Government has bought no new vehicles for coronavirus - Minister

Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh has stated categorically that, the government has not purchased new pick-ups but rather his ministry has released theirs to assist the government in coronavirus fight.

The minister’s response came up at the plenary when he was giving clarity to a comment made by the ranking member on Health Committee and a member of Parliament for Juaboso, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh for criticising the government of not acting needfully with respect of providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers at this critical moment.

Mr. Akandoh in his comments advised that, if there were funds that the government is going to invest in the fight against COVID-19, then it must set it’s priorities right by purchasing more personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) instead of buying more pick-ups since there are many health facilities that do not have protective materials when attending to patients more especially at the rural areas and small towns at this critical period.

The House was debating on the request for approval or otherwise to a proposed formula for the disbursement of the National Insurance Fund for the year 2020.

The Minister underscored the need for members of the House to make meaningful contributions towards the fight against the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has hinted the government will present a new budget before parliament over the coronavirus outbreak.

Hr told Accra based Citi Fm that with the 2020 budget out of gear due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is the need to reassess government expenditure and realign events to meet revenue target.

“We have to relook at all the fundamental assumptions of the budget and I did signal to Parliament that, come July, there would be a lot more information and analysis because what is the new normal and how do we address the thing that invariably is going to occur? You remember in the first budget we spoke about the preferential option for the poor, remove these taxes and let people do what they want and now we are just coming down to the bottom of the Maslow theory and we are saying keep body and soul together. At the same time make sure infrastructure is being managed.”