Debates of 17 Oct 2008

Order! Order! Hon. Members, we have the Votes and Proceedings of yesterday, Thursday, 16th October, 2008. Any corrections to be made? Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 --

Mr. Speaker, on page 4, my name has been slated for being absent without permission, but I was on official duty outside with the Speaker.

You were on official duty outside with the Speaker?

Yes. Mr. Speaker.

Fair
enough, that correction should be effected. Pages 6 . . . 9.
We have also the Official Report of Thursday, 16th October, 2008. Any

Mr. Speaker, the Official Report, at column 174, third paragraph, that is my own contribution, line 4 -- the word there should be “explicitly” and not “expressively”. It should be “explicitly expressed”.

Fair enough, and thank you very much. The Clerk's Office should take note and then let the Hansard Department effect the necessary correction.

Mr. Speaker, the Business Committee met on Thursday, 16th October 2008 and determined Business of the House for the Third Week ending Friday, 24th October
2008.

Arrangement of Business
Question(s)
Mr. Speaker, the Committee has programmed thirty-three (33) Questions to be answered by the various Ministers during the week.
The details are as follows:
No. of Question(s)
i. Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines 3
ii. Minister for the Interior 8 iii. Minister for Food and Agriculture 1 iv. Minister for Health 5 v. Minister for Transportation 16 Total number of Questions 33
Urgent Questions
Mr. Speaker, the Committee has also programmed two Urgent Questions to be answered during the week under reference. Mr. Speaker, the Urgent Questions stand in the name of the hon. Member for Mion, Dr. Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan.
Mr. Speaker, in all, thirty-five (35) Questions are expected to be answered during the week.
Papers and Reports
Mr. Speaker, Papers and Reports may be laid and presented respectively for consideration by the House.
Bills
Mr. Speaker, Bills may be presented to
the House and those which have already been presented would be taken through the various stages of passage.
Statements and Motions
Mr. Speaker may allow Statements and motions may also be debated.
Sittings of the House on Mondays/ Extended Sittings
Mr. Speaker, the Business Committee wishes to remind hon. Members that the House would be Sitting on Mondays with effect from next week and also have extended Sittings.
Mr. Speaker, this arrangement will facilitate completion of our outstanding business and also ensure that certain legislative instruments attain maturity.
Conclusion
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 160 (2) and subject to Standing Order 53, your Committee submits to this honourable House the order
in which the Business of the House shall be taken during the week.

Questions --

Minister for Transportation -- 992,

1177, 1212, 1267, 1289, 1293, 1301

and 1303.

Motions --

Adoption of the Reports of the Committee on Mines and Energy on the following Mining Lease Agreements:

( i ) F i r s t C a n a d i a n goldfields Limited

( i i ) go lden S ta r (Bogoso / Prestea) Limited

(iii) Normandy ghana gold Limited

(iv) Rank Mining Company Limited

(v) Chirano gold Mines Limited

( v i ) B l u e R i v e r M i n i n g Company Limited

( v i i ) We s t S t a r M i n i n g Company Limited

(viii) Med Mining Company Limited

(ix) Newmont ghana gold Limited

(x) Sian goldfields Limited

(xi) Narawa ghana gold Limited

( x i i ) A d a m u s R e s o u r c e s Limited (Nkroful)

(xiii) Midras Mining Limited

(xiv) Talos ghana Limited

( x v ) g o l d e n r a e M i n i n g Company Limited

(xvi) Kibi goldfields International

( x v i i ) S a v a n n a C e m e n t Company Limited

(xviii) ghacem Limited

( x i x ) g h a n a M a n g a n e s e Company Limited.

Consideration Stage of Bills --

National Pension Reform Bill

Committee Sittings.

Questions --

Minister for Lands, Forestry and Mines -- 1249, 1528, 1569

Laying of Papers --

(a) Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Facility Agreement between the government of the Republic of ghana and KfW of germany for an amount of nineteen million euros (€19,000,000.00) for the Multi Donor Budget Support Pro- gramme.

(b) Report of the Finance Committee on the Request for waiver of tax liability on equipment/materials to be imported or purchased

locally, corporate tax and other taxes totalling gH¢5,149,208.48 in respect of the implementation of the first phase of the National Communication Backbone Network project.

