PPP Wants Gov't To Come Out With Project Deadlines

The Progressive People�s Party (PPP) has called on the government to come out with roadmaps and deadlines for development programmes and projects it is implementing. The party explained that roadmaps and deadlines would enable Ghanaians to appreciate processes and strategies involved in the execution of projects. Addressing a press conference on the State of the Nation Address by President John Dramani Mahama, the Director of Operations of the PPP, Nana Ofori Owusu, observed that empty promises as had been trumpeted by President Mahama in his State of the Nation Address would not help the President and his party, the National Democratic Party (NDC). �These are empty promises and words, with no road map, deadlines and that which do not show appreciation for what it will take for implementation to happen,�� Mr. Owusu reiterated. The PPP stated that it was time the government focused on solutions to the economic problems such as the depreciating cedi, saying, the country ought to move away from being experts at discussing problems, to becoming excellent at identifying and implementing sound policies. The party noted that there were no easy short-term solutions and what ought to be done required sacrifice, efficient administration and a keen eye on corruption. The implementation of those solutions required courage and leadership that would be unwavering in the face of domestic and international backlash, the party said. According to the PPP, President Mahama has unfortunately decided to tread the path of propaganda, painting a picture of what is far from the realities of the true state of the nation. The PPP stated that judging from the President�s style of making promises, as Ghanaians had seen for the past two years, the party could not be sure that any of the promises would be fulfilled. The party recounted that in 2013, the President directed the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to work with the Ghana Statistical Service to produce quarterly labour surveys to inform policy and planning, but one year down the lane, he had repeated the same directive that, �I have asked the ministers of Education and Employment and Labour Relations to sponsor a joint survey of the professional and skills sets in demand in the Ghanaian labour market�.� The PPP noted that per the 2014 State of the Nation Address, that directive clearly yielded nothing by way of implementation and the creation of employment. The PPP, therefore, was of the view that, the nation was in need of a governance system that could ensure the smooth operation of good, open and accountable governance as a catalyst for Ghana�s transformational development. On the free Senior High School (SHS), the party said it was surprised about the President�s 360 degrees turnaround and wanted to know the reasons why the requirement of the constitution for free SHS and compulsory education had been ignored by those who had had the opportunity of leading the nation. On public sector reforms, the PPP urged the government to implement a comprehensive public sector reform, explaining that without a right-sized public sector, equipped properly with technology and appropriate supervision, the country would continue to miss set targets and fail to implement important public investments needed to support the middle income status of the economy. Present at the news conference were some senior members of the PPP, who included the Deputy National Secretary, Paakow Ackon; National Youth Co-ordinator, Daniel Nkrumah; a member of the legal team of the party, Dennis Ofosu Appiah; a member of the communication team of the party, Charles Owusu, and the Women Coordinator of the party, Belinda Bulley.