Ministers Advised To Take Business Of Parliament Serious
Saturday November 21, 2009
By Salifu Abdul-Rahaman
THE Speaker of Parliament, Mrs Joyce Adeline
Bamford-Addo, yesterday urged Ministers to take the business of Parliament seriously and make themselves available to respond to questions.
She said in the event of their inability to come and answer questions, they should inform the house well in advance.
The Speaker expressed this sentiment following the inability of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, to respond to questions relating to the Ministry.
Members of the Minority had raised concern over the unavailability of the Minister to answer the questions.
The questions stood in the names of Benita Owusu-Bio (NPP-Atwima Nwabiagya) who had sought to find out what plans the Ministry had to further expand the over 100,000 acres of forest plantations established under the President’s Special Initiative on afforestation by the previous government.
Mr John Bennam Jabaah (NPP-Zabzugu/Tatale), had also sought to find out from the Minister when the mining of the iron ore deposit at Sheini in the Zabzugu Tatale District will start.
Although answers to the questions had been provided in the order paper, they could not be presented because the Minister was not available.
The Deputy Majority Leader, John Tia, agreed with the concerns of the Minority and the sentiments expressed by the Speaker that Ministers must be present to respond to questions.
Earlier, Joe Gidisu, Minister of Roads and Highways, had answered questions relating to the status of some roads in Dormaa East and Techniman in the Brong-Ahafo Region, and Bimbilla in the Northern Region.
Mr Gidisu urged district assemblies to improve trunk roads in their respective areas so that they could be taken on board by the Department of Feeder Roads for feasibility studies to be carried on them.
The house approved a credit facility agreement between the government and Agence Francaise de Development of France for 15 million Euros in support of District Development Facility.
Meanwhile, debate in the motion to approve the economic policy of the government for 2010 presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning would commence on Wednesday, November 25.
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I am glad to read about the readiness of Mr. Joe Gidisu - Roads and Highways Minister - to address questions relevant to his job. I live in the USA and visit my native Ghana occasionally. My last visit was in July 2009. I did some travelling in both Volta and Eastern Regions. The state of Ghana roads are really very terrible and do not need any more feasibility studies. My advise to the Mills administration is that road building and maintenance should be at the top of their nation-building agenda. There should be better highway policing to prevent wanton accidents - there\'s excessive speeding and reckless driving all around. All the best to mother Ghana and her people. Sammy G. New York
it is really disheartening to hear some of these things. if the minister was not doing any ministerial duty at the time when he was suppose to be at the parliament during question time, then it is a shame.what is even more important than being given the chance to explain your policies. if you continue to discharge those duties without explaining its importance, then you are not achieving any thing. therfore ministers irrespective of their programme at particular time, they should see the \" question time\" as very relevant. parliament can also resought to fines or punishment in any form to curb such attitudes.