Debates of 6 May 2010

MADAM SPEAKER
PRAYERS 10:55 a.m.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS AND THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker 10:55 a.m.
Hon Members, Correction of Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 5th May, 2010.

In the absence of any corrections, the Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, 5th May, 2010 is adopted as the true record of proceedings.

Any corrections?

Hon Members, in the absence of any corrections, the Official Report of Tuesday, 4th May, 2010 is hereby adopted as the true record of proceedings.

Hon Members, I have admitted a a very short Statement from the Hon Member for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh. Hom Member, can you --
STATEMENTS 10:55 a.m.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NPP -- Manhyia) 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, thanks for the opportunity offered me to make this Statement.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) started the registration exercise for

Kumasi last Friday, 30th April, 2010. I was in my constituency (Manhyia) for the period Friday, 30th April, 2010 to Monday, 3rd May, 2010. I monitored the registration exercise.

Madam Speaker, the enthusiasm and eagerness of the people of Kumasi to register is very high and attendance at the various centres is commendably high. People form long queues from early hours of the morning (2.00 a.m. - 3.00 a.m.) and wait patiently for hours till they get registered. The patience of the people is stretched but they are not worn out when and where all the materials and personnel are available.

Madam Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity of commending the NIA for initiating the process. It is important to bring to the fore, some associated problems in order that they may be addressed to salvage a cause that is noble and good for Ghana.

Madam Speaker, in some areas, especially, in my constituency, which happens to be the largest in Kumasi with over 122,000 persons on the electoral register, there are bound to be problems. These problems manifest themselves in other areas and there is the need to urgently address them to ensure a smooth, efficient and effective exercise to enable the Authority to achieve its target.

Madam Speaker, considering that the exercise encompasses registering all persons from six years of age and above, the task is demanding.

Madam Speaker, in my constituency, it has been observed that, for the first two days, in the Buokrom Estate Electoral Area, there were no operators to take either bio-metric data or pictures; people have been registering others outside in the Afia Kobi Electoral Area; persons without any form of identification documents are being turned away instead of being given the necessary form to fill and be registered; there are reports of acute shortage of registration forms in the

Odumasi and Manhyia Electoral Areas and more importantly, there is a palpable lack of urgency and co-operation on the part of the operators at most of the centres.

Madam Speaker, I sincerely believe that these matters need to be addressed swiftly to ensure the success of the on- going registration exercise. It may also be necessary for an extension to be granted to ensure that all those willing and ready to be registered are registered.

Madam Speaker, this important national exercise must be done with the aim of registering all, and this must not be sacrificed on the altar of anybody's convenience or ineptitude.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto (NPP -- Kwadaso) 10:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I would like to associate myself with the Statement.
Coming from Kwadaso in Kumasi, I have been inundated with complaints and reports of irregularities going on about the exercise in Kumasi. There are cases from Apireh in my constituency where they are reporting that the officers are soliciting money from them; GH¢1.00 ostensibly to buy paper for the exercise, which is irregular. And it is not only one, two or three reports, but I have several of them.
The delays that the Hon Member for Manhyia (Dr Prempeh) referred to are very common in my constituency and in some cases, they reported to us that some of the officials slow down the process and demand money after 5.00 p.m., saying that they need to be paid for overtime, which of course, is very irregular and people are standing in the sun from 5.00 o'clock in the morning to sunset and they go back home frustrated.
I know the Hon Member of Parliament for Amansie West (Miss Grace Addo) is here; she would tell her story. The exercise
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto (NPP -- Kwadaso) 11:05 a.m.
I am told that the Secretariat has agreed to go back to Amansie West and other such rural districts in Ashanti to continue with the registration.
Madam Speaker, I would like to appeal through you to ensure that every person in Ashanti is registered before the exercise closes in that region.

Alhaj i Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka (NPP -- Asawase): Madam Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement made by my Hon Colleague from Manhyia (Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh). Madam Speaker ,yes, the exercise is currently ongoing in Kumasi and I also happen to represent one of the constituencies in Kumasi.

We have some genuine concerns, as rightly mentioned by my Hon Colleagues in the Statement. The deliberate attempt by most registration officers to unnecessarily slow down the registration process, makes it too slow, such that it takes much longer to register a person.

It begins with the queue very long and then when it is 5.00 p.m., they will say that it is time for them to close. And like my Hon Colleague from Kwadaso rightly mentioned, they will use that as a means of soliciting funds from the innocent people who are in the queue to register. That is fine, if you want us to stay and register,
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto (NPP -- Kwadaso) 11:05 a.m.
you then you will have to make do with some monies.
Madam Speaker, in an instance in the Asawase Constituency, specifically at the Calvarian International School, the officers came and said that they did not want to use the classroom, but rather they wanted to be in the open; therefore, people in the queue should contribute money to hire a canopy for them. Madam Speaker, I found this very, very irregular. And how could officials who are supposed to supervise this exercise sit unconcerned and allow such a thing to happen?
Madam Speaker, as of this morning, when you find out from Kumasi Metropolis, there are queues -- very long queues and I doubt whether the ten days earmarked for Kumasi Metropolis for the exercise to take place would be adequate.
Madam Speaker, in some areas like Sawaba in the Asawase Constituency, there were instances -- initially, we did not know whether the officers who were trained were not conversant with the issues -- children who were below the age of 18, their pictures were not supposed to be taken. And it created a whole lot of confusion. It took days, people would go with their pictures and they would have to come back the following day to queue again for pictures.
Madam Speaker, we believe that this is a very important exercise; this exercise should be such that, as a country, we take it very, very seriously because we believe that with a very good data on ourselves, it will help reduce many other things. The data could be used for very, very important activities in our country and the need to take very important information from the people cannot be over-emphasized.

It is important that everyone within the age six and above in this country, gets the opportunity to register. And these frustrations that we are mentioning, we hope that the authorities are going to take it seriously and try to address it because the challenges are so enormous that if we are not careful, it will discourage many people from registering and at the end of the day, it will not augur well for us as a country. We would then tend to say we have a data of all of us, yet many of us could not be on that data.

I believe this is not only peculiar to Kumasi. We are complaining about what we have seen in Kumasi. We want to believe that it is the same everywhere they had gone but they should make a conscious effort to rectify this thing quickly so that as many people as possible can be captured on the data.

I take this opportunity to thank my Hon Colleague for making the Statement and bringing forth this very important issue before this House. I urge that urgent action be taken by the National Identification Authority to remedy most of the challenges on the field.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity.
Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah (NPP -- Bantama) 11:05 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I speak on behalf of the Bantama Constituency. I had the opportunity to go round on behalf of Kumasi Metropolis and I wish to associate myself with the Statement on the floor of the House ably made by Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Member of Parliament for Manhyia Constituency.
Madam Speaker, I was horrified that young females who were taking part in the exercise complained to me that they did not have any place of abode and that sounded a bit strange to me because at
the end of the day, if these young girls have nowhere to sleep and they become or they get to the wrong places, or be at the mercy of some wicked people we can only imagine what would happen to them. Madam Speaker, it is very serious.
When I probed further, they told me that their allowances had also not been paid. So they were in double jeopardy. They did not have any place of abode, the moneys that should come to them for them to hire places had also not come to them. Therefore, they were complaining about being hungry and had no food to eat.
So I called the regional officer and he, indeed, confirmed that if I could arrange for accommodation for them, that would go a long way to help. That in certain districts, the chiefs and elders of the towns had to arrange accommodation for them.
I think, Madam Speaker, this has to be looked at because it is not everybody who has got accommodation and in the Kumasi Metropolis, I believe it is a bit difficult looking at the compound house system that we have; we do not have enough space to cater for all these young people, especially the girls.
Madam Speaker, I also noticed these long queues, and when I complained that they were queuing for long periods in the sun, they said they had nothing to do with it and that was the pace they could go and I urged them to speed up the writings and the taking of pictures, et cetera.
Madam Speaker, there were also radio reports of reporters who went round the various exercise points and they mentioned the Subin, Asokwa, Manhyia Constituencies or Electoral Areas that they had visited, that people who would leave their posts around 2.00 p.m., sit in

cars and go away with young ladies under the pretence of going to eat, yet when they later checked, they were registering people outside the normal registering time.

