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The information Services Department (ISD) in Koforidua in the Eastern Region has been compelled to resort to the use of a taxi to carry out its official duties due to lack of an information van.

During a rehearsal ahead of Remembrance Day Celebration in Koforidua, staff of ISD used a taxi with registration number GR 6534 S to provide services for even the security personnel who were there to provide security.

The ISD office in the Eastern Regional capital, under the Ministry of Information, is facing serious financial crisis to the point that the department is unable to repair the only information van at the regional office which broke down last year.

Currently, a pickup which is the official vehicle of the regional director is used to perform some national assignments.

The regional ISD has not received grant from the government to run the office and perform its functions since 2013, creating severe financial and logistical stress.

Sometimes it became difficult to get money to pay for electricity bills and stationeries such as A4 paper.

The ISD, established between 1939 and 1945, is the principal mouthpiece of the government both home and abroad with the aim of disseminating information on government policies and providing public relations support to Ministries, Departments and Agencies in all Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

Despite these important functions of the ISD, the Department has been struggling over the years due to government neglect.

The Eastern Regional Director of the Department, Mr Benert Dzumenu, told the DAILY HERITAGE that had it not been the support of the MMDAs at the district level, the operations of the Department would have come to standstill.

He said the department had not received its grant since 2013, compelling it to improvise for the past years.