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Wassa East District ISD educates public on 2018 budget statement

A five- day sensitisation exercise aimed at enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the public on the 2018 Budget and Economic policy has been held at Daboase in the Wassa East District of the western region.

Date Created : 2/12/2018 5:01:22 AM : Story Author : GNA

In separate meetings with the Wesley Methodist Church, the Church of Pentecost, the Ahmaddiyya Moslem Mission, Daboase Senior High and Technical School, St Martin’s Junior High School and Kakakrom Junior High School all at Daboase, the District Information Officer, Mr Frank Kwabena Danso said the Information Services Department (ISD) was mandated to educate Ghanaians on government policies and development agenda, adding that the budget contained key policies and programmes of government that would influence the lives of the people.

According to Mr Danso, the 2018 budget statement and economic policy was a clear agenda by the government to deliver on the manifesto commitments and to deal with some of the challenges facing Ghana’s economy, and that the various polices and social intervention measures outlined in the Budget statement would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, expand as well as create jobs.

Touching on energy issues, the ISD officer said provisions were made in the budget by the government to reduce tariffs of various sectors in the economy, stressing that it would enable businesses and Ghanaians to save their profits for expansion.

He further said that 1,796 communities would be connected to the national grid as well as the distribution of 50,000 solar lanterns for poor off-grid rural households, adding that the government would embark on solar rooftop programme to reduce government’s expenditure on utilities among others.

On employment, Mr Danso said the One District One Factory, agenda would create opportunities for export and discourage buying and selling and also promote private sector-led growth.

On the National Builders Corps Programme, he said it would recruit one hundred thousand graduates and train them for employment in the Health, Education, Agriculture, Sanitation and Revenue Mobilisation and collection, while youth employment agency (NYEA) enrolment levels would be increased from 62, 115 to 120.000 and four thousand (4,000) National service personnel would be engaged to emboss digital address on all landed property nationwide.

He said as part of efforts to support the weak and vulnerable in society, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme had been expanded to cover additional 150,000 people nationwide of which 30 communities in the district have been added to the existing 13 communities already under the programme.

On Sanitation and water resources, Mr Danso said the government would provide 200.000 households with toilets and 20,000 institutional latrines through the “toilet for all” agenda to reduce open defecation and the construction of 50 small town water pipe schemes and over 300 boreholes.

The District Information Officer said to improve food security and promote sustainable agriculture as well as create jobs, especially for the teeming youth, the government would register 500,000 farmers and recruit 2,700 extension agents to support the planting for food and jobs programme.

“The objective of the one village, one dam initiative is to promote irrigation to boost agricultural production and encourage an all year farming, the government will also construct 50 small dams and dugouts this year” he added.

He further said the government would supply a total of 413, 323, tonnes of fertilizer, 24,898tonnes of seeds, farming equipment to farmers as well as provide 2,000 livestock farmers in all 10 regions with 70,000 small ruminants thus sheep and goats.

On education, the Information Officer said government would pay for the BECE registration fees, while Nurses and Teacher trainees allowance would be expanded to cover new entrants.

According to him, the government would also facilitate the rehabilitation of 50 school structures and construct additional 200KG blocks and at the same time continue with the free SHS programme and that additional infrastructural facilities would be provided to accommodate the increasing enrolment numbers.

The District Information Officer in his regard admonished the public to voluntarily honour their tax obligation to enable government to raise the needed revenue to carry out policy indicated in the budget.

GNA