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The flag bearer of the People�s National Convention (PNC), Mr Hassan Ayariga, has promised to be fair to all Ghanaians, irrespective of their political affiliations, if he is elected President. Presenting the PNC�s programmes, policies and strategies at the second Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Evening Encounter in Accra Tuesday, he said his administration would avoid the past mistakes of partisanship in the country�s political system and eschew bias in the award of government contracts and appointments. �I will also bring on board a long-term national development plan for Ghana which will be for the next 20 to 30 years. It will include a development policy document that contains the national vision. It will be a document that will focus on the rehabilitation of various sectors of the economy, growth and a new direction for our country,� he added. The IEA forum, held at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre, brought together representatives of interest groups � the labour union, health workers and women�s groups � to hear from the PNC the programmes it will implement if it is elected into power in December. The platform was created by the IEA for all flag bearers whose parties have representation in Parliament. Mr Ayariga said the main theme of his government would be: �Rehabilitation, redirection, youth empowerment and economic growth� and added that he would introduce leadership of hard work, patriotism, truth, honesty and love. He said a PNC government would review the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), with the view to strengthening and expanding it, and establish a health maintenance organisation to monitor the scheme and advise the government on how to continuously enhance its operations. According to him, he would ensure the establishment of more psychiatric hospitals and clinics to address the problem of mental patients roaming the streets and ensure that all buildings were disability friendly. AGRICULTURE On agriculture, he said given the right attention, the sector could create jobs, increase incomes, eradicate poverty, boost foreign exchange and ensure food security. He also stated that the PNC would revisit the Operation Feed Yourself programme of the Acheampong era, repackage it and make it a flagship project to solve the food security needs of Ghana. In furtherance of that objective, he said, his government would acquire large tracts of land across the country and lease them out to commercial farmers to engage in farming. Support in the areas of funding, farm inputs, equipment and marketing of farm produce would be provided to enable the programme to flourish. �The approach will be integrated and it will involve financial institutions, industry, input suppliers, companies dealing in farm machinery, the government and farmers. Investors who wish to engage in commercial farming will be granted favourable terms and other incentives to turn our country into a food basket,� he said. A PNC government, he said, would also rehabilitate abandoned silos and build new ones across the country to improve food storage and reduce post-harvest losses. �The intention is to provide food security for lean periods and in times of national disasters such as crop failures due to bad weather, fire outbreaks and flooding,� he added. Mr Ayariga said more irrigation dams would be constructed across the country if the PNC won power to facilitate all-year-round farming and plant pools for mechanised agriculture established to modernise agriculture and speed up the revolution in that sector. To facilitate easy transportation of farm produce, he said feeder roads would be constructed to link all food production areas and attention paid to railway construction as well. Cocoa production, according to him, would be boosted from the current one million tonnes to two million within four years, adding that the feat would be achieved by replanting all fallow cocoa farms, mass distribution of fertilisers, introducing quarantine officers, building cocoa depots close to cocoa farms, making chemicals available to farmers and stopping cocoa smuggling. With regard to fisheries, he said a PNC administration would review all existing laws and make premix fuel and outboard motors readily available. Fish farming would also be encouraged and made a module under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP). ENERGY To improve the energy situation in Ghana, Mr Ayariga said his government would build more hydro-electric dams and explore the possibility of generating power from wind and solar energy. On education, he said a PNC government would review the curricula of all levels of education, from basic to tertiary, and would not only provide free education but also ensure quality in that sector. Teachers, he said, would be equipped with new ways of imparting knowledge and tertiary institutions provided with funding. �We will expand the mandate of the Students Loan Trust to cover private tertiary students,� he added. HOUSING On housing, Mr Ayariga said a percentage of the nation�s annual budget would be committed to the construction of high-rise buildings and well-planned communities to make housing accessible to all Ghanaians who could not afford to own their own houses. All stakeholders, he said, would be brought together and tasked to meet the government�s housing targets within four years, adding that �the houses provided shall be given out on tenant-owner basis�. Turning the spotlight on foreign affairs, he said the PNC�s policy would be in consonance with international law and diplomacy and the objectives would be pursued in a manner that would not compromise national interest and sovereignty. �In order not to subordinate the dignity and independence of Ghana to foreign interests, all international agreements, contracts, treaties and conventions that will be executed on behalf or for the people of Ghana shall be subjected to scrutiny and ratification by Parliament,� Mr Ayariga said.