So I believe, Madam Speaker, all these concerns are very, very important and they need to be looked at.

I also want to urge the regional officers to make sure that publicity is stepped up because I believe people are confusing this exercise with the normal registration exercise that takes care of our youth who turn 18 when this exercise comes off. I have arranged with the Metropolitan Director to make sure that information vans go round to, at least, give the right information to the people.

Madam Speaker, if we do not take care, the period will be extended, the wrong things will be done and in the long run, we will cause financial loss to the State. We need to avoid that, we need to avoid waste of funds; the funds should go where they are needed and the exercise should be looked at and reviewed and effectively monitored and executed.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to comment on this Statement.
Mr Charles S. Hodogbey (NDC -- North Tongu) 11:05 a.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement.
Madam Speaker, truly, the problem is not only peculiar to Manhyia or Ashanti Region. In the other regions where this exercise took place, similar problems existed.
The cause of all this is, Madam Speaker, because we lack a very effective method of checking fraud in registering people, that is why a few number of days are given to each region for registration. In all other jurisdictions, Madam Speaker,
Mr E. K. D. Adjaho (NDC -- Avenor/ Ave) 11:15 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity. Madam Speaker, it is good that the Statement was made and brought to the attention of this nation through the floor of the House. But a serious allegation
has been made, that people are conducting the registration in a way to take money from ordinary people and I think that that is a very serious allegation.
I will only want to urge that Hon Members of Parliament should encourage their constituents to refer these matters to the police because it is criminal, so that the police can investigate these matters. If we make these matters here on the floor of the House and we do not pursue them to their logical conclusion, while the same people are not also on the floor to respond to some of these allegations, it will not be balanced.
Therefore, I would want to urge my Hon Colleagues who made those allegations to refer these matters to the police for investigation.
Madam Speaker, thank you very much.
Mrs Gifty Ohene-Konadu (NPP -- Asante Akim South) 11:15 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I wish to thank you for giving me the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement made by the Hon Member for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
Madam Speaker, I would like to draw attention to a group that was left out in this exercise. And this is a group of people who, because of one disability or the other, could not walk to the registration centres to be registered; and they include lame people, blind people, the aged and other vulnerable groups.
Madam Speaker, after they had left my constituency, I had reports that these people were not registered. So, I would like to draw the attention of the authorities to seek ways of getting these very important people also registered.
Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement.
Minister for Local Government and
Rural Development (Mr Joseph Y. Chireh): Madam Speaker, thank you.
First of all, let me commend the maker of the Statement for bringing this to the House. But one will notice that even when the registration was taking place here, in Accra, there were similar complaints. In fact, people were arrested as the First Deputy Speaker indicated, because they were collecting moneys.
There is also the issue of whether there will be a closure after this initial exercise, no. This is a mass registration exercise to capture the data, but anybody who comes of age would still be registered. The law that was made here took into account the stages that this thing has to go through. For the malfeasance, I think that the most important thing is for people to gather courage and make a report.
But I also recall that the Acting Director- General of the National Identification Authority (NIA) had an occasion to assure the people of the Ashanti Region, in particular, when he called on the Asantehene -- and these issues were also raised. I believe that they are listening to what we are saying, and that they will take the steps that are necessary to correct these anomalies.
For those who are concerned about where people sleep and do the exercise, it has to be noted that, these are people who offered themselves and who gave indication that they will be ready and willing to do this exercise with no inconvenience to them about where they sleep. It is not as if some people were transported from one region to the other, unnecessarily. It is because the programme itself, because of the temporary nature of the registration, it has to recruit those who do this.
In terms of equipment and failures of

equipment, I believe that it will all depend on how much funding we can give to the NIA to be able to do this effectively. But I can assure all of us that, --as with the street naming and house numbering that my Hon Colleague referred to, we are doing a lot of preparatory work, and we believe that sooner than later, we will embark on the actual programme of street naming and identification.

You cannot be in a position to identify a property or house when you do not know which street you should go to. It is very simple, but it requires us to do that, and if it is so done with the support of all Hon Members of Parliament, it will make the registration and identification of houses easier.

But I want to re-assure my Hon Colleagues who have raised this issue that the attention of NIA will be drawn to these, but those other criminal elements as the Hon First Deputy Speaker has indicated should be reported to the appropriate authority for action to be taken.

If we continue making allegations against people without making them responsible, individualizing the respon- sibilities, then we will be condoning many more mass misconduct. And I believe that those who have the evidence should gather
Minister for Communication (Mr Haruna Iddrisu) 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I thank you very much for the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement ably made by Hon Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh on the NIA registration in Kumasi, and to draw public attention to a number of challenges.
Madam Speaker, I wish to assure Hon Dr Prempeh and our Hon Colleagues and the people of Ashanti Region that there are other additional plans to ensure that all the people in the area are given the opportunity to register. Indeed, temporary registration centres will be established for an additional one month to do a mop-up after the completion of the mass registration exercise.
Madam Speaker, you will recall that when the initiative of mass registration commenced in July, 2008, the anticipation of Government at the time was to complete this exercise by March 2009. But for the same challenges of funding, Government was unable to complete the exercise. I do know that even for the Ashanti Region, 100 additional operators were recruited in anticipation of the densely populated areas and Government is supporting them to procure other additional materials, particularly, their Local Area Network (LAN) to make identification much more easier.
So, I want to commend the Hon Member for Manyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh for bringing the issue to the fore. The problems are not new but Government will see how it addresses them with temporal registration booths,
particularly, for the densely populated areas. And also to ensure that a system is developed for effective production of the cards for its distribution when the exercise is completed.
With these few comments, I thank you for the opportunity.
Madam Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Thank you. Let
us have one more and then we move on.
Dr Kojo Appiah 11:25 a.m.
None

(Atwima-Kwanwoma): Thank you, Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to associate myself with the Statement on the floor of the House.

Indeed, the importance of the National Identification exercise cannot be over- emphasized but it appears that the exercise is besieged with serious problems. In spite of all these problems, there is the need to ensure that all efforts are put on the ground to ensure the smooth running of the exercise.

These problems that have been talked about by my Colleagues include insufficient materials, unco-operation of the workers and particularly, insufficient time allocated for the exercise. Indeed, to allocate ten days for such an important exercise for a large area or a region like the Ashanti Region is woefully inadequate.

My constituency which has a population of about 103 to 104 thousand people was given just ten days for the exercise and I believe the ten days is woefully inadequate.

In view of the importance of this exercise, everybody in the country should be registered. I would recommend to the National Identification Authority to open up temporary district offices during the exercise so that people who are unable to register will do so at these district offices.

In addition to that, I would also recommend to the National Identification Authority to open permanent regional offices for people who are unable to

register to do so.

I believe that if these offices were to be opened, they would go a long way in helping to mop-up all those who have not been registered.

With these few words Madam Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity.
Madam Speaker 11:25 a.m.
Hon Members, Statement time is ended and we move to item 4 on the Order Paper.
PAPERS 11:25 a.m.
MOTIONS 11:25 a.m.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi) 11:25 a.m.
Madam 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 Finance Committee on the Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and Raifeinsen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft (Central Bank of Austria) for an amount of €7,495,000.00 for the upgrading and enhancement of Technical and Vocational Training Centres may be moved today.
Mr Ignatius Baffuor Awuah 11:25 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion on the floor.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
item 5.

