Justify salary increases - Rt Rev Dr Frimpong- Manso

Accra, Sept. 10, GNA - The Right Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, Moderator, Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) on Monday urged all workers to aim at increasing productivity to justify salary increases. He said apart form a few strikes by Nurses and Junior Doctors and the power struggle within the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) the labour atmosphere could be described as "experiencing an uneasy calm".

Addressing the media in Accra on a communiqu=E9 issued by the Seventh General Assembly of the Church, Rt Rev Dr Frimpong- Manso envisaged that with the formation of the Fair Wages Commission (FWC) government would help to address the existing distortions and inequalities in the salary regimes.

"The perennial problem of low remunerations and poor conditions of service in the public and private sectors still exist and should be addressed", he said.

Touching on the economy, the Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso said though interest rates were falling as a result of the economic stability, the levels were yet to make borrowing attractive to business. "It is our hope that these modest gains would be sustained and eventually translated into improvements in the quality of life of the average Ghanaian".

Commending Government for offering employment to the youth through the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso said the level of youth unemployment in the country still left much to be desired.

"With the plurality of Secondary and Tertiary Institutions in the country, there is bound to be a high demand for jobs each year," he said, adding that this year, alone over 300,000 graduates would influx the already choked working environment.

He appealed to Government and Corporate entities to expand and invest in the employable sectors of the economy to absorb young graduates into gainful employment.

He urged the Venture Capital Fund to intensify the awareness creation to encourage the youth to access the fund. On re-denomination of the cedi, Rt Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso stated that though the exercise had encountered some setbacks such as counterfeiting and forgery the Bank of Ghana together with the other financial institutions and security agencies should continue to monitor the activities of fraudsters to make the programme a success.

"We also entreat all churches and other civil societies to educate their members on the proper use and handling of the currency". Rt Rev Frimpong-Manso said that the discovery of oil in Ghana was great news, which must be hailed by all.

He cautioned Ghanaians not to loose sight of the problems often associated with oil finds and producing countries, but should strive to harness the blessing expected for the good of the country.

He acknowledged the numerous measures being taken by the Government to solve the power problem and urged the Electricity Company of Ghana, (ECG), the Volta River Authority, (VRA) and the churches to intensify the education of the populace on the need to use electricity wisely, protect and preserve the environment. 10 Sept. 07