The Ministry for Planning and Development has hinted at a review of the National Development Planning Commission’s forty-year development plan for the country.
According to the Minister, Prof. George Gyan- Baffour, the government will roll out its short-term plans as it reviews the long-term plans.
Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of a dissemination workshop on Corridor Development for the West Africa Growth Ring Master Plan, the Minister, Prof. George Gyan- Baffour, said government’s flagship programmes such as free senior high school policy and one district one factory are part of the coordinated programmes.
“As at now, we are reviewing the forty-year development plan, but we don’t have to wait until that plan is ready before we do anything, so we came out with a coordinated programme,” he said,
He says there will be adjustments to these coordinated programmes as and when necessary.
“Technology changes, the environment changes, the people involved change, a lot of things change, yes; you come up with the vision but you don’t come up with something that constraints you,” he said.
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has already downplayed the relevance of a 40-year national development plan to guide Ghana’s development agenda.
According to him, a long-term plan for national development must be limited to ten years due to world economic conditions and the advancement in technology.
“I don’t believe in planning in excess of 10 years because of the stringency of world economics, and therefore I would prefer that we restrict ourselves to a 10-year development plan. I have made some inputs into it relating to infrastructure and energy.”
“The NDPC met the whole caucus of the NPP at our headquarters to discuss initially the 40-year development plan. The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and I expressed our views on the length of time.”
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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana