Koforidua, Jan. 21, GNA - The Regional Ministers Review Conference in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, has called for the prosecution of people who looted the stores of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) during the 2008 transitional period. The ministers claimed that stores of the Non-formal Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were also ransacked and have called for investigations into the issue to make the culprits to face the law.

This was contained in a communiqu=E9 issued at the end of a two-Day conference read by the Chairman of the Conference, Mr Joseph Amenowode. The Ministers acknowledged the role played by NADMO in managing disasters. The communiqu=E9 expressed concern about the accidents that occur on lakes involving transportation of goods and services and called for the improvement of patrols to ensure safety. The meeting urged government to use part of the oil and gas revenue to support the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in order to close the financing gap.

The conference asked the Attorney General's Department to introduce laws to empower the courts to impose heavy fines on illegal miners and chain- saw operators and to confiscate the heavy equipment and other machinery the culprits use for their illegal activities. The Ministers called on the Micro-Finance and Small Loan Centre (MASLOC) to reduce the current monthly interest rate on the facility to encourage repayment of the loans.

The Regional Ministers also asked management of MASLOC to focus on critical poverty stricken areas to ensure effective poverty reduction.

The conference expressed concern about the poor communication gap between the Ministry of Education and the Regional Co-ordinating Councils and called for better collaboration to enhance the implementation of government programmes and projects at the local level.