W/R MPs call for fair share of national cake

Busua (W/R), Dec. 12, GNA - Members of Parliament (Mps) from the Western Region have asked the government to ensure that the Region gets its fair share of the national cake, particularly in the areas of water supply, feeder roads and electricity, to enhance the people's developmental aspirations.

They said even though the Region contributes about 30 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), "it is one of the most deprived in the country".

These were contained in a communiqu=E9 issued at the end of their two-day working forum at Busua, near Takoradi and signed by Mr Anthony Evans Amoah, the Regional Minister and convener.

The MPs said they had followed with keen interest policies and programmes towards the attainment of the objectives of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II and the Millennium Development Goals and pledged to work assiduously towards the achievement of the objectives.

While giving their support and recognition to government's effort at curbing illegal mining, the MPs said it was unfortunate that the programme to evict illegal miners had been given negative interpretations and advised small scale mining groups to register with the Minerals Commission to legitimize their activities. They appealed to the Minerals Commission to be proactive in the processing of applications of small-scale miners and urged the government to explore alternative source of livelihood for these miners. On the proposed sale of Low-Cost houses to sitting tenants, the MPs urged the government to speed up efforts at building affordable houses in all the regions to forestall any hardship likely to be suffered by public servants as a result of the policy.

They said the Region had been engulfed in chieftaincy and land dispute that continued to militate against steady development and called on chiefs to take steps to resolves such disputes. The MPs said programmes and activities planned towards a successful celebration of Ghana's 50th anniversary was in the right direction and called for the release of fund for the implementation of these programmes in the regions.