Accra, Feb.18, GNA - A section of Ghanaians on Wednesday expressed their expectations from the President Evans John Atta Mills as he presents his first sessional address to Parliament on Thursday. Many of them were expecting the government to break political barriers and implement policies which will make life comfortable and conducive for all Ghanaians.

According to Theresa France, a trader in Accra, the government should reduce the taxes on their wares to help increase their profit margins as a way of reducing the poverty rate among them.

Charlotte Abbey, another trader said the increasing cases of armed robbery was a great concern to her and her family and expected government to strengthen the security and the police force to tackle and deal with the menace. Mr. Isaac Ebo and William Nelson, both civil servants, urged the government to increase the salary of all civil servants by possibly introducing the single spine salary to cater for all categories of workers and solve the problem once and for all. Mr. Daniel Akonai, another government worker also in Accra expressed concern about the poor condition of health and sanitation and said by-laws should be enforced to remedy the situation. Mr. Anthony Hubert, a businessman, asked government to give the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Youth Employment Programme and the School Feeding Programme a special attention to help reduce poverty among the people.

A legal practitioner, Ms Ama Yeboah said she was happy to see women being included in President Mills' administration and asked him to strengthen agencies which dealt with issues affecting women. Some of them called for the strengthening of the Judicial system while others asked for the enforcement of the labour laws, especially in the foreign companies where a lot of Ghanaians were being abused by their foreign counterparts.

Charlotte Sai, a hawker said the NHIS must be extended to cover every Ghanaian by reducing the premium for the benefit of drivers, hawkers, petty-traders and people in the rural communities. "I wish the President will create more jobs for the youth by extending the Youth Employment Programme to, at least cover about 70 percent of the Ghanaian youth, said Matilda Abbey an unemployed. "Educational facilities should be increased in the rural areas as well as the supply of text books to facilitate easy learning, she added.