ghana, and the validity of consent given by a convict.

6.3 The final part makes general provisions for appeals, pardon, amnesty, commutation or review, transit, cost of transfer, power to issue regulations and interpretation amongst others.

7.0 Observations

7.1 The Committee observed that even

though the general principles and policy underlining the Transfer of Convicted Persons Bill are laudable, there are a number of concerns which must be addressed during implementation. These include congestion in our local prisons, establishing the nationality of convicted persons, cost of transferring convicted persons, logistical limitation and the abolishing of death penalty in some jurisdiction.

7.1.1 Congestion in Our Local Prisons

Mr. Speaker, the Director-General of the Prisons Service advised the Committee that even though our prisons were constructed to confine a maximum of eight thousand inmates, currently the total number of inmates is twelve thousand five hundred. Some Members therefore felt that the passage of this Bill and the consequent transfer of Ghanaian convicts from outside the Country to serve their prison terms in Ghana may rather aggravate the current problem of congestion in our prisons.

The Committee was reliably that out of the twelve thousand five hundred convicts, six hundred and fifty are foreign nationals. The Committee was unable to ascertain the number of Ghanaian nationals serving their prison terms outside the jurisdiction but noted that, there are about one hundred Ghanaian convicted persons serving their prison terms in Thailand.

Majority of members of the Committee, after having examined the above issue, held the view that passage of the Bill would also provide opportunity for foreign convicts serving their sentences in Ghanaian prisons to also apply and leave the jurisdiction to continue their prison terms in their various countries. It was also observed that ordinarily many Ghanaian prisoners would be reluctant to apply to be transferred to Ghana to continue their prison terms. Consequently the presumed aggravation of the problem of congestion in our prison is not well founded.

7.1.2 Establishing Nationality of Convicted Persons

Mr. Speaker, some Members, including some stakeholders expressed concern about possible difficulty in establishing the citizenship of some convicted persons serving their prison terms outside the jurisdiction who, on passage of this Bill might want to be transferred to Ghana. The Committee, however, observed that establishing the citizenship of a Ghanaian citizen is not a major challenge. This is because citizenship is a matter of law which has been adequately dealt with in the Citizenship Act 2000 (Act 591). The Act provides as follows:

20. Certificate of Citizenship in Doubtful Cases

The Minister may, on an application made by or on behalf of a person with respect to whose citizenship of Ghana a doubt exists under this Act, certify that the person is a citizen of Ghana and a certificate issued under this section is prima facie evidence that that person was a citizen at the date indicated in the certificate, but without prejudice to any evidence that that person was a citizen at an earlier date.

21. Evidence

1) A document purporting to be a notice, certificate, an order or a declaration or an entry in a register, or a subscription to an oath of allegiance, given, granted or made under this Act shall be received in evidence.

2) The evidence may be given by the production of a certified true copy of the document.

3) An entry in a register made under this Act shall be received as evidence of the matters stated in the entry.”

The re levant author i t ies have always applied the above provisions in determining Ghanaian Citizenship.

7 . 1 . 3 C o s t o f Tr a n s f e r r i n g Convicted Persons and Logistical Limitation

The cost of transferring convicted persons to serve their prison term in other jurisdictions vis-à-vis logistical limitation also came up in the Committee's deliberations. Some Members contended that, the above issue could impose extra financial burden on the Republic which to them is unnecessary.

The high cost of maintenance, especially feeding and medical care of inmates was also of concern to those members of the Committee. The passage of this Bill in their view may eventually exacerbate the above situation.

However, majority of members of the Committee observed that the Bill makes provision for cost sharing between the sentencing Country and the Country to administer the penalty after the transfer. They also observed that the Bill specifically provides for long-term agreement on

apportionment of cost associated with the transfer of convicted persons.

They further maintained that, it was even not automatic that on passage of the Bill all Ghanaians serving prison terms abroad would apply to be transferred to Ghana to continue their prison term. Majority of the members held the view that it was more likely that most Ghanaian prisoners outside the jurisdiction would for various reasons rather prefer to serve their term of imprisonment abroad than in Ghana.

