Government to continue with electrification projects.

The government today said it would continue the implementation of the electrification scheme, which consist of the national electrification project, district capital electrification and self-help electrification project. For this purpose, a provision of 13.5 billion cedis has been made available as matching funds for the programmed external donor of 71.6 billion cedis. Mr. Kwame Peprah, Minister of Finance, announced this when he presented the 1998 budget to parliament today. He said the lst batch of 14 district capitals without electricity would be connected to the national grid. Under the self-help electrification programme, power would be supplied to 170 rural communities under phase one and 280 rural communities under phase two. He said the government would continue to provide the required support for the sustenance of private investment in the mining sector. Such support, he said, would be focused on the assistance of small-scale mining and protection of the environment.