Ghana Restates Commitment To Development Of Science

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana's environment, science and technology minister, Cletus Avoka, on Friday re-affirmed the government's commitment to the use of science and technology as the basis for national development.

Even though the issue of resource availability raises doubts among scientists, he said every effort would be made to provide scientific institutions the needed resources.

On provision of resources, however, he said "we will have to relate this to the needs and demands of other sectors of the economy."

Avoka was speaking at a durbar and exhibition to mark the Day of the Scientific Renaissance of Africa 2000 being celebrated in Accra under the theme, 'Science and Technology in Ghana's Agricultural and Industrial Growth'.

The day, which falls on 30 June and observed yearly in OAU member states, has been set as a remembrance of the continent's contribution to the rise and development of modern science and technology.

Avoka said the problem of resource availability is one reason why the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was mandated to commercialise its research findings as a way of complementing government funding.

"I will expect our scientific institutions to be mindful of the types of research activities that they involve themselves in by ensuring that these are relevant to the development needs of the country."

The minister stressed the need to bring science and technology to the forefront of national development since it is the only way to get people to seek scientific answers rather than resorting to the supernatural for answers to problems.

"Through science and technology, we should be able to reduce the economic stress that we as a country are facing on account of our over-reliance on foreign goods. Science and technology should also help us in addressing most of our environmental problems."

Meanwhile, CSIR director-general, Professor Walter Sandow Alhassan, regretted that despite institutional arrangements for technology generation and transfer in Ghana, they are "woefully under-funded".

Urging African governments to move from rhetoric to action, he said, for instance, in 1999 only eight percent of his institute's already low budget that was approved for research was actually released.

Alhassan suggested the introduction of a special levy to help government address the crucial capacity building needs of science and technology.