7.1.4 Abolishing of Death Penalty in Some Jurisdiction

Some stakeholders, particularly from academia pointed out possible imple- mentation challenges, especially where a convict serving a death sentence is to be transferred under the Act to another jurisdiction where death penalty has been abolished. The Committee upon careful examination of the above concern noted that the Bill seeks to deal with convicted persons serving sentences of terms of imprisonment, therefore the issue of persons sentenced to death will not arise since such persons would not qualify under the Bill.

7.2 The Committee noted the fact that even though conditions in Ghanaian prisons require significant improvement, the inhumane conditions in prisons in which some Ghanaian convicts serve outside the jurisdiction equally call for concern.

It is important to note that the transfer of accused or convicted persons from one jurisdiction to another for trial or impri-sonment is not a novelty. The Extradition Act, 1960 enables countries with extra-dition treaties between them to have accused or convicted persons to be extradited to and from their respective jurisdictions for trial or imprisonment.
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw 11:20 a.m.


The Committee observed that the Commonwealth Secretariat has proposed a scheme for Member countries to enact legislation to facilitate the transfer of convicted prisoners to address issues where extradition does not respond to the transfer of convicts.

The following twenty-five Common- wealth Countries have already enacted this legislation: Anguilla, Australia, Bahamas, British India Ocean territories, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Island, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Sovereign base areas of Akrotiri and the Dhekelia, Falkland Island, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Malawi, Malta, Montserrat, Samoa, Saint Helena and Dependency, Sri-lanka, Kingdom of Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. It is therefore appropriate that Ghana, being one of the members of the Commonwealth pass this Bill to deal with the subject matter.

7.3 Amendments Proposed

The Commit tee p roposed the following amendments to the Bill for the consideration of the House:

i . Long Tit le - amendment proposed - delete “one country to another” and substitute “the Republic to another country and from another country to the Republic”.

ii. Clause 1 - amendment pro-posed - at end delete “this country” and substitute “the Republic”.

iii. Clause 2 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (3) delete and substitute “subject to sub-section (4) the Attorney- General shall within thirty days

upon receiving an application, communicate a decision on the request to the competent authority of the specified country after consultation with the Minister for the Interior, the Director-General of the Prisons Service and other relevant state bodies”.

iv. Clause 3 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (4), line 1, after “submitted” insert “within thirty days”.

v. Clause 4 - amendment proposed - headnote, delete “qualification” and substitute “conditions”.

vi. Clause 4 - amendment pro- posed - paragraph (d), delete “term of imprisonment” and substitute “sentence”.

vii. Clause 10 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (4), line 2, after “shall” insert “within thirty days”.

viii. Clause 11 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (3), paragraph (b) line 1, before “not literate” insert “blind, deaf, dumb or”.

ix. Clause 11 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (5), paragraph (a), line 4, delete and substitute “of the country of the convict to take custody of the convict”.

x. Clause 12 - amendment proposed - headnote, delete and substitute “consent not to be withdrawn”.

xi. Clause 12 - amendment proposed - line 2, delete “can” and substitute “shall”.

xii. Clause 13 - amendment pro- posed - sub-clause (2), line 3,

the Constitution, the Courts Act and all other relevant statutes and accordingly recommends its passage by the House subject to the proposed amendments.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to the Committee's Report, may I also summarize some of the arguments in favour of this Bill.

