Second Regional Ministers conference ends in Sunyani

Sunyani, March 14, GNA - Regional Ministers of the ten regions, have called on government to embark on a crash programme to provide school infrastructure such as classrooms, dormitories, computer and science laboratories. This is to ensure the successful implementation of the four-year Senio= r High School program.

The Ministry of Education has been asked to ensure that District Directorate of Education was properly integrated into the District Assemblies. These were contained in communiqu=E9 issued at the end of the three-da= y second Regional Ministers conference, in Sunyani and read by the Mr. Kojo Nyamekye Marfo, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister.

The event that was on the theme: 93Consolidating the Better Ghana Agenda; the Role of the Regional Minister", was attended by Regional Ministers and Chief Directors of the Regional Co-coordinating Councils. The Regional Ministers deliberated on the economy, implications of the oil find and the natural resource endowment, cabinet decisions and policy positions on education, health, national security and policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation among others.

The Ministers said they recognized they enormity of their responsibilities but they gave the assurance that they would do their best to bring about the 93Better Ghana" that President Mills has promised Ghanaians. The communiqu=E9 called on Ghana's development partners to support capacity building for the effective and efficient monitoring of development projects in the various regions. It asked the German Development Service to extend its data-based projects to all the 10 regions of Ghana to provide information on the regions.

The communiqu=E9 called on 93all concern to facilitate and support th= e block farming project, fertilizer subsidy and buffer stock program of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to ease the stress on our farmers in this current unfair world economic order".

It asked that the opportunities to be provided by the country's oil find should be utilized to enhance the economic well-being of all Ghanaians= .. The communiqu=E9 said 93We recommend that the election of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives should not be an option for now as has been gathered from the stakeholder conference held through out the country". The communiqu=E9 called on the Ministers of Local Government and Rural Development and Finance and Economic Planning, to send to Cabinet for consideration, proposals to make the Regional Co-coordinating Councils autonomous with regards to budgetary allocations. It asked the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development to initiate guidelines for the payment of allowance and emolument to assembly members, which should be standardize and applicable nationwide, for Cabinet to consider.

The communiqu=E9 called on the Ministry to collaborate with Parliament= , Regional Ministers and other stakeholders and initiate a framework, preferably by a legislation, to guide relations between Regional Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) on one hand and MP's and Municipal, Metropolitan and District Chief Executives on the other hand. The third Regional Ministers Conference would be held in Ho in September this year.