Catholic Bishops Scorn Parliament: Buying China Chairs Means You Lack Planning

President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Most Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu as part of a Communiqu� at the end of its 2014 Plenary Assembly at Oshiuman, near Accra has scorned Parliament for buying imported chairs from China. According to him, the decision by Parliament to buy chairs from China is a direct attempt to collapse the local furniture companies. Speaking in defense of Parliament�s action about some weeks ago, Hon. Alfred Kwame Agbesi, said there was no way the House could have waited for a local furniture producer to produce the 300 chairs and tables because they had set October 2014 to move in. �We set a time limit to move into this chamber and we could not get any company to provide us with the 300 chairs and tables within that short time...there are companies which can produce maybe in a years� time or two but we had set ourselves a time limit,� says Hon. Alfred Kwame Agbesi, Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament. But Most Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu on Oman FM�s Morning Show has disdained the reason given by Parliament, saying the House does not know planning as they could have planned a year ahead to change the chairs and tables in the Parliament if they wanted local furniture companies to produce the 300 chairs and tables. �Our problem is that we have local furniture manufacturers who do beautiful chairs and tables and they could have done those chairs for Parliament. If they talk about time constraint then it means they don�t know what we call planning; if they have proper planning in place, they should have known that by next year, they will need 300 chairs and tables for Parliament and how to go about getting them,� he scorned. �..we are not promoting the local furniture industries if we go to China to buy simple chairs for our Parliament. Even the imported chairs are not good; if they have started breaking down in Parliament, then what has become our fate now?�, he quizzed. He however urged Parliament to pass into law to forbid the law chamber for buying things the country can produce locally from abroad as other countries largely used local products and rather import goods they cannot produce.