Proposals received towards revamping Ghanair
Mpraeso-Adawso road works to continue
District Assemblies are notified of contracts
Government
earmarks five per cent of revenue to assemblies
Accra (Greater Accra)
11 December 2002 - Henceforth, five per cent of government's internally
generated funds would be lodged in a special account monthly as a built up for
the District Assembly Common Fund.
Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu,
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), told Parliament
that the Ministry of Finance has resorted to that plan because, "it would
help solve the delays associated with disbursement of the Fund."
Government is
constitutionally obliged to disburse annually not less than five person of
locally generated revenue to District Assemblies based on a formula approved by
Parliament.
The Minister was
reacting to concerns raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) during a debate for
the adoption of the formula for sharing the 2002 District Assembly Common Fund.
He said a number of
financial and administrative instruments, including the "guidelines for
the utilisation of the Common Fund" and the "Financial Memo"
which has just been revised since coming into being in 1961, would be tabled in
Parliament very soon for approval.
Baah-Wiredu asked the
MPs to attend meetings of their respective Assemblies and endeavour to assert
themselves when necessary. "We have to change the old way of doing things
in our assemblies, I personally went through a lot of difficulties when we were
not in power and I think this should not happen to any MP."
Alhaji Abdulai
Salifu, NDC-Tolon, called for an effective monitoring of the use of the common
fund to spare government and the ordinary people corrupt practices and waste.
He said poor date collection and the lack of it do not help in the fashioning
of well-informed formula leading to improper allocation of resources.
The member said
several indicators in health and education delivery did not reflect the reality
on the ground. Alhaji Salifu said the inclusion of the Water Coverage factor in
the formula would accelerate the pace of water facility development in the
rural areas.
He lamented the 5.1
per cent of potable water coverage of the Tolon area and called for immediate
steps to address the issue. Alhaji M.A. Seidu,NDC-Wa Central, said: "The
District Assembly Common Fund is one of the best things that ever happened to
Ghana, but ironically it has made certain districts too lazy to generate
revenue on their own."
He called on the
MLGRD to encourage district Assemblies to raise enough revenue on their own so
that their share of the common fund would be regarded as supplementary income.
Joseph Akudibillah,
NPP-Garu/Tempane, proposed a sturdy increase in the percentage of the common
fund to meet developmental needs of the districts. "We should increase the
percentage by 0.5 per cent every year until the current level of 5 per cent
gets to 10 per cent."
Samuel Ofosu
Ampofo,NDC-Fanteakwa, called for the amendment of the District Assembly Common
Fund Act to make room for the appointment of a deputy Administrator who would
stand in for the substantive during emergencies.
He asked that each
district should be encouraged to build a reliable data facility to feed
national programmes and projections. The member called on potentially rich
assemblies like Accra, Kumasi and Shama Ahanta to be up and doing so that poor
rural assemblies could access the fund for speedy development.
He criticised
government on its directive to the assemblies to use the HIPC funds for only
health and educational activities. "District Assemblies have their
individual peculiar problems and needs.
Issues of poverty
vary from assembly to assembly. In my area where majority of the poor are
farmers, I would have preferred investing in agriculture and related areas."
Ampofo asked MLGDRD to publish the names of lazy and corrupt assemblies
periodically for the public to know where government is wasting resources.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
11 December 2002 - The Ministry of Roads and Transport has received proposals
from several institutions towards revamping the national airline, Ghana Airways
to make it compete effectively with other airlines, both domestically and
internationally.
The proposals are
currently being studied for appropriate action and it is expected that when the
various processes are completed, Ghana Airways would be resourced to compete effectively
with other airlines.
Dr Richard W. Anane,
the sector Minister said this in Parliament where he appeared to answer a
number of questions concerning his Ministry from members. Hon. Emmanuel Adjei
Boye, NPP- Krowor asked the Minister what plans his Ministry has to assist
Ghana Airways to acquire suitable and adequate aircrafts for its operations
both internally and internationally to enable it compete effectively with other
national airlines.
Dr Anane said since
2001 the Ministry has taken several remedial measures to resuscitate the
Airline and these include a diagnostic study by Price WaterHouse Coopers and a
forensic auditing by the Worldwide Investment.
