Environment Ministry institutes award for Science researchers

Agona Swedru, July 31, GNA- The Ministry of Environment and Science is to institute a "Science Week" celebration to award best science researcher working at research institutions to enhance science and technology in the country.

Ms Christine Churcher, Minister of Environment and Science said this at the two-day sensitisation workshop for members of the Parliamentary select-committee on Environment, Science and Technology and staff of the research institutions at Agona Swedru.

She said the institution of the best award for researchers would encourage them to put up their maximum efforts to deepen their research work to improve industrial growth.

Ms Churcher stated that Science researchers had been kept in the dark for far too long and the time has come for the ministry to honour them by instituting best award to promote their work.

She stressed" if cars, fridges, Television Sets, sound systems and others had been given to teachers as motivation to boost their morale, why my ministry can do the same thing to science researchers."

The Minister, who said the best award would commence in early next year stated that the researchers had abandoned their research works to the detriment of the country's science and technology due to non availability of support from the ministry for the past years.

She pointed out that the Ministry was working hard to boost morale of workers of the research institutions under Environment and Science, adding that the ministry was prepared to assist in marketing and publicize the research works of the science researchers.

Ms Churcher said the regular organising of such workshops for the parliamentary select-committee members would go a long way to enlighten them on the need to talk about the environment, science and technology on the flour of Parliament.

She assured the staff and directors of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) that her ministry would give adequate support to the researchers to market their research work to enable the public, especially industries and companies to patronise them

Ms Churcher urged the CSIR directors to inform the ministry about numerous research works they had made so that some thing could be done to accelerate social, economic and technical advancement of the country. Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister for Private Sector Development urged the science researchers to intensify their research work in the areas of cassava, oil palm, cotton, and sorghum to promote President Special Initiative (PSI) programmes.

He said the science researchers must be assisted to carry out their work, adding that there was a problem in the areas of science research because the country had to import cotton seeds for the distribution to cotton farmers. Mr Bartels called for adequate funds to be provided to science researchers, especially staff at the CSIR to enable them to work effectively to support the private industries to grow to create jobs and wealth.