(c) Mixed Credit Facility between the government of the Republic of ghana, the guandong Development Bank of China and the BHP PARIBAS for an amount of ninety two million, four hundred and thir ty- six thousand United States dollars (US$92,436,000.00) (consisting of a grant element of US$30 million from the guandong Development Bank of China, and a loan facility of US$62,436,000.00 from the BHP PARIBAS) for the imple-mentation of the Sunyani Water Supply Rehabilitation and Expansion Project on Turnkey basis.

(d) Internal Revenue (Registration of Business) (Amendment) Bill

(e) Internal Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill.

Motions --

Second Reading of Bills --

( a ) S t a m p D u t y (Amendment) Bill

(b) Value Added Tax (Amend- ment) (No. 2) Bill.

Committee Sittings.

Questions --

Minister for the Interior -- 1526, 1527, 1537, 1540, 1570 and 1537

Motions --

Second Reading of Bills --

Lands Commission Bill.

Consideration Stage of Bills --

( a ) N a t i o n a l Communications Authority Bill

(b) Electronic Communications Bill

Committee Sittings.

Urgent Questions --

To ask the Minister for Food and Agriculture what programme has the Ministry put together to curb the growing reported cases of rabies among domestic pets in Accra and its environs.

To ask the Minister for Food and Agriculture what steps the Ministry is taking to curb the outbreak of anthrax disease among livestock in the Northern Region.
Questions --
Minister for Food and Agriculture
-- 1533
Minister for Health -- 1423, 1462, 1484, 1485 and 1486
Motions --
Second Reading of Bills --
(i) Intestate Succession Bill.
( i i ) P r o p e r t y R i g h t s o f Spouses Bill.
C3ommittee Sittings.

Questions --

Minister for Transportation -- 1304,

1305, 1318, 1337, 1350, 1358, 1363

and 1367

Motions --

Second Reading of Bills --

Internal Revenue (Registration of Business) (Amendment) Bill.

Internal Revenue (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill.

Third Reading of Bills --

·

National Pension Reform Bill

Consideration Stage of Bills --

Lands Commission Bill

Committee Sittings.

Hon. Members, that is the proposed Business for the coming week. Any comment thereon?
We will assume that in principle, we
will adopt it and work with it, subject to changes as and when the House itself decides otherwise.
Now, we have Laying of Papers --

Yes, hon.
Deputy Minority Leader?

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I raised a complaint of breach of privilege which was duly referred to the Privileges Committee by the hon. Second Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my statement was correct- ly captured in the Votes and Proceedings of today, which we have just corrected. But the publication in the Ghanaian Times of today did not actually capture what happened on the floor of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I am not claiming privilege, but I wanted that aspect of the reportage as to what happened on the floor of the House to be corrected.
Mr. Speaker, in these days when people can be misquoted, it is important that the right reportage about proceedings on the floor of this House is sent to the world at large. With the internet and a whole lot of things, indeed, people have seen it on the internet and were calling me to find out whether I had been served with the writ. I did not say that. I said they attempted to serve me, which the Votes and Proceedings has rightly captured at page 7, paragraph 6.

So, your complaint is that the newspaper you have referred to had not reported accurately of what took place and you want to have it corrected?

Mr. Speaker, that is so.

Very well.
I believe a representative or a reporter of that newspaper is here in the Press gallery and will take steps to have the report corrected, so that it will reflect accurately what did happen on the floor. Maybe, the Clerk's Office will contact them and have it resolved.
Thank you, very much. We move on to Presentation and First
Reading of Bills.

Laying of Papers -- Hon. Minister for Trans-
portation?

Hon. Members, at this juncture, I want to be advised by the Leadership. It appears that today, just as yesterday, the situation is a bit tricky for hon. Members who may be in their constituencies filing their papers. I want to be advised by Leadership.

Mr. Speaker, that being the case, I beg to move that we adjourn proceedings to Monday, 20th October, 2008 at ten o'clock.

Mr. Speaker, I beg to second the motion for the adjournment of the House.

Hon. Members, before I put the Question -- Normally I should not interfere with that, but there is a correspondence that needs to be read to the House and I wish to do so before I put the Question. It is from the Castle.