Parliament has approved budgetary allocations to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing for the 2016 fiscal year.
The House approved the allocations shortly after a debate by MPs on a Report that was submitted by the Water Resources, Works and Housing Committee chaired by the Member of Parliament for Shai Osudoku constituency, David Tetteh Assumeng.
Moving the motion for MPs to approve the allocations for the Ministry, the Minister said : “The Ministry of Works and Housing is responsible for the provision of potable rural and urban water, social protection, regular services, affordable housing schemes, and some water drainage programmes.”
“Mr. Speaker the Ministry has applied qualified programmes and projects in the 2016 budget in accordance with the Ministry’s sector medium term development plan taking into account the total envelope made available for the 2016 fiscal year. On this note I beg to you that you approve the total sum of GHC 374, 781, 612 for 2016.”
In his contributions to the debate, Minority Spokesperson on Water Resources Works and Housing, David Oppong Kusi, raised issues with previous budgetary allocations to the ministry and how they were expended.
He claimed various organisations and agencies under the Ministry have over the past years not received funds from the various budgetary allocations that have been done.
“The various organisations or agencies under the Ministry are being starved of funds. In most cases nothing was released to these agencies for their capital expenditure. It has also emerged that after spending lots of money to increase and improve our water treatment capacity, we do not look for the money to expand distribution capacity to the extent that most of these new water treatment capacity are performing under capacity.”
<<Print>>