President Mills declares: So Far, So Much Better

Friday February 26, 2010

By Edmund Mingle

President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday assured Ghanaians that the national economy is improving significantly, saying the current state of the nation is good.

“One year after our election, I am proud to stand before you and say with confidence that “the state of the nation is good,” he said as he delivered his second State of the Nation Address to Parliament yesterday.

Describing the progress of the national economy and the state of affairs under his administration as compared to the period where they took over power as “so far, much better,” President Mills, however indicated that there was still a lot of work to be done in making Ghana a prosperous country.

But he strongly assured Ghanaians that his administration was up to the task of making Ghana a much better place for the citizenry, saying he and his team were “fully committed to our election promises.”

The President recalled promised his administration made in its early days to cool the overheated economy and revive the declining currency, pursue economy stability, a diversified industry-based economy, ensure good governance, transparency and peace, all inclusiveness and rule of law, saying gains have been made in fulfilling these promises.

“We took over a run-down economy characterised by unbridled spending that did not offer value for money. But in the face of mountainous challenges, we can now offer good news and hope to Ghanaians,” he stressed.

“Today, we have a stable currency as well as other indicators pointing to healthy economic conditions for real take-off of into sustained growth,” the President added.

President Mills, in his address, dubbed “Partners in vision,” also outlined various initiatives being pursued by the government in the oil and gas industry, agriculture sector public sector management, private sector growth for increase job creation to fast-track national development.

Touching on the oil and gas sector, President Mills, whose address was greeted with laud cheers and applause from the majority side of the House, said he has instructed the Energy Minister, in collaboration with the Transport Ministry to fast-track investment in the necessary facilities, including the Deep Sea Port with dedicated oil services facility, as well as the rehabilitation of the western railway corridor.

“These flagship investments will not only create employment themselves, but will support the growth of other businesses,” he said, adding that the proper development of the gas sector would help to ensure dependable electricity supply at internationally competitive tariffs.

With the anticipated commercial exploitation of crude oil and gas, he said the government was positioning Ghana for major industrial take-off, mentioning initiatives for the development of an integrated aluminium industry based on bauxite, a petrol chemical industry based on salt and natural gas, and a fertilizer industry to give impetus to agriculture production.

Currently, he said they were putting together the building blocks of an oil and gas-based industrial architecture to ensure that by 2016, “we would have exploited these resources and changed the country’s economic paradigm so that our dependence on traditional raw material exports of cocoa, gold and timber, will be a thing of the past.”

On efforts towards achieving food security, which is a priority to the government, President noted that they were marshalling all the necessary resources to achieve food security so as to halt the country’s over-dependence on imported foods.

“Tomatoes, onions, plantain and other items are native to our climate, and we have the land and the resources to deliver these and more to our people. We can have no excuses if at the end of our tenure we fail in this task,” he said.

Among other things, he said the Buffer Stock Management Agency set up to hold food security buffer stocks and intervene in the market when there was a glut, would this year rehabilitate 12 warehouses of the erstwhile Ghana Food Distribution Corporation, for its operations across the country.

In addition, he said, the fertilizer subsidy programme, aimed at supporting farmers would be extended to all crop farmers, while the Youth in Modern Agriculture Development Programme, was being accelerated to provide more jobs for the youth and increase food production.

With regard to fishing, President Mills noted that the problems that characterised the distribution of the pre-mix fuel have been resolved while pair-trawling by foreign vessels that threatened the livelihood of local fishermen, has been prohibited.

As a solution to the disturbing gap in financing for the agriculture sector, President Mills announced that an Agriculture Development and Investment Fund idea was being worked on as a respond to their manifesto promise of promoting rural financial intermediation and to establish an Agriculture Development Fund.

On job creation, President Mills observed that National Youth Employment, and Youth in Agriculture programmes were only temporal solutions to the problem of large numbers of unemployment youth in the country.

Ultimately, he said the solution lied in skills training and the expansion of the economy, saying that the government was addressing the unemployment issue through a three pronged approach through the expansion of the services, manufacturing and agro-processing sectors to create more jobs.

In addition, he said he has directed that job creation was mainstreamed in the programmes of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Touching on the conditions of service in the public sector, President Mills particularly decline to give further promises to teachers.

“I have said enough about the conditions of service of teachers in the past.
“At the end of this year, I expect the GNAT, NAGRAT and UTAG to make separate pronouncements on whether the lot of teachers has improved under my administration or not,” he said.

On healthcare service delivery, the President, who called for all hands on deck to build the country, said the National Health Insurance Authority has submitted a revised NHIS Bill to Cabinet for consideration.

When passed by Parliament, the Bill is expected to ensure greater accountability and the operations of the health scheme, and also redefine premium payment mechanisms and claim management.

On the critical issue of housing, President Mills bluntly noted that that “spectacle of homeless people and street children in our urban areas is not acceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

In most countries, he said housing for the lower and lower-middle income groups, is the responsibility of local authorities, adding that Ghana should not be an exemption.

He said in addition to efforts of the central government to improve the housing sector this year, “we shall expect our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to invest sizeable proportion of their Assemblies Common Fund in rental housing for lower and middle-income groups.”

In pursuit of that objective, he said the Assemblies would be directed to commit substantial portions of the Common Fund allocations to rental housing.

In addition, a national District Assemblies Rental Housing Project Taskforce will be established to oversee the programme of housing.

In the interim, the President said he has directed the Housing Ministry to complete all “affordable” rental housing projects, initiated by the previous government, to help alleviate the acute housing problem facing the country.

In addition, he announced that the government was in the process of signing an agreement with the government of Korea, for the construction of some 200,000 affordable housing units for workers across the country. The batch of 30,000 units, he said, would be allocated to the security services.

Also, he noted that the Engineer Corps of the Ghana Army would be re-equipped to once again play an integral role in the government’s rural infrastructure expansion programme.

Responding to criticisms by the minority side that his government is slow, President Mills noted that he is “slow but sure.”

“In all our undertakings, I will be guided by a principle I have long cherished-to always strive to make a right decision rather that a quick decision,” he told the House.