New biometric passports enabled with security features to meet required international standards, are expected to be in circulation from the beginning of 2007.

This was disclosed in Parliament Thursday by the Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, when he appeared before the House to respond to questions with regards to his sector.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs was responding to a question from the MP for Fomena, Akwasi Afrifa, on what the position of the government was in respect of the issuance of new Ghanaian passports for civilians considering that some countries in the sub-region, particularly Mali and Senegal, have started issuing ECOWAS passports in place of their respective national passports pursuant to the relevant ECOWAS treaties and protocols.

Explaining the provisions of the new passport, Mr Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo noted that it would ‘significantly, if not entirely eliminate,’ the problems of fraud, duplication and associated malpractices, which have plagued the issuance and circulation of the current passport. “The new passport would be less subjected to duplication and fraud. It would help tighten up security on passport”, he stressed.

Moreover, he informed the House that in this new passport scheme, provision has been made for the production of ECOWAS passports which would be utilised concurrently with the national passport. Mr Akuffo Addo said: “We will soon join Senegal and Mali as countries that have put the ECOWAS passport in circulation.’

On the rationale behind the ECOWAS passport, the Minister explained that “the purpose is to give citizens room for choice, that is either moving in the sub-region with the Ghanaian passport or with the ECOWAS passport”.

Meanwhile, Mr Akuffo Addo revealed that the Ghanaian government donated US$200,000 to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The natural disaster wreaked havoc on Louisiana and Mississippi last August. He said that the donation was an act of solidarity with an ally. “In addition to our modest contribution, H.E. the President sent a message of sympathy to the President of the United States of America,” he said.

Earlier in the House, the Minister for Manpower Development, Youth and Employment, Saddique Abubakar Boniface also NPP MP for Salaga, announced plans to unveil outreach programmes in a bid to improve the Manso-Amenfi National Vocational Training Institute. In addition, Mr Boniface also revealed plans to visit the catchment area and radio announcements to encourage parents to enrol their wards in the centre.

He added that construction of additional classrooms and workshops and provision of more bamboo-cutting machines for training in bamboo crafts in order to promote the use of bamboo as an alternative to wood products was underway, since the area abounds in that.

Meanwhile, an amount of ¢25.6m has been provided to commence construction of the classrooms for the centre and an additional ¢62.0m of the current budget has also been released for purchase of basic equipment such as a step ladder and an oven, among others.