Monday, January 24, 2011

PROBE LOSS OF RELIEF ITEMS...Regional Ministers (PAGE 12, JAN 24, 2011)

REGIONAL Ministers meeting in Koforidua have called for an investigation into the conduct of officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) who were at post before January, 2009 over the disappearance of relief items and other materials in their outfit.
The ministers also demanded that any staff of NADMO and the NFED who did not comply with posting instructions should face disciplinary measures.
These were contained in a statement issued after a two-day conference of the Regional Ministers in Koforidua.
The statement, which was read by the Volta Regional Minister and chairman of the conference, Mr Joseph Amenowode, also expressed concern about accidents on the Volta Lake and called for regular patrols to ensure safe water transport.
With regard to the National Health Insurance Scheme, the conference urged the government to use part of the oil revenue to support its implementation in order to close the financing gap.
To help stop illegal mining and chain-saw lumbering in the country, the conference suggested that heavier fines should be imposed on perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others.
On the activities of the Macro Finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) scheme, the ministers acknowledged its important role in propelling small and medium enterprises thereby reducing poverty and called for the reduction of the current monthly interest rate so as to encourage repayment by beneficiaries.
The conference also urged MASLOC to focus on critical poverty-stricken areas to ensure effective poverty reduction and also diversifying loan disbursement to include the supply of inputs for economic activities.
Concerning the implementation of Legislative Instrument (LI 1961), the conference noted the inconsistencies in the various legislation on the decentralisation process and expressed the hope that a technical committee set up to look into the legislation would come up with recommendations that would address the discrepancies.
The regional ministers, who were not happy about poor communication between the Ministry of Education and the regional co-ordinating councils, called for better collaboration to enhance implementation of government programmes and projects at the local level.
The conference expressed its unflinching loyalty and support for his continuous assistance to them.
It congratulated the incoming Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, on his appointment and also thanked the outgoing minister, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, for his support and contributions to the conference and wished the two men well in their new positions.

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