Cabinet Approves Gateway Programme

The Vice President, Prof. John Atta Mills has disclosed that Cabinet has approved the implementation of the "Gateway Programme" which is aimed at making Ghana the Trade and Investment gateway of the West African Sub-region. He said the main constraints to the programme have been identified and measures have been instituted to remove them. Prof. Mills was addressing participants at a two-day workshop on the Public Sector Re-invention and Modernisation Strategy at Akosombo. It is being organised by the National Institutional Renewal Programme, (NIRP) He said actions so far taken under the gateway project have led to a change in the attitudes of officials of some front-line agencies such as the customs, excise and Preventive Service, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Free Zone Board. The Vice-President bemoaned the performance of subvented agencies, which he said, have been operating unsatisfactorily. The situation is forcing government to close down or privatise such agencies. He, however, repeated government's commitment to support cost effective proposals for addressing the teething problems facing government agencies. The National Co-ordinator of NIRP, Dr.. Appiah Koranteng said the rationale of the programme is to change the public service from an in-put-oriented hierarchical and inflexible one to a responsive and result oriented one. The world Bank Country Director, Mr.. Peter Harold said public sector reforms require patience and perseverance. He said the trend in the world today is constant change and renewal and the doner community will give Ghana the needed support for the success of her reforms. The Chairman for the occasion, Mr.. Kenneth Dzirasah expressed optimism for the success of the programme. End