Vice President urges people in conflict areas to reconcile

Accra, Dec. 17 , GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama has in a Christmas

message to Ghanaians urged persons living in conflict areas to use the occasion of the season

to change their circumstances by fostering reconciliation to create a new=

beginning. Delivering the message through the Castle Press Corps, Vice President=

Mahama noted that

the "Christmas is a season of peace and goodwill and we hope that this ba= sic ingredient of

Christmas would infuse everything that we do in this period of festivitie= s". "I will like to call on people living in areas where they have experienced conflict in the past

to use this season of peace and goodwill to mark a change and foster reconciliation among

you to create a new beginning so as to break from the past of antagonism,= " Vice President

Mahama said. On issues of national politics, the Vice President reminded Ghanaian= s that the season also

marked one year of President John Evans Atta Mills in office. "President Mills' administration in one year was faced with an econo= mic challenge in

respect of how to restore the economy and bring the core economy indicato= rs back on track.

President Mills, indeed, inherited an economic deficit that witnessed the=

cedi stumbling at a

very fast rate and an inflation that was rising through the roofs," he sa= id. He said President Mills had to take austerity measures to stabilize the economy in order

that it did not affect businesses and the quality of life of the people a= nd this had been

successfully done. "Over the next few years, beginning from next year, government would=

push for growth

and expansion in order that it would create permanent jobs in the public sector particularly in

the agriculture sector." "Already we have seen an increase in food production in the country and government's

intention in the next three to four years is to be able to eliminate as m= uch as possible the huge

food import bills that we currently have." He expressed regret over the reckless attitude of drivers especially=

during the Christmas

period, and urged Ghanaians "to be very careful about the use of our road= s". "As we continue to improve our roads across the country and make the= m good for travel,

you find that the good roads become slaughter houses and killing fields,"=

the Vice President

said. "Drivers who drive recklessly kill so many people. Terrible accident= s take place on our

roads and I want to use this opportunity to appeal to drivers to drive carefully." "I want to urge drivers who drive in this Yuletide not to drink and drive and when you

decide to drink do not drive," he said. |He appealed to drivers who get tired while on their journey to take a rest to ensure that

they arrive at their destinations safely.