Parliament approves Ministry of Communication's Budget

Accra, March 27, GNA - Parliament on Monday gave its approval to the 32.2 billion-cedi budget meant for the Ministry of Communications for 2000, 100 per cent of which is to be borne by government.

The breakdown of the allocation is as follows: Ministry of Communications (Head Office) 1.3 billion cedis, National Film and Television Institute 2.3 billion cedis, Information Services Department 5.7 billion cedis, and the Meteorological Services Department 4.1 billion cedis.

The rest are Ghana Broadcasting Corporation 14.3 billion cedis, Ghana News Agency 3.4 billion cedis, and Ghana Institute of Journalism, 1.1 billion cedis. Moving for the approval of the Ministry's budget, Mr John Mahama, Minister of Communications, said his ministry would pursue the strengthening of institutional capacity building and human resource development in 2000.

He said since the development of the nation largely depends on the quality of communication delivery, government will endeavour to give the sector the necessary boost for it to deliver.

Mr Mahama announced that plans were far advanced for two other service providers to join the cellular business to bring the number of operators to five. He said Ghana Telecom and Westel, the original fixed network operators, would enrich the cellular area and be made to "play according to the rules of the game".

The Minister said a private telecommunication company had just finished conducting feasibility studies in the rural parts of Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and West Regions to determine the pace and space for rolling on telephone lines to these areas.

He said the company was asked to take the job because it lays little emphasis on profit making. The minister told Parliament that very soon Cabinet would consider proposals of the study and seek parliamentary approval for the project, adding that the southern part of Ghana would soon be tackled to increase access to telephone in the rural set-up.

Mr Mahama said the major problems that hindered the smooth running of the National Communications Authority (NCA) was being addressed. The NCA, which oversees the allocation and regulation of frequency in the country, is now being helped to recruit and retain qualified personnel.

Mr Mahama told the lawmakers that a substantive Director-General would be appointed soon while a Board of Directors comes on stream soon. On international Telecommunications, he said the current laying of submarine cable on the West African shoreline would have a landing station in Ghana to facilitate easy interconnectivity between the local telecommunication system and the international one.

He said another submarine cable, which is to be laid around Africa, would add up to the expansion of the country's telecommunication base. On Television reception, he said Ghana Broadcasting Corporation would switch to satellite broadcasting very soon.

He said the present system hardly conquered relief and geography and hoped that "all those tall bamboo poles found all over the country will be removed soon". On the Ghana News Agency, the Minister said it is to undergo a structural and recapitalisation process to make it more viable.

Dr. Osafo Mensah, NPP-Mpreaso, said delay in the release of funds was hampering the progress of entities like the Ghana News Agency. He called for fair and balanced reporting to help the electorate make Well-informed decisions.