1. The transfer of convicted persons is largely motivated by humanitarian concerns and rehabilitation reasons. There are undue hardships suffered by offenders serving sentences abroad, particularly so if they come from countries with a different language. Parents, siblings, spouses and children of offenders suffer in these circumstances. It is often relatives of the offender who offer the only hope of successful rehabilitation.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Mr. Osei-Ameyaw 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the Committee has carefully examined the provisions of the Bill in the light of its object and purpose and is of the view that we are consistent with the Constitution, the Courts Act and all other relevant statutes and accordingly recommends its passage by the House, subject to the proposed amendment. Mr. Speaker, with that I support the motion.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Members, I shall adjourn debate on this matter to enable the joint committee put its act in order. [Hear! Hear!] Item 3 -- Statements.
STATEMENTS 11:20 a.m.
Dr. Francis Osafo-Mensah (NPP -- Mpraeso) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity offered me to make a Statement in this august House on “The
delete “8” and substitute “9”.
xiii. Clause 14 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (2), line 3, delete “communication” and substitute “commutation”.
xiv. Clause 15 - amendment pro- posed - subclause (1), delete “transfer convict” and substitute “a convict on transfer”.
xv. Clause 18 - amendment pro- posed - delete “contents” and substitute “content” and at end delete “5(2) and 10(2)” and substitute “6(2) and 11(2)”.
xvi. Clause 18 - amendment pro-posed - page 8, line 2, at beginning insert “and sentenced”.
xvii. Clause 18 - amendment pro- posed - page 8, line 4, delete “and” and at end add “and lodging”.
xviii. Clause 18 - amendment pro- posed - page 8, line 5, delete.
xix. Clause 18 - amendment pro- posed - page 8, line 6, delete and substitute “‘Director-General' means the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service”.
xx. Clause 18 - amendment pro- posed - page 8, line 11, at beginning delete “national”.
8.0 Recommendation and Conclusion
8.1 The Committee has carefully examined provisions of the Bill in the light of its object and purpose and is of the view that they are consistent with
Dr. Francis Osafo-Mensah (NPP -- Mpraeso) 11:30 a.m.


World No Tobacco Day” declared to be observed by all Members States of the World Health Organization (WHO) to draw global attention to the destructive effects of tobacco on mankind.

Over the past nineteen years, diverse activities had been held globally on this fateful date of May 31, to hammer home the simple but important message that tobacco and all its products are indeed a poison and potentially capable of taking a swipe on the health of each and every one of us regardless of sex, status and race, not to mention its destructiveness on the beauty of the environment by way of processes involved in its cultivation and curing.

This year's celebration focuses on a “Smoke Free Environment”. Mr. Speaker, there are indisputable conclusions from lots of scientific studies that:

(i) Smoke from burning tobacco products give over 400 known chemicals of which more than 50 of them are known to cause cancer in humans;

(ii) Breathing or exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke is highly injurious and is known to cause many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in children and adults which might lead to death, meaning that there is no safe level of human exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

Mr. Speaker, WHO estimates that tobacco usage causes five million adult deaths annually in the world and this figure is projected to double in 2025. The paradox is that not only active smokers alone are going to suffer the demise but pathetically the innocent ones, that is, the passive smokers who through no intent or fault of theirs are to be pulled to their

untimely demise.

This is indeed a great danger and a cause worthy to be fought by all to ensure that the larger public has a hundred per cent smoke-free environment at their work- place as well as all public facilities as the only effective measure of protection.

Mr. Speaker, Ghana is one of the 40 countries that have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which is the world's first public health treaty that contains measures designed to reduce tobacco-related deaths and diseases. Though ratification is an important step, it represents only the beginning of the process of reducing tobacco use and saving lives in our country.

The introduction of the Tobacco

Control Bill in this House is overdue. It is the surest way of fulfilling Ghana's obligation under the FCTC to align the health system with the democratic values of the Constitution and to enhance and protect the fundamental rights of citizens by discouraging the use, promotion and advertisement of tobacco products in order to reduce the incidence of tobacco-related illnesses and deaths and also prevent the effect of smoking on health and for a strong action to deter the young people and adults from taking up smoking and to encourage smokers to give up.

Mr. Speaker, as we collectively think of

carving policies for protecting the passive smokers (who undoubtedly constitute the majority of our people) from second- hand smoke and also encourage active smokers to give up the habit of smoking, we should be mindful of the shrewdness of the powerful tobacco industry. It would definitely carve out myths and

spread out glamorous information on tobacco smoking but let us be steadfast in legislating against the total ban on smoking tobacco in all forms.

On this note, I humbly appeal once more for the speedy introduction of the Tobacco Control Bill.

Alhaji M. M. Mubarak (NDC --

Asawase): Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement made by the hon. Chairman of the Health Committee. Mr. Speaker, if one looks at the menace or the problem associated with tobacco smoking -- I would not want to concentrate on the one who decides to buy ill-health for himself but I rather want to concentrate on the one who does not spend his money on it but is being affected by way of someone smoking, that is the second-hand smokers.

