Government establishes border patrol unit

Accra, Aug. 14, GNA - Government has established a Border Patrol Unit under the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to counteract the problems emanating from the poor management of the frontiers and borders.

The Unit, which is within the framework of the Border Management System, has the objectives of facilitating the movement of genuine travellers and providing a barrier and disincentive to illegal immigrants and those seeking to flout immigration laws.

Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Deputy Minister of the Interior, who was speaking at the beginning of a two-day West Africa Sub-Regional Workshop for Parliamentary Select Committees on Defence and Interior, Mines and Energy, Science and Technology in Accra on Monday, said 109 billion cedis had been allocated for the Unit for the next three years under the 2006 Supplementary Budget.

The amount would be used to build the necessary physical infrastructure at major border towns and procure communication equipment, transport and other logistics and the training of new personnel.

The Deputy Minister said there was now a major paradigm shift as regards security in terms of human security to encompass such vital issues as economic security, food security, environmental security and job security in addition to the traditional concept of security. He said issues on payment of royalties, negative environmental practices such as pollution of water bodies, cyanide spillage, degradation of land and forest cover and poor social responsibility by extractive companies were major recipes for conflicts.

"If the mining industry is to continue to enjoy harmonious, cordial and congenial relationship with their host communities, these and other issues need to be put on the front burner," Mr Agyeman-Manu said. Alhaji Alhassan Malik Yakubu, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, said it was incumbent upon every society to safeguard peace and contribute to remove all manner of rancour.

Alhaji Yakubu called for a higher application of science and technology in the fight against security threats. The United Nations Resident Representative, Mr Thierry Randrianarjaona, in a statement read on his behalf, said border control and management, which included the country's airspace and coastline, covered the activities, mechanisms and measures employed by the authorities to secure the borders.

He said effective policing of the borders had its own logistics and capacity challenges, but expressed the hope that Parliamentarians would team up with the UN body towards making Ghana and the Sub-Region more stable and peaceful.

Mrs Gertrude Zakariah-Ali from the Foundation and Development in Africa said there was a need for changes in policy, more research and development and private sector involvement to add value to commodities in the Sub-Region to make them globally competitive. She said Parliament's oversight responsibility must be improved and guided at all times by the national interest.

The workshop, which was part of project dubbed: "Consolidating Parliamentary Democracy through Capacity Building and Inter-Party Dialogue" was on the topic: "The Extraction Industry and Border Management: The Role of Parliament.=94

It is designed to identify the needs of key parliamentary committees and their constituency institutions and share experiences of coalition and inter-party consensus building.