The Ghana Police Service has received 3 million Euro from the European Union (EU) to help boost the capacity of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the application of science in crime prevention and detection. Under the arrangement, the Forensic Science Laboratory of the CID will be fully rehabilitated and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, including an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), to enable it to undertake various types of analysis, possibly DNA analysis, among others. The move which comes in the wake of what appears to be an increasing crime wave in the country, will also enhance the ability of the police in the fight against drug and human trafficking and illegal migration. The Minister of the Interior, Mr. Kwamena Bartels, said this at the signing ceremony of two financial agreements between the government and the EU in Accra at the weekend. The other part of the agreement covered the release of 5 million Euro to aid the implementation of the second phase of the Cocoa Sector Support Programme (CSSP). Mr Bartels and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, signed on behalf of the government, while the Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation, Mr Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, initialed it for the EU. The Minister of the Interior said the assistance had come at an opportune time when the government was making all the necessary efforts to improve the operations of the Police Service to enable it to meet the growing challenges of crime detection and prevention in the country. He expressed, the hope that the police, through the assistance, would be in a better position to gather the right evidence in their investigation of crime. Explaining the support for the cocoa sector, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the. EU had assisted Ghana in the implementation of phase one with €10.3 million and noted that the support for the second phase demonstrated the resolve of the EU to see to the growth and expansion of the cocoa sector in the country. "The current project builds on the of the previous programme," he said and added that “the CSSP II will support the replanting of former cocoa growing areas with hybrid cocoa varieties, intensify extension services to cocoa farmers through participatory training methods and tools, as well as strengthen the service provision capacity of cocoa farmers' organisations". Mr Baah-Wiredu said the project would also address the environmental and social impact of cocoa production, strengthen the management capacity of existing and emerging cocoa farmers, community-based organizations among others. He said cocoa played a lead role in the agricultural sector and the economy in general and indicated that the government had, since 2001, supported the sector with the objective of ensuring increased and sustainable production, enhance farmers’ incomes and maintain quality. "The strategy has been complemented by the cocoa spraying exercise under the Cocoa Disease and Pest Control Programme (CODAPEC), popularly known as "mass spraying" exercise, resulting in increased yield of cocoa and employment creation," he said. Mr Baah-Wiredu said with the signing of the two agreements, Ghana had committed the entire amount of €315.6 million under the European Development Fund (EDF) resources, adding, "I understand that this is the first time ever that the funds under a particular EDF have been fully committed before the entry into force of a succeeding EDF." Mr Sebregondi, in his remarks before the signing of the agreements, praised the government for the progress achieved so far against its growth, poverty reduction and governance agenda and noted that "this is mirrored everyday in its partnership with the European Commission". "Given its sound governance profile and its commitment to further improve this environment, Ghana has been one of the few African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to be allocated an extra 30 per cent of resources which will bring the total 10th EDF over the period 2008-2013 to €367 mil¬lion or more than GH¢510 million," he added. Source: Daily Graphic