Konongo (Ash), May 17, GNA--Mr Fuseini Alidu, Asante Akim North District Co-ordinating director has called on civil servants to demonstrate commitment and absolute loyalty to the government and also to be politically neutral in all their actions and utterances.

He, however, explained that being politically neutral does not mean that civil servants cannot exercise their franchise. Mr Alidu made the call at the first quarterly durbar of workers in the Asante-Akim North district held at Konongo on Tuesday.

The durbar was designed to facilitate integration of the various departments under the decentralisation programme as well as to address factors hindering the smooth performance of workers in the public sector.

Mr Alidu said by being neutral, civil servants have to strive at complementing the work of political leaders to help achieve the common goal of developing the country. He said this apart, it was also a moral obligation for civil servants to be cautious in dealing with the public and avoid leaking any official secrets to members of the public.

He stressed the need for civil servants not only to study the code of ethics of civil service but also ensure that they apply the principles underlying the code and live by all the tenets of the code at all times.

Copies of the new code of conduct for the Ghana Civil Service were distributed to the workers at the durbar to guide them in their job performance. At an open forum, the workers expressed dissatisfaction with delays on being put on the appropriate scales after being promoted and appealed to government to swiftly address the problem.

The workers also agreed at the durbar to form a consumer credit union which will be explored to cater for the needs of the members.GNABENNAT08Fire Market Fire at Sekondi central market Sekondi, May 17, GNA- Fire blazed through the centre of Sekondi market where textiles and household utility traders operate on Tuesday night and destroyed goods worth millions of cedis.

The cause of the fire is not immediately known but sources close to the National Fire Service said the fire was detected by a watchman around 11.30 p.m. It took firemen about an hour to bring it under control. Meanwhile the market has been closed and the area where the fire occurred condoned off pending investigations into the cause of the fire.