Parliament set for business

Accra, Jan. 21, GNA - Parliament is reconvening on Tuesday with the House set to focus on some new bills, including the Railway and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bills as this Parliament begins its countdown to dissolution in January 2009.

Mr. Abraham Ossei Aidooh, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said the railway sector was undergoing some reforms, including plans to extend the sector to serve the north of the country. He said it was necessary to introduce a piece of legislation to support the reforms and position the sector to attract private capital and investment.

Mr. Ossei Aidooh was speaking to the GNA in Accra on business for the next session and areas for action before this Parliament ends its term.

He said another bill expected to come before the House was the ADR bill, which was necessary to decongest the courts and open avenues to resolve conflicts out side the court system to ensure that the courts would be the last resort for seeking redress.

Mr Ossei Aidooh also the Majority Leader said the Customs and Excise Bill would also come before the House for the introduction of tariffs on mobile talk time as captured on the 2007 budget.

He said, as a part of his legacy, President Kufuor was pushing to make Parliament's budgetary allocation autonomous and independent of the Finance Ministry to ensure that the Ministry did not lump Parliament's budget with those of government ministries, agencies and departments. Mr Ossei Aidooh said should the President's plans succeed Parliament's budgetary allocation would directly be decided between the Presidency and the legislature.

He said another area of concern was the institutional and structural changes needed to enhance the image and work of parliament through revision of the Parliamentary Service Act and the completion of the Job 600 building project.

He said a committee would be set up by Parliament to look at the Standing Orders of the House for possible revision to further entrench parliamentary democracy.