Mr. Speaker, like the hon. Colleague

rightly said, if one looks at the effects of second-hand smoking, they are many. They include heart disease, risk, which is normally estimated at between 25 and 30 per cent; lung cancer risk, which is also estimated at around 20 to 30 per cent, and a burdened cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack by way of being a second-hand smoker.

Mr. Speaker, the most important ones among the second-hand smokers are children. Mr. Speaker, there is evidence that second-hand smoking in children can cause severe respiratory symptoms and slow their lung growth, or sudden infant death syndrome which is normally termed as SIDS. Mr. Speaker, also, it can cause acute respiratory infection, ear problem or severe asthma attack in children. There is no risk-free level when it comes to second- hand smoking.

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we, as legislators or as a country, try as much

as possible to prevent others from doing things that will harm all of us. It is in this direction that I will suggest the following strategies.

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we ban direct and indirect advertisements on tobacco on our television and radio stations. Once it has the effect of killing innocent persons, it is mandatory that we as a country protect the innocent second- hand smoker. Mr. Speaker, we should not only ban direct and indirect advertisement on tobacco, we should also move a step further to ban smoking in all public and workplaces since it is only at these places that one can find large numbers of persons and can easily be infected by a person or two smoking.

Mr. Speaker, in order to discourage the

production and sale of tobacco I believe we will have to increase taxes on tobacco. That way, it may help us to raise money and cater for some of the problems that it gives us in terms of ill-health. Mr. Speaker, the prices of these products must necessarily go up to create a disincentive for people to deeply indulge in it.

Mr. Speaker, I also believe that there is the need for us to advertise on the package of the cigarette, largely the messages that are required to warn persons who are smoking. Mr. Speaker, the tendency of tobacco companies is to always manoeuvre to make reference that, “Oh! it generates revenue”. That if one looks at the amount of money that it is generating when one tries to ban or discourage its usage, we are going to lose so much revenue.

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to this House I believe if we were to liberalize the sale of marijuana or narcotic drugs like cocaine and others and ask people to pay taxes, they would be able to pay. But in our wisdom we know that it has serious effect, therefore we are discouraging it. It is clear, scientifically and physically, we see people who smoke and those who are associated with them, the challenges
Ms. Josephine H. Addoh (NPP -- Kwadaso) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Statement on the floor of the House. Mr. Speaker, we know what this country has gone through in terms of smoking. I will cite my own constituency as an example. There are spots in the constituency, areas in the constituency, where we find very strong young men smoking not the ordinary thing we know but what we call wee and the effect this has on these young men.
Mr. Speaker, my problem is, as my hon. Colleague said, with the secondary smokers. I must say that Josephine, as a person, detests smoking and I find it very difficult even to accept to be in the company of family members who sometime ago were smokers.
Mr. Speaker, looking at the adverse effects of smoking I will support my hon. Colleagues that we put a total ban on smoking, especially in public places. I am saying “public” because we may not be able to monitor what goes on in people's private places but at least to start with, in the public places, a ban must be placed on that.

Mr. Speaker, also, we must try to ban advertisements on tobacco products.
Ms. Josephine H. Addoh (NPP -- Kwadaso) 11:40 a.m.


I know that in so many countries governments have tried to control smoking or ban advertisements of this nature. But the problem is, as we all know but may not be able to admit, it brings some income to certain areas. But if we weigh the two sides, if people pay, say, a hundred thousand cedis by way of tax and it costs the National Health Insurance Scheme and the hospitals taxpayers' money -- even if they contribute, I know the Government will top up that amount --

So, many people will go to the hospitals and it will take time for even some doctors to diagnose the disease they are suffering from as a result of passive-smoking. The doctor may ask, “Do you smoke?” and the patient may reply: “No”. Then it becomes very difficult for the doctor to diagnose immediately what is happening, all because the doctor may feel that the person does not smoke.

Some of us are victims of this case.

