Private Sector Development gets 85.1 billion cedis

Accra, March 4, GNA- Parliament on Thursday approved a sum of 85.1 billion cedis for the services of the Ministry of Private Sector Development for the 2004 fiscal year.

The sector Minister Mr. Kwamena Bartels, who moved the motion said beginning from this year, the governments of Ghana and the US would support small and medium scale enterprise through the African Development Foundation (ADF) with 500,000 US dollars, being donor support, every year for five years.

Mr. Bartels said this would encourage increase in both domestic and foreign direct investment in the country.

Seconding the motion for the approval of the Ministry's budget, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr Eugene Atta Agyapong observed that the offices of the Ministry have been scattered in four different locations, adding that the situation was impacting negatively on coordination and coherence in the Ministry's work.

He urged the Ministry to apply the three billion cedis allocated for its Investments to the construction of the second phase of its permanent office building to accommodate all the four units under it, to ensure effective co-ordination of their functions.

The government has been called upon to re-introduce price inspectors Wenchi (B/A) March 4 GNA - Nana Poku-Kasampe, Senior Administrative Officer of Ghana Education Service at Wenchi in Brong Ahafo has called on the government to re-introduce price inspectors.

He told newsmen at Wenchi that the presence of the inspectors would curb the practice by traders, who arbitrarily, increase the prices of their goods.

If the price inspectors are not re-introduced the situation will become worse, to the detriment of the poor worker, he said. Nana Poku-Kasampe commended the Government for not increasing the prices of goods in the recent budget statement and expressed the hope that the price inspectors would start operations soon.

A bag of cement is sold at 53,000 cedis at Wenchi instead of 49,000 cedis, he added and called for a reduction in the prices of building materials to enable more people, especially workers to put up their own houses.

Nana Poku-Kasampe suggested that other law-enforcing agencies could be made to assist the inspectors to check the soaring prices of goods and commodities. GNA