He said these
measures were undertaken to guide the Government in the search for a lasting solution
and finding prospective partners for the Airline in joint partnership. The
Minister said the Airline was virtually bankrupt at the beginning of 2001 and
Government recognising it, as a national asset has to put in place measures to
save it to play its role in the socio-economic development of the country.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
11 December 2002 - The tarring of the Mpraeso- Kwahu Adawso road in the Eastern
Region would continue in phases in subsequent years until the entire stretch is
covered.
The 34-Kilometre road
is an access road to the Afram Plains and links Kwahu-Adawso-Mpraeso in the Eastern
Region to Amantia and Asokwa in the Ashanti Region. Dr Richard W. Anane said
this in answer to a question asked by Mr Kwakye Addo, NDC- Afram Plains as to
when the tarring of the Mpraeso- Kwahu Adawso road that links the Kwahu South
District and the Afram Plains would be completed.
The Minister said
tarring of the road was being done in phases. The first 14 kilometres have so
far been completed, while the remaining 20 kilometres was unpaved and in poor
condition.
He said five
kilometres of the unpaved section was awarded this year for tarring and is
scheduled for completion by next year and progress of works stands at 25 per
cent completed.
Hon Yaw Effah-Baafi,
NDC- Kintampo, in another development asked the Minister what steps the
Ministry was taking to rehabilitate the bridge over River Tanfi on the
Kintampo-Nkoranza road.
Dr Anane said a
concrete bridge would be constructed in due course, however, the bridge, which
is a composite one comprising steel beams and timber decks with a span of 24
metres was rehabilitated in October this year.
Dr Yaw
Brempong-Yeboah, NPP-Atiwa, in another development asked the Minister when the
broken down bridge on the Erkoso-Tumfa road in the East Akyem District would be
completed.
Dr Anane said
contract for the replacement of the broken Log Bridge with a double 1.8
diametre pipe culvert was awarded in November for completion this year. He said
the contractor however, delayed in mobilizing to site to commence the works.
The concrete pipes for the project were delivered in April 2002 but due to the
rainy season, construction work was impeded.
The Minister said it
was anticipated that the work would be completed by the end of February next
year, while routine and recurrent maintenance works would continue to be
carried out on the road when the culvert was completed.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
¢367.9bn
to be disbursed as common fund
Accra (Greater Accra)
11 December 2002-Parliament on Tuesday approved the formula for the
disbursement of 367.9 billion cedis as this year's District Assembly Common
Fund.
The amount forms five
per cent of total revenue of the country for last year. The usual factors of
need, responsive, equality and service pressure were employed but with few
additions.
Freddy Blay,
Chairman, Committee of the Whole on the Proposed Formula, said water coverage
had been added to the need factor while "revenue per capita" was
dropped as an indicator for the responsive factor, leaving only "revenue
improvement".
He said the
Administrator explained that the changes would ensure that factor measures
improvement in revenue mobilisation rather than the quantum of revenue
collected. He said the proposed formula could not be laid earlier due to the
delayed appointment of a new administrator for the fund.
GRi…/
Send your comments to
viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra)
11 December 2002- District Assemblies are often notified of contracts awarded
by Regional Tender boards in order to ensure transparency and contract
management.
The Assemblies in
addition are invited to attend site meetings of all projects within their areas
to participate fully in deliberations concerning such projects and they are
expected to monitor the progress of work and advise accordingly.
Dr Richard W. Anane,
Minister of Roads and Transport said this in an answer to a question asked by
Akwasi Afrifa, NPP- Fomena on behalf of Nana Asante-Frempong, NPP-Kwabre.
The member asked if
it was true that under the existing procedure for the award of contracts at the
Regional level, District Assemblies in whose areas contractors operate are marginalised
and have no role in the management of contracts and what plans have been put in
place to decentralize the award of contracts.
Dr Anane explained
that road contracts are awarded at three different levels depending on the
contract sum and the complexity of the work involved. In another development,
Dr Anane said feasibility studies on Tease-Praprababida-Asankrasu-Obosomano
feeder road in the Afram Plains District that links several farming communities
has been completed and construction of the road is scheduled to commence by the
end of 2003.
He said the
construction is under the Feeder Roads Improvement Programme with funding for
the design and construction being provided by the European Union.
GRi…/
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com