Parliament ratifies agreement for supply of materials for rural

electrification

Accra, July 13, GNA - Parliament on Tuesday approved by 123 votes the credit agreement between Ghana and the Export-Import Bank of India for an amount of 15 million dollars for the supply of electrical materials and accessories for the rural electrification programme. The facility would be used for the procurement of offshore electrical materials for the Self-Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) under the SHEP-4 Project.

The Report of the joint Committee on Finance and Mines and Energy stated that SHEP-4 would benefit 2,500 communities all over the country. It said the total cost of the SHEP-4 was "350,000,000 million US dollars and that the 15 million US dollars from the Export and Import Bank of India would be used to commence the SHEP-4 Project".

The Committee in considering the loan, said on the value for money assessment for the Project, which some members insisted on that it should be made available, the officials of the Ministry of Energy promised to make it available to the Committee.

The Committee, therefore, recommended that the document be provided before the House approved it finally.

The National Electrification Scheme (NES) was one of the fundamental policies the Government has been pursuing in order to reduce poverty and create wealth in the country.

The NES aims at providing electricity to all communities in the country over a 30-year period.

The House also by 122 votes approved a Buyer Credit Facility Agreement between Ghana and Fortis Bank (Nederlands) N. V. for an amount of 15,688,400 Euros for the Kwanyaku Drinking Water Treatment Plant rehabilitation and expansion works in the Central Region.