Credit Agreement between GOG and Raifeinsen Zentralbank Osterreich

Aktiengesellschaft
Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi) 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Credit Agreement
between the Government of Ghana and Raifeinsen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft (Central Bank of Austria) for an amount of €7,495,000.00 for the upgrading and enhancement of Technical and Vocational Training Centres.
Madam Speaker, in doing so, I present your Committee's Report.
1.0 Introduction
The Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and Raifeinsen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft (Central Bank of Austria) for an amount of seven million, four hundred and ninety- five thousand euros (€7,495,000.00) for the upgrading and enhancement of technical and vocational training centres was laid in the House on Tuesday, 4th May, 2010 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and Order 171(1) of the Standing Orders of the House.
The Committee met and considered the Agreement with the Minister for Education, Hon Alex Tettey-Enyo and his Deputy, Hon Dr Joseph Annan, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Hon Seth Terkpeh and technical teams from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Education and presents this Report.
2.0 Background
The Government of Ghana places emphasis on teacher education and technical and vocational education as part of its enhanced human resource development efforts. In support of this vision and in a bid to support Govern-

ment's poverty reduction programme, the Ministry of Education has prioritized the upgrading of teacher education and enhancement of technical and vocational training centres in the country.

To this end, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, approached the Central Bank of Austria for funding to implement this project. The total cost of the project is estimated at twenty-five million euros (€25.0 million). Due to financing constraints, the project has been phased into two. This first phase costing €7,495,000 is for the upgrading and enhancement of selected technical training centres.

3.0 Purpose of the Loan

The purpose of the Agreement is to provide funds for the implementation of the first phase of the project to upgrade and enhance technical and vocational training centres in the country.

4.0 Terms of the Credit

The terms of the Agreement are as follows:

Loan Amount -- €7,495,000.00

Grace Period -- 5 years

Repayment Period -- 8.5 years

Maturity Period -- 13.5 years

Interest Rate -- 0 per cent

Management Fee -- 0 . 5 p e r cent (flat)

Commitment Fee -- 0 . 2 5 p e r cent per annum

Grant Element -- 36.08 per cent

5.0 Observations

The Committee was informed that technical institutions selected for upgrading under phase 1 are:

Tema Technical Institute

Takoradi Technical Institute

St. Paul's Technical School, Kukurantumi

Kumasi Technical Institute

Accra Technical Training Centre

The training fields and areas of study to be covered under this facility are:

Mechanical Engineering -- such as basic metal works, turning and milling, grinding, sheet metal works, forging and heat treatment for basic works, welding and pipe fitting.

Electrical Engineering with basic Electronic Engineering -- such as basic electric, domestic electric, industrial electric (including motors and controls) and basic electronics.

Automotive Engineering -- such as 2-stroke engine, 4-stroke engine (gasoline and diesel), electrical system, brake system, power transmission system, diagnostic and general servicing.

Computer Engineering -- such as servicing and maintenance of personal computer (PC) hardware, networking, software application for service and maintenance of PC and software application for PC networking.

Home Economics/Catering -- This programme is tailored to train professional staff to support the hotel and tourism industry with services such as catering, cooking and training of stewards.

It was also noted that as part of the project, several constructional works would be undertaken.

These include the construction of an automobile workshop at Tema Technical Institute, construction of a catering block with cooking and eating area at Tema Technical Institute, construction of catering block with cooking and eating area at Takoradi Technical Institute and construction of a computer laboratory at St. Paul's Technical School, Kukurantumi.

Again, all workshops in the beneficiary institutions are to be re-equipped and refurbished or expanded to take up the new equipment.

The Committee was informed that as part of the project, there shall be in-country training for teachers on the operation and maintenance of the equipment to be supplied. There shall also be a comparison study tour to Austria for a week.

It was explained to the Committee that catering facilities are being added to technical institutions to help cater for the growing demand of students for catering courses which were said to be outstripping the facilities and capacity of existing institutions like the polytechnics.

The Committee observed that the project would help provide well-trained technical middle level human resource with the requisite skills, which are critical for the industrial development of the economy.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr James K. Avedzi) 11:35 a.m.
Contractors for the project are Messrs MCE Industrietechnik Linz GmBH & Co of Austria.
5.1 Taxes
Article 13 of the Agreement requires that all payments and activities in connection with the Agreement and all payments and activities in connection with the implementation of the concerned contract shall be waived/exempt from all kinds of taxes and duties (such as stamp duty, customs duties, value added tax, withholding tax, et cetera) imposed by the Republic of Ghana.
Again, all repayments to be made by Ghana to the lender shall be made without set-off or counterclaim and free of all taxes and charges.
The Committee, in this vein, advised the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Education to endeavour to bring to the House in due course for consideration and approval, a formal request for the waiver of taxes and duties associated with the project.
6.0 Conclusion
In view of the immense benefits to be derived from the project, the Committee respectfully recommends to the House to adopt this Report and approve by Resolution, the Credit Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and Raifeinsen Zentralbank Osterreich Aktiengesellschaft (Central Bank of Austria) an amount of seven million, four hundred and ninety-five thousand euros (€7,495,000.00) for the upgrading and enhancement of technical and vocational training centres in accordance with article

181 of the Constitution, sections 3 and 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and the Standing Orders of the House.

Respectfully submitted.
Mr Ignatius B. Awuah (NPP -- Sunyani West) 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion on the floor.
Madam Speaker, we have looked at the facility in terms of its pricing and the objectives. In the case of pricing, we agreed that the terms are moderate, and meet the concessionary requirements of the IMF and World Bank, so we have no problem with that.
Madam Speaker, on the objective of promoting vocational studies, I think it will give an opportunity for school leavers, especially junior high school leavers who do not have the intention of pursuing pure secondary education to have an alternative of going into vocational studies.
Madam Speaker, my concern, however, is on the emphasis which is given to mainly engineering studies. This is because if you look at the programmes which are going to be considered under this programme -- we have mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automotive engineering, computer engineering, perhaps, with only catering being an exception from engineering. But there are other vocational courses which are equally important and should be considered in any future arrangement.
Madam Speaker, my other concern is on the schools selected. If you look at the schools very well, we have Tema Technical Institute, Takoradi Technical Institute, St. Paul's Technical School at Kukurantumi, Kumasi Technical Institute and Accra Technical Training Centre.
Madam Speaker, strangely enough, there is no school from Brong Ahafo up to the Northern and Upper Regions mentioned in this programme. This means that, in terms of giving technical education, especially in accessing this particular facility to enhance technical education, schools from the northern part of the country are not considered and it is my proposal that in the second phase, most schools from the northern sections of this country should be included.
Madam Speaker, on this note, I beg to second the motion on the floor.
Thank you.
Question proposed.
Mr Alfred W.G. Abayateye (NDC --
Sege): Madam Speaker, I rise to support this motion and urge the whole House to appreciate it and just push it through because it is in the interest of the nation.
Madam Speaker, we have come to a time where we have to be very, very critical of the development of technical and vocational training in the country. It is a fact that the theory has not helped the country much and we need to be more practical to the issues, hence this assistance.
In the course of our meeting, we raised this issue of why the North has not been catered for, but the Hon Minister told us that the things are in stages and definitely, it will affect the North when the other things are ready.
It is worth noting also that we want to create centres of excellence. In fact, in the course of our deliberations, we were hitting so hard -- I for one was hitting that the first choice for centre of excellence should be the Kumasi Technical Institute because I stayed in Kumasi from l978 and I know the facilities of that school -- the environment is conducive, the things are there but a little push will make that
Mr Ignatius B. Awuah (NPP -- Sunyani West) 11:35 a.m.


school more than a university, technically, and that is one of the issues.

Again, the Hon Minister told us that we are trying to make all the technical institutes centres of excellence but we have to begin from somewhere. We will call their attention when additional money is sought for, for the upgrading of others and we were assured that when this is through and we see the outcome of it, it will push us faster to work on them.

With these few words, I want to thank the whole House -- your Committee did a thorough job on their behalf; we examined all the terms, we realized they were favourable to the State and we want all to give a helping hand to push this through.

With these, I support the motion.

Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu (NPP

- Dormaa West): Madam Speaker, I think that all Members of this House should have the privilege of getting copies of the actual Agreement from which the Finance Committee considered and prepared this Report. Unfortunately, I do not have one and a few Colleagues I have contacted do not have the copies of the actual Agreement. So how do we consider this motion?
Mr Avedzi 11:35 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I just
want to inform the Hon Member that the Agreement has been distributed to every Member of this House. So he should check his pigeonhole, probably, he might have packed it together with other reports. So he should go and look for it.
Madam Speaker 11:35 a.m.
But if he has not
got it, have you got another copy just to show it to him? Well, I believe it has been distributed but you can get a copy if you want. We should not stop work here.
Prof. (Emeritus) Samuel K. Amoako (NPP - Akim Abuakwa North) 11:45 a.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to associate myself with the motion.
Madam Speaker, I will appeal to all my Colleagues to support the motion, taking into consideration, the zero interest rate and the very reasonable terms of the Agreement. I am particularly fascinated by the inclusion of St. Paul's Technical School, Kukurantumi, which is in my constituency, as one of the beneficiaries of the credit.
But Madam Speaker, there is one thing that I want to point out and that is, I will appeal to the Minister for Education to think about -- [Interruption] -- I hope you, Hon Minister for Education is paying attention.
We all know that the vocational and technical schools in this country are very important and after the engineers have put down their drawings and they need to be executed into projects, it is the products of these institutions that do the work - the technicians.
One important thing, which is an appeal I am making to him is, these vocational and technical schools should all have production units, and I believe whatever they realise from what they produce from these institutions, will help his budget. I think many of these schools do not have production units. I happen to know that St. Paul's Technical School has a very viable production unit and so are Accra Technical Training College (ATTC), Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) and Tema Technical Institute (TTI).
I will be very grateful if we could
expand this to include all the technical schools in the country to have production units so that they can produce many things
Prof. (Emeritus) Samuel K. Amoako (NPP - Akim Abuakwa North) 11:45 a.m.


that will help support the Ministries.

By extension, I will also appeal to his and perhaps, to the Government that an allocation, a percentage of government projects of contracts should be given to these production units of the vocational and technical schools. I believe that would give practical training to the students of these institution.

With these few comments, I support the motion.

Mr. Emmanuel K. Bedzra (NDC --

Ho West): Thank you Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the motion. In doing so, I will also urge my Colleagues to support this Agreement.

Madam Speaker, I will urge the

Minister for Education that in the next phase of the project, technical schools in the other regions should be included. I have noticed that the Greater Accra Region alone, that is, the Tema Technical Institute and the Accra Technical Training Centre have been included in this Agreement while the Volta Region which has a lot of technical schools has not been included. Also, the three northern regions were not included in this Agreement. I believe that in the next phase, they could do well to include the Volta Region and the three northern regions.

Madam Speaker, in addition to that,

I will also want to urge the contractors who will be handling this project to take every precaution to construct the project to specification. In times past, we noticed that most projects that have been constructed in this country do not conform to specifications and within the shortest possible time, we will have to do maintenance work on the them.

I also want to urge beneficiaries of the

project, that is, the students who would be trained at the various technical schools to take advantage of this project because we have an emerging oil and gas industry and we need the technical manpower to man the industries and to support the industries.

With these few words, Madam Speaker, I would want to support the motion.
Madam Speaker 11:45 a.m.
Let us have one more and then the Minister will wind up; we have so much work today.
Mr Samuel Ayeh-Paye (NPP -- Ayensuano) 11:45 a.m.
Thank you Madam Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to support the motion on the floor.
Madam Speaker, technical and vocational education have been relegated to the background for a long time. Until recently, we have seen politicians and governments showing interest in vocational and technical education, especially from 1992 when our democracy started.
Madam Speaker, the notion that technical and vocational education are reserved for school dropouts should be a thing of the past. Now, we have seen that Ghana can develop its industrial sector through technical and vocational education. Industrialized countries like Germany and others which have been able to grow their industrial sector have done that through proper technical and vocational education. And it is very important that all of us should see to the development of technical and vocational education in this country.
Madam Speaker, with the introduction and upgrading of all polytechnics into tertiary institutions, where somebody
who graduates from a technical institution can gain admission into a polytechnic to offer a Higher National Diploma and even go up to have a B-Tech which is equal to BSc or have an MTech, which is equal to a Masters Degree or even a DTech, which is equal to the Doctorate Degree, is a motivatory factor to all students who would like to go through technical or vocational education so that they would have access to higher education and, therefore, we can grow the middle level manpower of this country.
Madam Speaker, my only concern on this Report is the fact that the technical schools selected are schools that are in the city centres and the question is, how many people can access these schools from the districts and the rural areas? In my constituency -- Ayensuano, you will see a lot of students who are not able to further their education after the JHS due to one problem or the other.
I would suggest that the next phase of this project should also consider schools from the rural areas and also at the district level so that those who cannot come to ATTC or KTI and others, can also gain access to some of these technical institutions closer to their areas, so they can help develop the country through technological development.
With these few words Madam Speaker, I support the motion.
Minority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 11:45 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I will also lend my voice in support of the Agreement. Madam Speaker, I, however, notice that the Committee has indicated to us that the total cost of the project is estimated at €25 million. And they are telling us that we are only able to access €7.495 million because of financing constraints.
Minority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, i t , therefore, means that for the reasons stated by the Committee, we are only able to access just a little above twenty-five per cent, that is, a quarter of the facility - in actual fact about twenty-eight per cent of the facility because of the financing constraints.
What assurances are we having that the hurdles imposed by the financing constraints may be scaled or we will be able to scale them as a nation such that in the phase two of the project, we will be able to access the remaining seventy- two per cent? Because Madam Speaker, we have a facility and we are only able to access twenty-eight per cent. What is the guarantee that we will now be able to access the remaining seventy-two per cent? Would we be able to scale those hurdles in whatever time?
Madam Speaker, it is important to look at this because if the initial implementation of this project does not register a bold improvement in the quality of education, chances are that the second tranche, if it comes, would not yield any good dividend, the desired dividend. So we need really to attend to this.

Madam Speaker, I notice that we have mentioned five institutions to benefit from the initial access, that is the first phase. Are we to believe that when the second tranche is accessed, it is still going to reinforce the projects that might have been initiated in these five institutions or they would go to a second group of identified groups? We need the information on this.

It is important to know this because

they are telling us of identifying five areas that they are going to apply these moneys to. The first one is mechanical engineering and they have cited basic metal works, turning and milling, grinding, sheet metal works, forging and heat treatment for
Minority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 11:55 a.m.


basic works, welding and pipe fitting. Any person with fundamental knowledge in this matter - mechanical engineering - these ones -

Madam Speaker, if anybody goes to any of these institutions, one would recognise that most of the machines there have already broken down. Many of them are unserviceable, so you need to provide new ones. What is the cost of purchasing one lathe machine -- assuming all the students are going to use one machine? What is the cost of purchasing one grinding machine -- assuming that you are only going to use one for the entire institution?

When you come to do the computation, assuming everyone is going to receive the same flat amount, how much is one institution going to get? Less than 20 billion old Ghana cedis. So you are talking about how much now? About GH¢2 million. Let us compute them and see what they would be able to purchase for the use of the students such that we will be able to add to quality in education. They will not amount to much.

So, if we want to reinvigorate education, we better be far bolder than what we are doing, otherwise, we would not achieve anything and if we are not careful, they would be swallowed up in some bureaucratic practices and structures and we would have contracted the loan or the grant or whatever and the students would not benefit. So, Madam Speaker, let us be bolder; let us be bolder than we have been.

It amounts to almost nothing, even if you apply it to mechanical engineering alone and we do not come to electrical engineering -- we are not talking about automotive engineering - two-stroke engines. They are things of yesteryears and my Hon Colleague the Minister for -- is it Aviation or what is it -- Hon Mike Hammah? What is his Ministry? Madam Speaker, he knows it. The Hon Member

by Government to mobilise the funds internally and externally to enable this country to move fast on this long-standing effort to improve upon it.

