Boost For Groundnut Production

Groundnuts, a widely grown crop in the Northern Region has been given a big boost in production and processing to meet international standards.

 A 59.9 million dollar loan agreement between the Northern Ghana Groundnut Limited and Helios International Partners with the government as a guarantor, was yesterday laid before parliament.

The Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Abraham Ossei-Aidoo laid the agreement on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.

Also laid before the house was Shareholders Agreement between PSI Ventures Limited, Chris James Consultants, Helios Investment Partners and Northern Groundnut Limited.

The report of the committee on Mines and Energy on the Petroleum Agreement amongst the government and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Aker ASA and Chemu Power Company Limited for the conduct of exploration and production operations in the offshore Deeper Water Tano Basin was also laid.

The Parliamentary Service (Amend-ment) Bill and reports on the statutes and conventions on the establishment of the Volta Basin Authority were also laid before the house.

The Electronic Transaction Bills and the National Information Technology Agency Bill to regulate electronic communications were read the second time.

The Minister of Communication, Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim moved the motion for the second reading of the bills.

Meanwhile, the Northern Development Fund Bill that seeks to make available additional resources to address the development gab between the north and the south was taken through the consideration stage during which members made amendments to the Bill.