Parliament is reconvening on Tuesday with the House set to focus on some new bills, including the Railway and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bills as this Parliament begins its countdown to dissolution in January 2009.
Mr. Abraham Ossei Aidooh, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said the railway sector was undergoing some reforms, including plans to extend the sector to serve the north of the country.
He said it was necessary to introduce a piece of legislation to support the reforms and position the sector to attract private capital and investment.
Mr. Ossei Aidooh was speaking to the GNA in Accra on business for the next session and areas for action before this Parliament ends its term.
He said another bill expected to come before the House was the ADR bill, which was necessary to decongest the courts and open avenues to resolve conflicts out side the court system to ensure that the courts would be the last resort for seeking redress.
Mr Ossei Aidooh also the Majority Leader said the Customs and Excise Bill would also come before the House for the introduction of tariffs on mobile talk time as captured on the 2007 budget.
He said, as a part of his legacy, President Kufuor was pushing to make Parliament's budgetary allocation autonomous and independent of the Finance Ministry to ensure that the Ministry did not lump Parliament's budget with those of government ministries, agencies and departments.
Mr Ossei Aidooh said should the President's plans succeed Parliament's budgetary allocation would directly be decided between the Presidency and the legislature.
He said another area of concern was the institutional and structural changes needed to enhance the image and work of parliament through revision of the Parliamentary Service Act and the completion of the Job 600 building project.
He said a committee would be set up by Parliament to look at the Standing Orders of the House for possible revision to further entrench parliamentary democracy.
Source: GNA
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
Latest Stories
-
Vote number 1 in December elections – Deputy Education Minister urges tertiary students
4 mins -
Alan is a champion of culture, peace and Industrialisation – Boniface Saddique
4 mins -
Agric Minister advocates for digital farming, calls for church partnership
31 mins -
NCCE warns of growing voter inclination towards election-related violence
32 mins -
OSP ordered to release Cecilia Dapaah’s caution statements to her former house help
35 mins -
Global battle against inflation almost won, but risks remain – IMF
37 mins -
NPP MPs anticipate favourable Supreme Court verdict on vacant seats
39 mins -
Election 2024: Campaign songs outnumber policies – Sulemana Braimah
47 mins -
Voters prioritise education, jobs and healthcare for 2024 elections – NCCE
48 mins -
Huawei launches 9th edition of annual ICT Competition
49 mins -
Attacks on journalists must be “condemned and resisted” – Prof. Dodzi Tsikata
51 mins -
Employees must be treated as key assets of businesses – AGI Chairman
58 mins -
Techiman South Assembly finally gets Presiding Member
1 hour -
Krachi East residents laud Speaker’s maturity for suspending Parliament
1 hour -
Political parties “refuse” to address galamsey over fear of losing votes – Prof. Karikari
1 hour