The Ministry has taken note of all the suggestions made and we are going to work on all the assumptions -- wrong perceptions about the value of technical and vocational education and I am, indeed, happy that that issue has been raised on the floor of Parliament today and that all of us would try to sensitise both parents and students to realise that they are not in this area of education and preparing for their future just because they were unable to gain admission into other senior high schools/institutions but that it is a good choice.

It is a good option for them to get into these areas of skill training that would make them self-employed and that would make them ready to contribute to the economic development of this country.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, the Ministry is going to work hard to get further funding for the second phase of the project.

Indeed, I have to explain that if we had started early to get the approval for this loan, we would have done a lot on the value of the estimates made towards the contraction of this Agreement. All the same, we will work assiduously to utilise the available funds judiciously to enable us achieve our ends. The mobilisation that we are seeking for the second phase will go to a selection of other technical institutes in the country.

We hope we will be able to utilise this facility effectively so that the other agreements we are trying to sign with the Koreans and Chinese would then go to the upgrading of the other technical institutes in the country.

for Winneba knows that if we should apply them on automotive engineering, even there alone, they will not register any presence.

So, yes, we desire it; it is good that we are initiating these policies but let us be bolder. Otherwise, it would be much ado about nothing.

Madam Speaker, I thank you.
Madam Speaker 11:55 a.m.
Yes, can you wind up then?
Minister for Education (Mr Tettey- Enyo) 11:55 a.m.
Madam Speaker, I wish, first of all, to thank all my Hon Colleague contributors to the motion to approve this facility for use by the Ministry of Education to promote technical and vocational education in this country.
The move to generate improvement in the system was made several years ago, particularly, two years ago, when the need was felt that we should have a bold attempt to upgrade the equipment and facilities in our technical institutions. So, a move was made to mobilise funds for a start in this process of upgrading our technical institutes.
Work on this project should have started in April last year but we could not get the loan agreement finalised because there was a revision on the earlier Agreement and we thought by November last year, we would have started work on the project. It is my joy this morning that we have almost reached the end of getting approval for this first facility that we will use for the first phase.
Indeed, the thrust of the on-going reform is on technical and vocational education and all attempts are being made
Minister for Education (Mr Tettey- Enyo) 11:55 a.m.


Madam Speaker, we would also seek to have a first selection of the institutes we are going in because there is already an obvious criticism of the narrowing up of the selection of schools but that was done under the understanding that to be able to use this facility, we needed a basic equipment of the existing schools as we have always been doing with the upgrading of our institutions teaching science and other technical subjects.

You need to have a basic level of equipment in order to build up the utilisation of the donor funds to complete the upgrading exercise and this is exactly what we are going to do with this facility.

We also want to assure Hon Members that in the selection of the next group of institutions, we would, definitely, go to schools outside the towns or the areas from which we have selected the present number of technical institutes.

I wish once more to thank Hon Members; we assure them that we have taken on board all the proposals and suggestions they have made and we hope what we are doing and what we will be doing in future will promote technical education in this country and help develop the economy of this country.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTIONS 12:05 p.m.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 12:05 p.m.
H E R E B Y R E S O LV E S A S 12:05 p.m.
Mr James K. Avedzi 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Suspension of Standing Order 80 (1)
Chairman of the Committee (Mr
James K. Avedzi): Madam 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 Finance Committee on the Preferential Buyer's Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the People's Republic of China acting through the Export- Import Bank of China for an amount of US$260.00 million for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project may be moved today.
Mr Joseph Y. Chireh 12:05 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Credit Agreement between GOG and Exim Bank of China
Chairman of the Committee (Mr
James K. Avedzi): Madam Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Preferential Buyer's Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the People's Republic of China acting through the Export- Import Bank of China for an amount of US$260.00 million for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project.
1.0 Introduction
The Preferential Buyer's Credit Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the People's Republic of China acting through the Export-Import Bank of China for an amount of two hundred and sixty million United States dollars (US$260.00 million) for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project was laid in the House on Tuesday, 4th May, 2010 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution and Order 171(1) of the Standing Orders of the House.
The Committee met and considered the Agreement with the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Hon Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon Alban Sumani Kingsford Bagbin, Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Hon Seth Terkpeh, Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Hon Maj. (Dr) (Alhaji) Mustapha Ahmed (retd.) and technical teams from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and presents this Report.
2.0 Background
The Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (then known as the Ministry of Works and Housing) and Ghana Water Company Limited advertised in September 2003 for proposals to execute the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project.
Out of forty (40) firms that expressed interest, only five (5) firms actually submitted bids. These are Messrs Biwater International Limited, Messrs China Ghezouba and Power Group Company Limited, Messrs Umgeni Kpong Water Supply Scheme Consortium, Messrs PW
Mr Joseph Y. Chireh 12:05 p.m.


US$260.00 million

Grace Period -- 5 years

Repayment Period -- 15 years

Maturity Period -- 20 years

Interest Rate -- 2 per cent per annum

Commitment Fee -- 0.75 per cent per annum

Management Fee -- 1per cent flat

Grant Element -- 37.08 per cent

4.0 Observations

The Committee observed that the main scope of works identified under the project include the following:

the construction of a new intake and raw water pumping station (capacity 353,000 m3/day delivering 196,000 m3/day to proposed new treatment plant);

installation of a new treatment plant of capacity 186,000 m3/day;

activating of sludge pump house and improvement of existing sludge discharging channel;

provision of dedicated power line from Kpong to Dodowa Booster Station (approximately 36 km);

construction of a new booster station at Dodowa;

installation of pressure mains from Kpong to Accra through Oyibi terminating in Medium Pressure Zones (MPZ) reservoir at Okponglo through

a. DI 1200 mm 66 km

b. DI 900 mm 7.5 km; and

construction of Oyibi concrete ground reservoir (capacity 40,000 m3).

The Committee was also informed that to ensure the improvement of water distribution in Accra, 5,000m3 reservoirs and 1,042m3/h booster stations would be

provided at both Boi and Ofankor to serve high areas.

Under the project, the existing Kpong Staff Housing would be rehabilitated while access road to the plant would be improved.

As to how long the project would take to complete, the Committee was informed that the project would be completed in 48 months from the date of commencement.

It was noted that the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project is a priority project which, when implemented, would increase water supply from Kpong Head Works to Accra and Tema to improve the reliability of potable water delivery to domestic, commercial and industrial customers in the Accra-Tema supply area of the Ghana Water Company Limited.

The Committee further noted that article 16.6 of the Agreement provides that any amendment or waiver of any provision of the Agreement and any waiver of any default under the Agreement shall only be effective if made in writing and signed by or on behalf of the party against whom the amendment or waiver is asserted.

Some members were of the opinion that the cost of the renovation of the GWCL Head Office should be delinked from the “General Items” and rather be borne out of the Government of Ghana contribution and not from the loan. The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning accepted this suggestion in good faith.

Members of the Committee expressed concern about the increase in the price of the contract sum from 2006 level of US$198 million to the 2009 level of US$273 million, thus an increase of about US$74 million over the said period.

The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing explained with
Mr Joseph Y. Chireh 12:05 p.m.
to the increase in the total price of the contract.
4.1 Taxes
Article 8 of the Agreement requires that all payments by the Borrower under the Agreement “shall be paid in full to the Lender without set-off or counterclaim or retention and free and clear of and without any deduction or withholding for or on account of any taxes or any charges.” In the event the Borrower is required by law to make any such deduction or withholding from any payment under the Agreement, “then the Borrower shall forthwith pay to the Lender such additional amount as will result in the immediate receipt by the Lender of the full amount which would have been received had no such deduction or withholding been made.”
The Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Hon Seth Terkpeh informed the Committee that a formal request for the waiver of the relevant taxes and duties associated with the project would be presented to Parliament in due course for consideration and approval.
5.0 Conclusion
T h e C o m m i t t e e r e s p e c t f u l l y recommends to the House, in view of the foregoing observations, to adopt this Report and approve by Resolution, the Preferential Buyer's Credit Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of the People's Republic of China acting through the Export-Import Bank of China for an amount of two hundred and sixty million United States dollars (US$260 million) for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution, sections 3 and 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335) and the Standing Orders of the

House.

