The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed that the Minority in Parliament has dashed plans of the government to demolish the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) and construct a new one at a cost of GHS1.3 billion in 2023.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa added that the Minority successfully blocked proposals to open new Ghanaian embassies in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico.
The lawmaker who said this in a Facebook post added that the government cannot be defaulting on its loan obligations and imposing crude haircuts, particularly on pensions for the vulnerable elderly, and still be pursuing fanciful projects that can be deferred to better economic times in the future.
“NDC MPs both at the Foreign Affairs Committee & at plenary last night have effectively scuttled government’s 2023 plans to demolish the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) & construct a new one at a staggering €116million (GHS1.3billion).”
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“We also successfully blocked proposals to open new Ghanaian embassies in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago & Mexico.”
“Government cannot be defaulting on its loan obligations & imposing crude haircuts, particularly on pensions for the vulnerable aged & still be pursuing fanciful projects which can be deferred to better economic times in the future. Ghana First ,” Ablakwa wrote on Facebook.
This development comes days after the Trade, Industry, and Tourism Committee of Parliament also rejected the GHS80 million budget allocated for the construction of the National Cathedral
The minority side of the committee voted against the budget in an 11:10 majority decision.
“I can tell you on authority that at the end of the day, we had to vote and after the vote, the minority carried the day. We have voted against it and we are saying that this is not the time for us to be spending that huge sum of money on building a cathedral”, a member of the committee, Yussif Sulemana told pressmen after the vote.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu