HIPC will not deprive nation of foreign assistance - Edumadze

The Central Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze on Monday advised Ghanaians to discard the notion that the country will no longer receive foreign assistance, because it has opted to join Highly Indebted and Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

He said there are advantages to be derived from the package, saying the country will not pay the British government an amount of 58 million pounds sterling, as interest on loans at the end of this month, following the government's decision to go HIPC.

Mr Edumadze said this when briefing the chiefs of the Agona Nyakrom and Nsaba Traditional Areas, on the state of the economy, at separate functions as part of his familiarisation tour of the region.

The Minister explained the current economic situation in the country, to the chiefs and expressed dissatisfaction that the NDC government failed to paint a true picture of the economy.

The government had to take the decision to join HIPC because the country's per capita income was as low as 370 dollars, when it assumed office.

He appealed to Ghanaians to appreciate the fact that the economy is weak and need pragmatic measures in order to reverse the trend, saying that even countries like Cote D'Ivoire and Senegal, which have higher per capita incomes have joined HIPC, because of the benefits.

The Regional Minister repeated his call on chiefs and landowners to ensure easy access to land to facilitate investment in the region and urged them to provide appropriate documents to forestall the double sale of lands.

The Acting President, of the Agona Traditional Council, Nana Kobina Botchway II assured the government of their support and urged Ghanaians to support it in its efforts to revamp the economy.

He urged the government to create more jobs, particularly in the rural areas to curtail the rural-urban drift in fulfilment of its campaign promises.

Nana Botchway II, also appealed to the government to complete projects such as the extension of water, electricity and telephone facilities to the area started by the previous government. Later at a meeting with assembly members and heads of decentralised departments, Mr Edumadze called for their support in the implementation of government programmes and repeated his intention to probe the activities of the assemblies.