Respectfully submitted.
Mr Ignatius B. Awuah (NPP - Sunyani West) 12:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion on the floor.
Madam Speaker, we have looked at the terms of the loan and we are of the opinion that a grace period of five years and a repayment period of fifteen years at an interest rate of 2 per cent, a commitment fee of 0.75 per annum and a management fee of 1 per cent flat which gives us a grant element of 37.08 per cent is appropriate because it meets the concessional requirement.
Madam Speaker, we are, however, having reservations on some aspects of the technical side of the project. Madam Speaker, as we were told in the Report, between 2006 and 2008, this project has recorded a price variation of US$74.3 million. Madam Speaker, we think this is on the higher side and as was recorded in the Report, we asked for justification for this.
We were told that four major things informed the price increase; that is, appreciation of the local Chinese currency to the dollar, increase in prices generally, increase in salaries especially in China and also additional works which were not envisaged in the initial project.
Madam Speaker, we also observed that in the original loan agreement, an amount of US$4 million is set aside for head office renovation and housing units for workers of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
Madam Speaker, we are of the view that if there is a Government of Ghana counterpart fund, then that fund should be used to fund the renovation of the head

office and also the provision of housing units for the workers of GWCL. We believe that that should not be included in the original loan which Government is contracting because the loan should go strictly into the production of water.

Madam Speaker, apart from that, going back to the price differentials, in the case of some specific items, the price differentials were as high as 100 per cent. If we take D1 pipe, DN 350 per metre, the initial cost was US$37.92 but the current cost as of 2009 came to US$76.08 and in percentage terms, that is 100.63 per cent increment.

Madam Speaker, we think that even though this is justified, these increases are too high and should be looked into. In fact, we were given the assurance that, yes, even though these things are indicated, when works are done and certificates are presented, technical men would verify the certificates and ensure that in fact, whatever we are going to pay for, we have value for that. So on that basis, we agreed that if that is going to be done and that assurance has been given by the Hon Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, then it should be accepted.

So Madam Speaker, on this note, I beg

to second the motion on the floor.

Question proposed.
Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah (NPP - Bantama) 12:15 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I rise to support the motion and in so doing, I want to bring to the fore a few observations.
Madam Speaker, it is stated in the Report that the figure that was going to be used for the project in 2006 was US$190 million and in 2010, as I speak, the figure is now US$273 million for the total - [Interruptions] -- I am sorry. For the 2009, the figure is US$273 million; including Government of Ghana, the total
is US$273 in the Report.
Madam Speaker, the justification for
the increment of the US$74 million has been given by my Hon Colleague, but my worry is that those figures were quoted in 2009 when the exchange rate was GH¢1.50 to the dollar. As I speak today, 6th May, 2010, we all know that the dollar has gone down - the cedi has appreciated considerably. [Laughter.] Therefore, I want to bring to the fore this difference in the pricing. Madam Speaker, I also want to find out -- [Interruption.] I was not at the Finance Committee meetings so I do not know, hence this comment.
We, as a Government, that is before this current Government came to power, had this policy of always having our projects projecting into the future, like ten years, twenty years, thirty years. I hope this project would take care of the rise in population for either 2020 or 2030. I do not think we can sit here in Parliament and approve any more loans in the near future; it should take us through to the year 2020 or 2030. I hope this has been taken care of.
Madam Speaker, there was also another policy that we implemented and that was very good, and I hope that has also been taken care of by the Ministry, with regard to serving villages and hamlets when the distribution of water is being done. Because that gives a lot of help to the inhabitants who live en route and this prevents them from tampering with the pipelines. So I hope this would be taken care of.
Madam Speaker, we all know the importance of the need to increase water supply to the inhabitants in Accra and its environs, and this project was started as far back as 2003, so I am particularly elated that it has seen the light of day. But like I
Mr Albert Abongo (NDC - Bongo) 12:25 p.m.
Thank you Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to the motion to approve this facility for the construction of a water treatment plant at Kpong.
Madam Speaker, indeed, Accra-Tema has a huge shortfall of water and so with this facility coming on board, I believe that will go a long way to reduce that shortfall within Accra-Tema area. In fact, industries as well as other users have complained over and over again regarding Ghana Water Company Limited's inability to deliver adequate quantities of water for their consumption.
Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah (NPP - Afigya-Sekyere West) 12:25 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I certainly do not have any problem at all with this particular loan. I believe in the effort to improve upon the reliability of potable water delivery to domestic, commercial and industrial customers in the Accra-Tema supply area and for that matter, for the country, is something that must be supported. My concern, however, Madam Speaker, is that the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning and indeed, the Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing and the Government as a whole, have continued to express very, very serious concerns about the rising ratio of gross public debt to GDP and I think it is an advice that we should take seriously.
Because of this, Madam Speaker, I would have expected that the Committee
or the Minister should let us know the effect of this new loan on the stock of public debt. At least, we need to know what is the stock of public debt today and the effect that it is going to have on it. We need to know the new ratio of the public debt to GDP. I believe the Minister has undertaken a debt sustainability analysis and he is convinced that we will have no difficulty re-paying this loan when it falls due for repayment.
But Madam Speaker, when they are asking Parliament to approve this loan, they should give that information to us so that we will have the comfort that we need in giving approval to this particular loan.

So, yes, I congratulate the Hon Minister for initiating something like this, but in line with the advice that he used to give to us in this House, he should give us these details so that we would know whether it is worth supporting or not, so that we would know whether we are not contracting too many loans, so that we would know - [Uproa] -- Yes, because that has been a concern to you - so we will know whether you will have the capability to pay for it when the repayment time comes.

I thank you Madam Speaker.
Mr David T. Assumeng (NDC - Shai Osudoku) 12:35 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Government and people of China for this
facility that has come at this appropriate time.
Madam Speaker, I want to say that this facility has been long overdue because water as we said, is life and so, it is gratifying that today we are seeing this facility going through the Parliament of Ghana.
Madam Speaker, the people of the Greater-Accra Region, for that matter, Dodowa, Madina, Oyibi, Adenta, Okere will be very happy that this facility is going through Parliament today. Madam Speaker, water shortage has been a problem of the areas that I have just mentioned. The whole of the Akwapim Ridge has been suffering from water shortages and I am just happy that Hon. Dan Botwe is there and he is nodding and I believe that he will give his massive vote for this facility.
Madam Speaker, water is life and to build a better Ghana, there is the need for us to provide good potable water for the people of this country. And so, we just have to thank the President of the Republic for continuing the good work that he inherited, for that matter, this loan facility that was initiated by the previous Government. [Hear! Hear!] This loan, which is also part of the reason for this emergency Sitting, must be commended. This shows that the coming of Hon Members to this House is very, very important. We have to thank the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning for bringing us back at this very crucial time to come and approve this loan.
Madam Speaker, it is my hope that we will monitor this facility. And I want to give the assurance to this House that the Select Committee on Works and Housing will monitor this project, monitor every pesewa of this project to the final conclusion. We will hold everyone accountable and make sure that there are no leakages as far as this facility is concerned, because this facility is dear to
Mr David T. Assumeng (NDC - Shai Osudoku) 12:35 p.m.
information and clarification from the Hon Minister either from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning or from the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing from which market they are buying from, where they got the quotations from, and why these rises.
With this, I believe, we will be clear in our mind to support the motion.

Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports (Nii Nortey Dua): Madam Speaker, I wish to thank you for giving me the opportunity to lend my voice to this very important issue of water and to support it.

The Report, as presented to this august House, says that if the project is undertaken, it will improve the water supply from the Kpong head water works to Accra and Tema and that therefore, means that the people of Nungua, Teshie and La will also benefit from this project.

Water, as we all know, cannot be replaced by any other thing. So, if you are thirsty, anything that you take in and it is not water, will never quench your thirsty. It is, therefore, heartwarming that His Excellency, the President is ensuring that this project, which started way back in 2003 will see the light of the day this year for the benefit of the people.

