Mr Emmanuel Amarquaye, the Lead Crusader for Punctuality Ghana Foundation, has called on citizens to put the interest of the country first and help foster national development.

He made the call during an endorsement of the Punctuality Ghana public education awareness campaign by Mr Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister in Accra.

The campaign is aimed at creating awareness about the impact poor attitudes has on time and work and national development.

“We all vote during elections and there is the temptation of thwarting the agenda of one government against the other. But that could end up slowing the nation’s development. It is therefore critical that our loyalty is rendered to the state instead of a government,” Mr Amarquaye said.

He said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and for that matter government could maximize its internally generated funds if efficiency is ensured in the public service.

He said the Ministry has the potential to curb the unemployment situation the country was encountering and urged it to put in place policies that would fast track service delivery to ensure that this was achieved.

“Our housing deficit is being compounded by the slow pace of work at the Lands Commission. We cannot continue in this manner if we intend to attract investors into the sector,” he said.

“Government must be ready to review upward the fees being charged by the Lands Commission for public service delivery. People are ready to pay more if they get services delivered to them on time”, he said.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh, who endorsed the campaign on behalf of the Ministry, said as part of efforts to ensure punctuality and for that matter productivity, the Ministry has put in place measures to fast track service delivery.

He said it was also currently engaging private entities to assist the Ministry, especially the Lands Commission to ensure quicker service delivery.

“At the same time, we are also thinking of getting some assistance either in a form of a grant or a loan from the World Bank to ensure that such issues in respect of delays that hinder punctuality would be a thing of the past.”

“In the mining sector, what we are seeking to do currently is to outsource the jobs in that sector in terms of reclamation of degraded soil or devastated forests to some individuals through contracts,” he said.

“Through this, we will restore those lands back to their natural state for agricultural purposes and ensure a serene environment, as well as improve the ecology as a whole”, he said.

He expressed concern at the lack of upgrade of operating systems at the Commission which was hindering the delivery of service.

“Some of the documents there are as old as 1926, with torn parts and faded texts, which makes processing it very difficult. This, however, does not give them the opportunity to delay the processes that we are seeking to obtain from them”, he said.

While applauding the Foundation for initiating such a laudable programme, he urged them to target the youth in order to ensure that they cultivated this habit at an early stage of their lives.

Ms Naa Meryeh Quaynor-Mettle, the Project Co-ordinator for the Foundation, said there is the need for measures to be adopted if the Ghana Beyond Aid dream is to be realised.

“We believe the Ghana Beyond Aid is possible if government would pay serious attention in boosting the internally generated funds of the government, departments and agencies”, she said.