Let's do more to control population growth - Opoku Manu

Kumasi, October 24, GNA - Mr. Kofi Opoku Manu, the Ashanti Regional Minister, has stressed the need for Ghana to do more to address the soaring population and reduce the pressure on the socio-economic infrastructure. The population growth rate of Ashanti for example stands at 2.8 per cent, the highest in the country, and this he said, is creating a problem of high dependency.

Mr. Opoku Manu said this in a speech read for him at an advocacy seminar on Population and Development for core committees on Medium-Term-Development Plans for Metropolitan and Municipal District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Kumasi on Friday. Ghana, he said, has no choice but to take issues of population seriously in the planning process.

The Regional Minister said "since development is for the consumption of the people, population indicators are very important in the planning process and it becomes incomplete without proper integration of population variables in the process." He used the platform to re-affirm the Government's commitment to the implementation of the provisions of the Disability Act. To this end, they would ensure that various interventions meant to cushion people with disability including their "two percent share of the District Assemblies Common Fund" are religiously implemented. Mrs. Florence Hagan, Ashanti Regional Population Council Officer, urged the assemblies to undertake human-centred development plans to raise the living conditions of the people. "Economic growth is affected by population growth rate," she said, adding that, everything must, therefore, be done to make sure that the rate of economic growth keeps pace with that of the population for development to be realized.

Mrs Hagan blamed problems of unemployment, high dependency, social vices and urbanization, among others, on the lack of long term planning. She spoke of the need to encourage family planning and girl-child education to bring down the rate of growth of the population. The participants appealed to the Population Council, Ghana Statistical Services, Demographic Department and the Ghana Health Services to streamline their systems in order to have common statistical information to inform development planning. 24 Oct.09