So I support the Tobacco Control Bill and I encourage all hon. Members here to support that Bill. I will also congratulate the maker of the Statement.
Mr. Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement that has been made by the hon. Member.
There is no doubt that the issue of tobacco control has been an age-old one and many jurisdictions have struggled over the years with how to deal with this particular problem. Mr. Speaker, the reality is that there are many in our midst who smoke tobacco. Many have become addicted to tobacco smoking. There is also no doubt that there is the need to protect future generations and the young ones from tobacco smoking.
Mr. Speaker, the challenge is, how do we proceed? There are those who go to the
extreme and demand that we should indeed ban tobacco smoking. Let me indicate that that is a very distant possibility; I am yet to come across a nation that has successfully banned tobacco smoking.
Mr. Speaker, a mix of measures has been put in place to deal with the issue of tobacco smoking by several countries. Some of them are legislative, others are judicial in character and largely also educational in character. The legislative measures will usually take the form of legislating the various places where one can smoke tobacco and where one cannot smoke tobacco; and I think that that is one area where we are failing as a nation.
It seems to me that anybody can smoke anywhere and as indicated by previous contributors to this Statement, passive smokers then suffer the consequences of the actions of other people.
I think that it is unfair that we allow that to continue to happen; that innocent people should be allowed to suffer the consequences of the deliberate acts of other people. That is where as legislators we have a duty to the public to as early as possible enact legislation that requires that people do not smoke at public places which they share with other citizens. They should not make other people passive smokers and make them suffer the consequences or actions that are not theirs.
Mr. Speaker, another area that has been used to fight this menace has been through judicial penalties, some form of punishment for tobacco makers, for the suffering that is inflicted on people through tobacco smoking. Whether we like it or not, they have developed very sophisticated marketing techniques that have glamourised tobacco smoking to
such a point where it is very difficult for many people to resist the temptation to begin to smoke.
For that reason, the strategy in some jurisdictions has been to establish a direct link between tobacco smoking and diseases like cancer, et cetera, that people suffer as a result of tobacco smoking and to make sure that the high medical bill that tend to be paid by the State and the individual ends up also becoming part of the bill of the tobacco companies.
So judicial activism in that regard has helped to deal with the issue of tobacco smoking. That is why in some juris- dictions you would find that tobacco companies are made to pay millions of dollars in terms of damages for people who have suffered from cancer as a result of tobacco smoking. Mr. Speaker, we need to look at this and also see how we can encourage the practice of people suing tobacco companies and ensuring that they share in the bill that as a nation we end up paying as a result.
Mr. Speaker, the most important and
the most reliable weapon in my opinion, in our fight against tobacco smoking is public education. We need to find ways and means of educating the public on the dangers of tobacco smoking. That is why some of the arrangements that we have where any billboard advertising tobacco products has inscriptions on it detailing the dangers involved in smoking tobacco.
But Mr. Speaker, some of them are not legible enough, so we need to make regulation for the increase in the size of the inscriptions so that they can be conspicuous so that people who see these billboards and read these adverts can also easily detect the warning signals that are also attached to them. We must also find ways and means of educating our children
Mr. Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 11:50 a.m.


in primary schools, secondary schools and perhaps also in the universities so that people can be more educated on the consequences of tobacco.

Then also we need in our health institutions departments well staffed with qualified experts who can effectively help people who want to get out of this habit because I do not think that we have enough experts who can help people out of this habit in our medical institutions. Many people would certainly fall prey to the advertisements and in dealing with it as a comprehensive strategy, we must also have the expertise to help people who want to get out of it. I know that there are so many people who are hooked to tobacco and certainly want to get out of it but do not have the facilities and the support to help them get out of it.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the Tobacco Control Bill is being discussed; and if my information is right, it is before Cabinet or it is around, it is on their desks. If that is the case we urge Cabinet to expedite action on this Bill so that it would come to this House and we would have the opportunity to look at it.

We know that tobacco has become an industry and it has become the source of employment for many people and indeed, it is like a factor in the economy. So we would balance this economic interest vis- à-vis the social interest to ensure that we have a safe society. Indeed we would also consider the expenditure on health. We would balance all these interests and come out with a legislation that best serves the interest of Ghana as a nation.

On that note, Mr. Speaker, I identify with the Statement that has been made by the hon. Member.