If you come to my constituency, for example, because of lack of water in the area, people are indulging in using water to acquire wealth and to cheat on the people. And so, quite recently, the Ledzokuku- Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) had to be very ruthless to break down the underground of people who were using pumps to draw water and therefore, cheat the other people in the community. We, therefore, believe very strongly that if this project is implemented, it will put an end to some of all these things.

Also, the project is to benefit domestic,

the people of this country.

There will not be any room for any form of embezzlement as far as this facility is concerned. And I being the Hon Chairman of the Select Committee on Works and Housing, will play a central role to make sure that everyone accounts for every pesewa or dollar of this facility.

Madam Speaker, we are very happy and we want to express our sincere gratitude to this Government and say that such facilities should be sought to better the life of the people of this country.
Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh (NPP - Nsuta-Kwamang-Beposo) 12:35 p.m.
Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to support the motion.
Madam Speaker, I believe this is a very good project initiated by the previous Government and being continued by the present Government. Madam Speaker, as the Report states, there is an increase of €74 million and that is where some of us need to be clear in our minds. Madam Speaker, on page 5, there is a list of some items and some of them show that the prices, from 2006 to 2009 are over 100 per cent. Madam Speaker, we want to know from which market we are buying. If it is from the Chinese market, we have to be convinced that the cumulative rate of inflation in China over the past three years for some goods to go over 100 per cent.
Madam Speaker, inflation in China as we all know, is very minimal. And even if we are buying from the Ghanaian market, I believe that if we take the fifth item, 100.63 per cent, the one before it are 90.10 per cent -- 90.13 per cent, 87 per cent, Madam Speaker, we would want to satisfy ourselves that there is value-for- money for these items.
Therefore, we would need some further
Madam Speaker 12:35 p.m.
Hon Member, that is why you are here and - [Laughter.]
Mr Owusu-Agyemang 12:45 p.m.
Again, Madam Speaker, they are talking about going to the - Just last year, we approved a water project for almost close to a hundred million dollars for Accra rural which was given to an Israeli company, which I understand has now been sub-contracted to Bi-Water - The Hon Chairman of the Works and Housing Committee was talking about Hon Dan Botwe and his place.
Madam Speaker, in the year 1999/2000, there was a Spanish grant which was supposed to provide water to the Akwapim Ridge. As I speak now, there is not a drop of water there. So that should be part of
rose
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Thank you Hon Member. I think it is time to wind up - Yes, Hon Minority Leader.
Minority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I believe that it is a facility worth supporting. But I think as a nation, we must establish for ourselves the quantum of water that we need per individual. Madam Speaker, we have not - [Interruptions.]
Madam Speaker, the Hon Member for Abokobi/Madina, Alhaji Sorogho does not understand these matters -- [Laughter.] So he is saying we cannot. Madam Speaker, we are not talking about ordinary water; we are talking about potable, and let me tell him, that the word is “potable” and not
Minority Leader (Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu) 12:45 p.m.
the -- I do not think this is the one that is going to serve that place. That facility was there, and then when the roads were being made, it was cut, and I think they should restore it.
Madam Speaker, I believe that the four
years is a bit on the longer side. I think the former Minister and Hon Member for Bongo, Mr Albert Abongo was saying that we need 80 million gallons a day. No, we do not produce 80 million gallons a day; if you take Kpong, the 120 minimum and then you add the Accra rural -- So I think that with this, we would be virtually covering the needs of Greater Accra and there would be no need, if it is projected properly, as the Hon Member for Bantama, Ms Cecilia Dapaah said, to have another one put in there again.
So Madam Speaker, I also believe that the Minister would be advised to make sure that the four years is too long a time to do it.
Again, this would be the time that China is giving us a treatment plant. All the treatment plants have basically come from Holland and sometimes we interchange parts and what have you and the rest. I wonder whether the Hon Minister would make sure that this project would also have a stock of spare parts which would be used for the project. Otherwise, again, you run into problems.
On the whole, there was need to re- negotiate the price, but certainly, in as much as the Yen is so low, I do not think that a hundred per cent increase in the salaries and the prices is -- And we must encourage local industries as everybody is saying. The two Presidents -- President Kufuor before President Mills - have all said it and we should buy the HDPE pipes from Ghana and not from that place.

Oh, the man himself is saying he said it and you are saying he did not say that. Were you listening to him, Hon Sorogho? Madam Speaker, I would not waste my time on Hon Sorogho any longer.

The point that we need to address, apart from the goodness in this facility, Madam Speaker, is in the area of unaccounted for water and the good thing is, the current Hon Minister worked with the Water Restructuring Committee of the Ministry of Works and Housing at the time. Madam Speaker, he knows that for water that is generated everyday in Ghana, on the average, unaccounted for water is in the region of almost 40 per cent.

Almost 40 per cent of water generated in this country is unaccounted for. Madam Speaker -- [Interruptions] --The source? He knows, the Hon Bagbin knows; he would easily corroborate what I am saying. If you do not understand, ask him. Ask A.S.K Bagbin and he would tell you. [Laughter.] Madam Speaker, the truth is that, if we do not attend to unaccounted for water - [Interruption.]
rose
Madam Speaker 12:45 p.m.
Hon Member, you want to take a point of order?
Mr Abongo 12:45 p.m.
Madam Speaker, indeed, just to emphasize what the Minority

Leader said. What I actually meant is what he said, that we still have a shortfall of close to 40 million and you can see the reasoning in that, in the figures that we have here, for the construction of a new intake plant. That is to project that, it is possible to add an additional treatment plant at that location that would give you that additional requirement.

That is why you are building an intake plant of 353,000 metre2 a day, but delivering 186,000 metre2 a day to the proposed treatment plant. So you would not be building an intake plant of 353,000 metre2 a day only to abstract 196,000 metre2 a day. So I am quite conversant with what I am talking about; I have dealt with the figures. We would still have a shortfall of close to 40 million gallons a day for Accra/Tema area, projecting 2025 after this treatment plant is constructed.
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 12:45 p.m.
I understand the predicament of my Hon Colleague. Clearly, that would be the unrescued component for now; it would be the unrescued component for now. It does not mean that it translates into a shortfall or deficiency; it does not mean that.
But I know that there still would be some deficiency anyway, and as I was saying, Madam Speaker, if we do not attend to the problem of unaccounted for water, even if we build two times such a facility, we would still have problems.
So that is the point that I am making. Beyond what I said about the daily requirement per head, we also need to establish what the actual need for the city of Accra is, once we establish what the population is -- because that is where the confusion also is. So I believe with the experience that the current Minister has or accumulated before going to the Ministry, he would be able to attend to these issues
Madam Speaker 12:55 p.m.
Thank you Honourable.
Can the Minister wind up for us now?
Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing (Mr A. S. K. Bagbin) 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, let me take this opportunity to thank Hon Members for the suggestions and the issues that have been raised during the course of the debate. They will all assist the Ministry to, after the approval, finalize the Agreement that will inure to the benefit of the country.
Madam Speaker, the issues raised are issues that can be debated until the end of the world because they are issues that do not have definite answers. We have Accra- Tema which is very, very difficult to define because, on daily basis, it is sprawling and increasing in size and in numbers.
Again, we have a process in the country which takes a very long time to implement any programme or project. This project, initiated in 2003, was meant to come on stream in 2005. In 2010, we are still approving the loan in Parliament. Therefore, the estimates that were made, all would have been thrown overboard by now and therefore, these issues that are raised are real issues and we need to look at them.
One of the things that Parliament will have to do is to re-look at the Public Procurement Act. It seems to be one of the causes of the delays in trying to formulate and implement policies in this country. Madam Speaker, I just want to say that the increase in the contract price is not just as a result of the increases in prices or wages and salaries or the value of the Yen, but it is also of the increase in the scope of the project. The scope of the project has increased and that is in the Report and
rates and partly due to the social aspect.
We know water is life and in many of our institutions, particularly the hospitals and schools and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), it is not easy to collect back what is given to these areas. So at the end of the day, the figure is even higher than what the Minority Leader spoke about and it is high time we looked at it, and I have continued the efforts of my seniors, many of whom are here to assist in trying to get many of these areas, the end users, metred so that even if they are not paying, you get to know -- [Interruption.] You will get to know how much is consumed and that could assist in our analysis of the non-revenue water which he was referring to as the unaccounted for water.
So Madam Speaker, these are the challenges facing the water sector and I hope from time to time when we come to the House, Hon Members would be that supportive; we want all Hon Members to buy in because without safe, clean water, the life quality of the individual cannot be improved and we cannot implement the “Better Ghana Agenda”.
So Madam Speaker, I thank Hon Members for their support.
Thank you very much.
Question put and motion agreed to.
RESOLUTIONS 12:55 p.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Dr. Kwabena Duffuor) 12:55 p.m.
Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (Dr. Kwabena Duffuor) 12:55 p.m.


some things have been added like a new booster station because of what we are experiencing.

