Lawra, April 23, GNA - Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, the Minister of State for Regional Integration and NEPAD, on Friday said the country could not progress if a section of the people made it a daily pre-occupation to undermine the government and play politics with every developmental initiative it undertake.

He said countries like India were succeeding in their development agenda because they enjoyed peace and stability and policies initiated by their governments had the support of all citizens, without putting any political party colours on them.

Dr Apraku said this when he addressed the People's Assembly organised by the Lawra District Assembly at Lawra in the Upper West Region.

He said the forces of globalisation and liberalisation were changing and had become instruments for eliminating poverty and ignorance and Ghana could not afford to be left behind.

"No government anywhere can go round putting money individual pockets. The best a government can do is to expand the production base of the economy to generate employment for people to make money."

Dr Apraku explained that the NEPAD 'E' School Programme to be introduced would ensure that senior secondary schools had ICT centres that could be linked to any part of the world to promote teaching and learning.

Mr Ambrose Dery, the Regional Minister, assured the people of the district that the Metro Mass Transit service would be extended to the area when buses that had luggage compartments were allocated to the region.

Mr clement Eledi, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said the ministry had allocated 204 million cedis to each district as a revolving fund for lending to farmers.

Mr Eledi said structures in the Babile Agricultural Station in the district would be rehabilitated and turned into a facility for training people in animal traction.

Mr George Sulley, the District Chief Executive, said the assembly was allocated 7.5 billion cedis as its share of the Common Fund last year and that was used in constructing and rehabilitating, markets, day care centre, school blocks and undertaking other poverty alleviation programmes.

During the open forum that has been the most dominant feature in the People's Assembly concept, the chiefs of the area appealed to the government to create a ministry for chieftaincy affaires and further support chiefs to live dignified lives