Ms. Christine Churcher (NPP --

Cape Coast): Mr. Speaker, I whole-

heartedly support the Statement on the floor. Indeed, there is indisputable scientific evidence that smoking simply kills and that even passive smoking also kills. Mr. Speaker, it does not even make sense to me that I should die because somebody else smokes. It defies logic that whilst I hate smoking somebody should smoke and send me early to my grave.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the import of the Statement made is that whilst we all have the right to please ourselves, every human being has the right to clean air, environmentally. Every human being has a right to a clean environment. We need to breathe good air and so if somebody decides that he or she loves smoking and so wants to pollute the air around me, it is not right.

Mr. Speaker, another thing which is of significance is that where to smoke becomes very crucial in the Statement that was made. Mr. Speaker, as an adult you might want to do things that you want to do but the important thing is the effect of your action on others. That is why it is important for us as legislators to be able to legislate, to be able to ban smoking in public areas and in areas where others will be affected.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about legislation, sometimes you wonder whether where one's rights end, another's really begin, as they say. Mr. Speaker, but in the case of smoking as a woman, I know that even women who use firewood to cook are always being encouraged every minute to move away from this because of the effect of the smoke. Mr. Speaker, if you look at asthmatics, if you look at people with diseases which affect their lungs and their breathing then we can see that smoking is doing more harm to this country or the world at large than we ever think of.
Mr. Mahama Ayariga (NDC -- Bawku Central) 11:50 a.m.


Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity once of sitting in a place and having a meal, with the person sitting next to me enjoying his tobacco. He was enjoying because he showed affluence; he was enjoying because he was a big person; he was enjoying because if you saw the extravagance with which he smoked and he refilling what he was holding with one tobacco after the other, you would know that it was a sign of affluence.

Mr. Speaker, my burden this morning is, as young people do copy what they see adults do, if everywhere in public places people are smoking, of course, young people would always think that it is fashionable. I believe that there are many young people, especially in secondary schools who are smoking because they see people smoking in public places.

Mr. Speaker, habits are such that most of them are difficult to control but when one quickly sees things being done in public and as legislators we are not doing much to control such things, they think that they are fashionable. Mr. Speaker, I look at smoking and ask, why do people smoke? Sometimes, they start because they just want to try and then it becomes an addiction.

Yesterday, I listened attentively to a discussion about addiction. Even this morning on CNN, they talked about addiction. Mr. Speaker, what the country is facing, even in the area of cocaine and even in the area of hard drugs, most of the time, it starts with simple cigarette smoking.

As legislators, the point that I want to emphasise to all of us is that we are not forcing anybody to stop smoking

but we are saying that smoke but make sure that your smoking does not affect another person. We are saying that there is abundant evidence that smoking kills. We are saying that it does not behove anybody to deny one another the right to live because of the habit that you enjoy.

We are saying that we must come out with laws which will strictly ban smoking in public places and in areas where the person other than another person is sitting. We are saying also that because smoking endangers health, smoking in public places affect children and the young people who would think that it is fashionable.

This Statement is a good one and all of us, the churches and other religious bodies, the NGOs, school administrators, teachers, all of us should come together and think of ways of eventually making Ghana a non-smoking country. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the Statement made by the Chairman of my Committee. Mr. Speaker, smoking is a voluntary activity. Those who smoke know the consequences of their actions. So if people want to engage in slow death it is their business. What is not acceptable is people smoking in places and creating inconvenience for others. That is what for me, is bad.
Mr. Speaker, ever since the potential in tobacco was discovered as far back as the 17th centuries, no groups of people have been able to ban the cultivation and the use of tobacco and to try to do it right now, for me, is quite futile.
Mr. Speaker, the tobacco companies are very powerful. They are wealthy and they have a lot of investment. In this country
Mr. Lee Ocran (NDC -- Jomoro) 11:50 a.m.


Mr. Speaker, what we have to try to do is to persuade the tobacco companies to devise a means of reducing the level of the harmful substances in cigarette. For example, if there is 10 per cent of nicotine in cigarette perhaps in these modern times with scientific developments all around us they should be able to reduce the level of that harmful substance.

