THE Deputy Central Regional Minister, Mr H.Q. Jehu-Appiah, has stressed the need for Ghanaians to give the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) a chance.

Mr Jehu-Appiah was addressing the opening session of a seminar for Information Service Department officers in the southern sector on the re-introduction of the VAT which will replace the current sales and service taxes at Cape Coast on Monday.

The two-day seminar being attended by 75 officers from the Western, Greater Accra, Central, Eastern and Volta regions, is to equip the participants to be able to effectively educate the Ghanaian public on the VAT system.

He emphasised that the government is not insensitive to impose on the people, a policy that will inflict hardship on them, and explained that the tax is widely acknowledged as an efficient tax system.

Mr Jehu-Appiah re-echoed the fact that the VAT system will not only broaden the tax net but will also reduce the risk involved in over-dependence on petroleum revenue.

Mr Jehu-Appiah further stated that ECOWAS protocol requires the institution of the VAT systems in all member countries by 1999.

Already, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cote d'lvore, and Burkina Faso are efficiently operating the VAT system, he said.

He gave the assurance that the shortcomings in the introduction of the VAT in 1995 are being addressed and issues of timing, public debate and education among others, will all be fully addressed before its re-introduction in 1998.

The deputy minister urged the participants to take full advantage of the seminar to enable them to effectively offer plausible explanation to the public, adding that what is most important is to allay the fears of Ghanaians in view of the events of the recent past.

"The subject matter is too delicate to handle with ease, and those with the responsibility to educate the public must approach the issue with considerable sense and circumspection," he advised.

The Director of the VAT Project, Mr E.F. Asamoah, said the seminar is one of a series being organised for identifiable groups by the facilitators on the VAT project.

Other groups to benefit from such training programmes include the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Mobilisation Programme (NMP) and the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD).