No Plans to Reactivate BSL

The government does not intend to reactivate the erstwhile Black Star Line, (BSL) the former national shipping line because the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government sold out the company and its assets.

However, all was not lost because the government would encourage a viable private participation to run as a state shipping line, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance declared on Monday at Tema.

He and other government officials were answering questions at the Tema Municipal Peoples' Assembly, which was attended by workers traders and market women.

Pertinent questions raised at the forum included whether the BSL could be revived, provision of public toilets in some areas, increasing the housing stock for the increasing population, land issue at Adjei Kojo, near Ashaiman, as well as Kpone being used as dumping grounds for unproductive projects.

He cited that due to inefficiency in the running of state owned enterprises Ghana Airways was indebted to the tune of 139 billion cedis in maintenance and others.

Dr Osafo-Marfo said it was, however, by courtesy that other shipping lines fly Ghana's flag.

On the campaign on the "Zero Tolerance", the Finance Minister gave the assurance that the government would apply it to the letter to bring sanity into the system.

For a start, he said, all non-existent workers, whose names continue to appear on the pay rollin some government organisations would be deleted within the next three months as roll calls were being conducted in all government institutions throughout Ghana.

To ensure the success of the "Zero Tolerance" campaign, he requested the public to muster courage to provide vital information to expose wrong doers for action to be taken against them to serve as deterrent to others.

On the request that duties on importation of vehicles be reduced to make cars affordable, Mr Osafo Maafo disagreed with the questioner, saying that instead duties on public buses could be reduced to encourage the importation of more public buses for easy access to transportation.

He agreed with a questioner that social security benefits should cover those in the private sector so that they could have funds readily available to cater for themselves in old age.

On the water sector, the Finance Minister explained that the NDC initiated the programme for which the government was continuing and that it was encouraging private sector participation to ensure that it was run efficiently at a reduced cost.