I think we have banned advertising tobacco. There was a time in Ghana, in the 1970s when there were always “555” and “Embassy” advertisements on the television. We have removed the billboards but people continue to smoke. It means you cannot completely eliminate it. It is like one of the vices --There are so many vices in the world. [Laughter.] We all enjoy them; somebody's vice may be another person's virtue [Laughter.]
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 11:50 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, my hon. Colleague is making some statements which I believe are unaccep-table. Mr. Speaker, by parity of reasoning he seems to be saying that if an armed robber gives money for a good
Mr. Ocran 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the man is
talking of legality. Smoking is not illegal, it is legal; armed robbery is illegal. Duke University, one of the foremost univer-sities in America was financed with tobacco money. [Laughter.] What I am trying to say is that the producers of tobacco or cigarettes should strive to minimize the harmful effects. They can scientifically do that. So huge taxes, fines have been imposed on tobacco companies.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noon
On a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I was entreating my hon. Colleague to really address the substantive matter before us, particularly, because there are school children here listening to us. Now he is dragging my name into controversy. He says I smoke. Mr. Speaker, I have never smoked anything. Mr. Speaker, I emphasize it, “anything”. So he must redeem himself by not dragging my goodself into this argument. I am not a smoker; I have never smoked.
Mr. Ocran noon
Mr. Speaker, I go on; maybe he smoked but did not inhale.
[Laughter.] Mr. Speaker, the Anti Smoking Bill that is supposed to be sent to this House, is not going to ban tobacco. It is going to control -- I am just being factual. Sometimes, we try to engage in things that we cannot do. No one can ban tobacco. Even if you ban it, people will hide and smoke. So I am rather calling for scientific ways of making tobacco less harmful; that is all.
Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I support the motion.
Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah (NPP -- Bosomtwi) noon
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to lend my support to the Statement made by the Chairman of the Committee responsible for Health.
Mr. Speaker, even though I agree that smoking is a voluntary activity, more especially when there are warning signals always indicated on the various packaging items of cigarettes, still Mr. Speaker, out of concern, I should not say it should be left only to the smokers. It is the concern of everybody because of its harmful effects on individuals, on passive smokers and on the nation as a whole.
Mr. Speaker, what are the possible effects of smoking? Mr. Speaker, I can break them down into three -- on the passive smokers; on the actual smokers and then on the nation. Mr. Speaker, we the passive smokers, that is, those of us who do not smoke can pick up various ailments because of our proximity or because we may happen to be in an environment where somebody would be smoking and we might inhale the smoke which would cause serious problems like cancer on our health.
Mr. Speaker, on the actual smokers, there are various diseases that they can acquire by smoking cigarettes. The worse aspect is when they even become addicted,

they extend their smoking from ordinary cigarettes to even banned substances like marijuana, heroine, cocaine, et cetera. Sometimes when you meet these people, Mr. Speaker, you cannot even differentiate between mad people and the addicted smokers. Their relative behaviour indicates clearly that they are more insane than being sane people.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the nation, when people smoke and acquire various ailments or sicknesses the first effect is on our health facilities which are limited. And given the country's limited resources, it becomes also difficult to provide more of the facilities and the pressure on these facilities makes some of them break down quickly, causing the State a lot of money. The resources that could have been invested in other areas are rather spent on providing health care for people who voluntarily went in for sicknesses which they could have avoided.

Mr. Speaker, people talk about revenue generation from cigarettes, but I wish we do a critical and an in-depth cost-benefit analysis of the revenue that we generate by the operations of the cigarette companies or by marketing cigarettes and then the cost that the nation incurs on these people by their actions. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I have mentioned the health facilities already.

Secondly, if these people contract some diseases like cancer and die as a result of the sicknesses, they leave behind children who later become social burdens to the country because their education might end abruptly or because they may not have anybody to finance their education any longer.

Mr. Speaker, apart from that because these people smoke and most often they smoke in the presence of their children, some of the children will also take to smoking because they might think once

the parents are smoking it means it is good to smoke. When they get into this habit, Mr. Speaker, it does not end there. They get to our schools and because of peer pressure, other children whose parents might not be smoking will also take to smoking. All these expand and increase this menace of smoking.

Mr. Speaker, as to how to minimize or control the effect of smoking on our people, I will talk about two. The first one, Mr. Speaker, is education. We should initiate a sustainable educational campaign in our schools, on radio, television, in the print media, on billboards, et cetera.

