Development - The Need for Paradigm Shift

A GNA Feature by Albert Oppong Ansah

Accra, Sept. 25, GNA - The desire by many Ghanaians to get a lifeline from the Government to improve on their socio-economic fortunes is becoming an illusive appointment with fate.

Getting one square meal a day in a country where every successive government asks the citizenry to tighten their belt before manner could fall from heaven makes the temptation to hope for the better things in life a deceptive tango with reality.

Political leaders who had whetted the appetite of the people for the good things of life during electioneering campaigns should not be allowed to drive the development agenda alone.

Certain measures should be put in place by both the Government and the public to facilitate socio-economic development. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, development is "improvement in a country's economic and social conditions". More specifically, it refers to improvements in ways of managing an area's natural and human resources in order to create wealth and improve people's lives. Geographers often compare levels of development between different countries or regions and the people who live in them - talking about more economically-developed countries and less economically-developed countries.

Development indicators - ways of measuring development in a country - could be evaluated on the basis of it economics, social, education, health, technology and cultural advancement compared to other countries, or to the same country in the past. Basically, there are many different ways of considering development, but the two most important factors are economic and social wellbeing.

In Ghana, various national polices had been implemented by various Governments which were geared towards improving upon these development indicators yet, there has not been much significant change in these sectors.

There have been the 1919-1926 Guggisberg Plan, which was a medium-term public investment programme designed by the Colonial Administration without any participation by the people which was implemented largely by the administrative service. There was also a 7-Year Development Plan between 1964 and 1970 which was the first integrated and comprehensive plan that encouraged the participatory approach in plan development by involving various stakeholders, including the civil service, academia and business sectors.

The next major development framework was the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) initiated in 1983. Strictly, this programme of stabilization, rehabilitation and liberalization was not a long-term strategic planning process in the real sense as it some how did not provide a long-term development vision for the essentially short-term interventions to achieve.

Others were "Making People Matter: A Human Development Strategy for Ghana in 1991, followed by the National Development Policy Framework I in 1994.

The twenty-five year development perspective and Vision 2020: the First step in 1995, a five year policy statement developed into the First Medium Term

Development Plan 1996-2000.

In 2000 an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) was produced, a three year policy between 2003 to 2005 on Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy GPRS I and GPRS II were also developed and implemented.

These policies had a common goal of ensuring sound economic management for accelerated growth; enable active involvement of both the public private sector as the main engine of growth and partners in nation building.

Again, it also aimed at providing direct support for human development and the provision of basic services as well as increasing production and promoting sustainable livelihoods. The nation can theoretically plan the best of polices intended for development but without the citizenry demonstrating high senses of patriotism; working hard and being law abiding and being committed to the effective and efficient implementation and monitoring of such polices the country would continue would not attain the necessary advancement.

For instance under the GPRS II there was an allocation of funds to be given to owners of small-scale enterprises to help to boost their business to attain the medium-scale level but some took these monies and squandered it thinking it was a "thank you gift" for voting for the Government in power.

With regard to the public for instance there is a negative perception on goods produced in the country thus people prefer to patronise foreign products which help these countries to be more economically sound.

This nation virtually imports almost everything including food, cloths, cosmetics, drugs, machines among other things. One should not lose sight of the fact that development should also result in clean environment. Checks made at the office of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) indicates that the chunk of it resources is spent on waste management annually. This money could have been used to facilitate an electrification project or better used for other development projects.

The capital city is being swallowed by filth despite various interventions by waste management companies like Zoomlion Limited. The question is who creates this filth? It is no other person from anywhere other than the residents of the Metropolis who drop plastic waste indiscriminately with the notion that it is the work of Zoomlion to clear the filth.

According to Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, Chief Executive Officer of AMA, Accra alone produces about 2,000 tonnes of waste daily and called on stakeholders to support the Assembly's efforts in the successful development of waste energy.

He said: "The waste to energy approach would require the involvement of all stakeholders because it embraces community participation, which is an innovation in managing waste. This approach would require a paradigm shift or a new way of thinking. The GNA reported that the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District in the Central Region recorded about 21,434 malaria cases in 2008 as compared to about 14,688 in 2007.

Madam Gertrude Mensah-Addo, District Public Health Nurse, who gave the break down said, in 2007, 5,167 children below the age of five were affected by the disease but increased to 5,202 in 2008. It again revealed that, 8,872 children above five contracted the disease in 2007, but moved up to 14,888 in 2008 while 649 pregnant women were attacked by the disease in 2007 but increased to 1,344 in 2008. Mrs Mensah-Addo expressed regret that despite numerous sensitization programmes, workshops and forums, the disease was still increasing and urged the people to ensure environmental cleanliness to destroy mosquito bleeding grounds.

To a large extent before this country could develop the good people of this nation should begin to psychologically develop positive attitude towards issues relating to the environment. 25 Sept. 09