Parliament approves budget for Ministry of Works and Housing

Accra, March 20, GNA -Members of Parliament on Monday approved by voice count a 228 billion-cedi budget for the Ministry of Works and Housing to carry out its programmes for 2000.

Government's share of the budget is 83.2 billion with the remaining 144.8 billion coming from donors. Moving for the approval of the budget, Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, said the Ministry would provide many infrastructures for the water, housing and sanitation sectors to make life a bit better for Ghanaians.

He said 660 new bore holes, 350 hand-dug wells, 40 mechanised community pipe systems, 30 gravity pipe system would be provided countrywide. Mr Adjei-Mensah said the ministry would this year make available 254.8 million cedis to the Water Resources Commission to fashion out regulations on surface and ground water use.

He said it has also programmed to regulate the discharge of effluents into water bodies. The Minister announced that it would spend 1.9 billion cedis to protect the most crucial areas of the country's coastline.

He said 9.4 billion cedis have been earmarked for the construction of primary drains in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan area and some selected regional and district capitals this year.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, NPP-Old Tafo Suame, called the budget " a case of the sympathiser crying more than the bereaved" He said it was not prudent for the nation to rely so much on donor funding for such an important sector.

The member said, even though, donors have fulfilled their pledge to the sector, Ghana government has most of the time failed to provide fully its part of it. He criticised the government for budgeting 600 million cedis to rehabilitate the "Liberation Circle" in Accra while providing just 532 million cedis to provide 1,000 housing units in the Northern Conflict area.

The member said the government has misplaced its priorities and needed to take more realistic and productive measures in the sector. Mr Kwamena Bartels, NPP-Ablekuma North, said the fundamental problems of long term funding, acquisition of land should be seriously tackled if the housing delivery was to make any head way.

He said the purpose for which the rental housing units at Dunkuna are being developed, would not be achieved if the whole project were not reassessed. The member said a plot of land is supposed to sell at 10,000 dollars and wondered how the Ghanaian worker could afford it.