If we were able to educate our young children on the problems that smoking can give them, so that they keep away from smoking during their youthful period, it would help us more than waiting for them to take to smoking before we come in to educate them, as the old adage says, “Prevention is better than cure”. So we have to prevent them from getting into it, instead of coming to cure it later.

Mr. Speaker, finally, there should be legislation; and this legislation should take into consideration two main aspects. That is, where to smoke. The first one is public places and that will not be much of a problem because a total ban can be imposed on people who smoke in public places. The other one would be in private places.

Mr. Speaker, even though I agree that smoking in one's home is a personal matter, the legislation should also take into consideration how we can minimize smoking even in private homes and private places because of the effect it could have on one's children and other persons.

Mr. Speaker, with these words, I lend my support to the maker of the Statement and I wish concrete steps would be taken
Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah (NPP -- Bosomtwi) noon


to control the menace of cigarettes or smoking in general.
Mr. J. Yieleh Chireh (NDC -- Wa West) 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, let us commend the maker of the Statement. Secondly, even though we make it a ritual every year to make Statements about this Tobacco Day, this time round let us make a difference. When we talk about tobacco use, we are not only talking about those who smoke the tobacco; we must also be concerned about the local people who sniff it, and other people who also put it in their mouths to get the effect.
Indeed, these people are not even aware of the dangers of tobacco. It is the same effect they also get as those who smoke it. So when we are extending our public education, when we are educating people about the use of tobacco and how to control it, we must also target the local people who grow it and who use it in the traditional forms.
Secondly, to give good examples, we
have very bad examples of even doctors and some hon. Members of Parliament who smoke. Some of them are looking at me and saying that I should not say so but I will say so. [Laughter.] I will urge that for ethical behavioural purposes, we should smoke only at places where no other person would be affected and particularly where young people would not see the bad example. It is a private act and it is difficult to ban it completely but we can control it.
How do we control it? I will urge the Government to speed up the law to domesticate the framework for tobacco control so that we restrict these people. We know that laws are made to have good effects but we would still have people
breaking them. But without the law, it is “free range”. So the complaint we are making is about where people smoke and how it affects the rest of us.
The tobacco companies are very cunning. Some of them will not give it to you in the form of cigarette; they will give you nicotine in energy drinks and it will have the same effect. So in our legislation, we have to be careful; we should take care to include all these manners of producing this dangerous stuff so that we can live longer and prevent ourselves from dying, at least, from one cause of cancer; and that is tobacco use.
Mr. K. A. Okerchiri (NPP --
Nkawkaw): Mr. Speaker, I wish to associate myself with the Statement that was made on the floor of the House by the hon. Member for Mpraeso (Dr. Osafo- Mensah).
Mr. Speaker, many contributors have covered quite a lot on the subject and I would only want to zero in on advertisements that are made by tobacco companies vis-a-vis the effect on children.
For those elderly ones who have decided, with the greatest respect, to turn their bodies into chimneys, that is their problem. It is a kind of condemned generation. But for these little young ones, this is where the advertisements of the tobacco companies are targeted at -- very subtle, very attractive and quite seductive.
Whilst other contributors are of the view that no matter the penalty or the hike in taxes that we slap on tobacco companies, people would smoke, I still would want to encourage that as much as possible, those advertisements that are being made and those that are described as seductive on these young children, we must impose the highest possible tax on them. Coupled with the education that
Mr. J. Yieleh Chireh (NDC -- Wa West) 12:10 p.m.


others have also harped on, I think that we would be preventing and helping these younger ones falling into this dangerous habit.

Mr. Speaker, with these few words, I

would associate myself with the Statement.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Item 12 -- Committee Sittings.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, may I
inform you that the empasse over the report on the Transfer of Convicted Persons Bill has now been resolved. I do not know what your pleasure is, whether we take it now or adjourn till tomorrow morning. The minor disquiet over the report that was laid by the Joint Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Interior has been resolved.
Mr. Speaker 12:10 p.m.
Then we may continue
with the report tomorrow.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move, that we adjourn proceedings till tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
Mr. Lee Ocran 12:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 12:10 p.m.
TABLE HERE 12:10 p.m.
  • [MR. EDUMADZE [MR. EDUMADZE