There are five mechanized boreholes at Dodowa. Four are meant to serve Adenta, Madina area but because of the lack of power, the system is not able to pump water to that area. Therefore, you will need to always put in boosters to assist to pressurise the water to get to the target population. So these are some of the issues that cropped up during the compilation and negotiation of this project.

Again, as stated early on by Hon Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, they also had to look at the quality of the materials and therefore, during the course of it, there was a change from what he talked about, the PVC pipes to the HDP pipes that are now of better quality. So sometimes, you can see that it is the same size but the quality has changed, and also the number because of the expansion or extension of the distribution network.

So those numbers are not here but at the Committee level, we gave a comprehensive document, quite volumi- nous to the Finance Committee to be able to go through the figures. And I believe at the end of the day, Hon Members who raised the issues that were raised on the floor got convinced that it is worthwhile supporting and approving this loan.

Madam Speaker, we are using five gallons as the basis for the individual consumption of potable water in the country. In the United States of America, it is quite high but in Ghana, we are looking at the average of five gallons. It is true that we are struggling in getting revenue from all the volumes of water that is produced in the country partly due to leakages, due to non-payment of water

the Export-Import Bank of China for an amount of US$260.00 million for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project.
Mr James K. Avedzi 12:55 p.m.
Madam Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
MR. FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Majority Leader?
Mr Avoka 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, as at now, I will crave your indulgence and the House to defer motions 11, 12 and 13, and then we will take motions numbered 14 and 15.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Is the Report covering motions 11, 12 and 13 ready?
Mr Avedzi 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, the Report is ready, but the Committee is meeting again; so looking at the time, if we want to do that, it would affect the meeting for tomorrow's Reports.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
I do not think it is a controversial motion and so it is not going to waste time. So I will -- Hon Majority Leader, it is not a controversial motion.
Yes, Hon Member for Sekondi.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I do not understand why the Chairman would take this decision without consulting Hon Members. We are here to work. If the members of the Finance Committee go and
we stay here, can the Committee do its work? This is a non- controversial motion. Let us get it over. In fifteen minutes, we will be done with it, and we go and continue with our work.
rose
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Yes, Hon Minority Leader?
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker,
the Chairman of the Finance Committee sounded that the Committee is meeting. We do not know whether they are meeting over this same issue. If it is not, then we can go on, because as has already been intimated, it is a noncontroversial motion. So, if it is not on that, then we can take it, and since the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Planning is here and we have another Minister here, he could stand in
and then we do it.
Mr Avoka 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, there are two reasons I acceded to this request. One, there are two other financial agreements that the Finance Committee will have to look at. So they will meet this afternoon and prepare a report for us to take tomorrow, because we shall rise tomorrow at the close of day. So they will need time to be able to meet to take these two matters.
Certainly, the Hon Minister for Health is not available in the House now, so if we have to take motions numbered 11, 12, 13, he will not be available to play the role he has to play. So once it is not controversial, we know that even if we start tomorrow, within five, ten minutes, we would have sorted that out, and the Hon Minister for Health would be in the House to assist us.
The two other outstanding agreements that the Committee will have to look at would have also been ready. So, it is against this background that we are deferring this one so that we can go to item 14 that deals with the Bill. Mr Speaker,
Madam 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 andsSection 7 of the Loans Act, 1970 (Act 335), and at the request of the Government of Ghana, acting through the Minister responsible for Finance and Economic Planning, there has been laid before Parliament the terms and conditions of the Preferential Buyer‘s Credit Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the Government of the People's Republic of China acting through the Export-Import Bank of China for an amount of US$260.00 million for the construction of the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project.
THIS HONOURABLE HOUSE 1:05 p.m.
HEREBY RESOLVES AS 1:05 p.m.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:05 p.m.
Hon Minority Leader, you should tell me what -- because when Madam Speaker was leaving, she asked me to start with motion 11. But normally, I also get guidance from the Leaders of the House. That is what Madam Speaker told me, that is why --
Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, in view of the fact that we have often agreed that Ministers stand in for their Colleague Ministers, and it being acknowledged that it is noncontroversial, we could go through it, maybe, five, ten minutes, and then when we have dealt with it, we move into other areas.
Mr Speaker, but if the Hon Majority Leader is insistent, then of course, we will leave it. But, I think that the better thing to do is to allow it to go on, then we move ahead and facilitate the work of the House.
Mr Avoka 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I am not insisting on anything. If it is the wish of the House
Mr Chireh 1:05 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
Resolved accordingly.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Hon Members, before we proceed to item 12, which deals with the substantive motion, we have in the House, a delegation from Zimbabwe, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Thokozani Khupe. [Hear! Hear!]
We have other members including:
Hon T. Makone -- Minister for Public Works
Hon J. Timba -- Deputy Minister for Information and Publicity
Mrs T. Hlabangana -- Principal Director
Addelis Sibutha -- Director
Ms E. Hlabangana -- Director
Gugulethu Sibanda -- PEA to Deputy Prime Minister
Faith Ngwenya -- PA to Deputy Prime Minister
Stephen Zimbandi -- Officer
Zvamaida Murwira -- Journalist
Letwin Chidakwa -- Officer
Fidelis Tseriwa -- Foreign Affairs Officer
Kaimbamoyo Prisca -- PA to Hon Makone The purpose of their visit is to study the operations of micro-financing institutions
such as the Women World Bank of Ghana and other women's economic empowerment projects in this country.
Also, they are to meet the Women Caucus of the Parliament of Ghana -- It is a women's affair.
Hon Members, we now proceed with the substantive motion.
Mr J. K. Avedzi 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) for an amount of UA5,199,718.00 for the partial financing of the construction of, and the supply and installation of equipment for the Bekwai District Hospital under the Health Services Rehabilitation Project III.
Mr Speaker, this Paper was laid in the House on Tuesday, 4th May, 2010 and referred to the Finance Committee for consideration and report in accordance with article 181 of the Constitution.
1.0 Introduction
The Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and the ECOWAS Bank for
that we can spend the next 10, 15 minutes and take the motion without the Hon Minister for Health being available, I do not mind. We are interested in finishing this job. That was why we brought it. If we were not committed to pass this Bill at this time, it would not have been in the Order Paper. So I am not insisting at all. I was just talking about the convenience of this House and the ability for us to finish the business by tomorrow.
So, Mr Speaker, with your -- [Interruption.] -- we can take the motion; no problem, let us finish it.
Mr First Deputy Speaker 1:15 p.m.
Very well. Comments should be very brief, except that I will give special preference to the Independent NPP -- [Laughter.]
Very well, Hon Members, item 11, Chairman of the Committee --
MOTIONS 1:15 p.m.
Mr James K. Avedzi 1:15 p.m.
Mr Speaker,
I beg to move, that notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 8 (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 Finance Committee on the Loan Agreement between the Government of Ghana and ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) for an amount of UA5,199,718.00 for the partial financing of the construction of, and the supply and installation of equipment for the Bekwai District Hospital under the Health Services Rehabilitation Project III may be moved today.