Don�t Abandon The Social Welfare Department

Government was on Friday urged to properly equip the Social Welfare Department with the needed logistics to enable it handle and settle social issues effectively. Mr Adam Imoru Ayarna, Vice President of the Ship-owners and Agents Association of Ghana (SOAAG), who made the appeal, said the condition under which the Department especially, the Tema Metropolitan office operates was appalling. Mr Aryan noted that it was sad that such an important department in the Tema Metropolis was using benches, rusted metal chairs and non-spacious office with no proper ventilation to discharge its duty to society. He made the appeal when he and Madam Perpetua Osei-Bonsu, Executive Secretary of SOAAG, on behalf of the Association, presented some furniture to the Tema Metropolitan office of the Social Welfare Department. The slightly used board room furniture set comprising of 21 chairs and four long tables was presented to replace the dilapidated furniture currently being used by the Department. He said the work of social welfare officials affected the core of society, therefore, they should not be pressurized with working with inadequate logistics, since their job already involved taking on and settling other people�s stressful situations. Mr Ayarna gave the assurance that his outfit would continue to assist the Department with whatever little they could get to ensure the smooth running of the place. Mr George De-graft Assan, Tema Metropolitan Director of Social Welfare Department, who received the furniture, thanked SOAAG for the gesture. Mr Assan noted that it was unfortunate that as an agent for helping the vulnerable in society, the Department has many challenges. Some of which he said, included lack of funds, lack of vehicles, no proper office building, and no public orphanage to accommodate lost and found children. He explained that due to the lack of funds, instead of carrying out frequent educational programmes on begging, streetism, teenage pregnancy and parental responsibilities among others, the Department only organized such programmes sparingly. He added that follow-ups, monitoring and evaluations on such programmes could not also be carried out due to lack of the needed funds.