Tumu, (U/W), May 14, GNA - Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications, has advised community radio stations to avoid political debates that could breed tension and rather focus on issues that could promote peace, unity and cohesion. He said the radio stations should be used solely for promoting socia= l empowerment and development to its people.

Mr. Iddrisu called on operators of the radio stations to initiate programmes to promote agriculture, environmental conservation, education,=

sanitation, health, civic education, culture, local language development and HIV awareness creation among others.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of RADFORD FM, a local= community radio station based in Tumu in the Sissala East District of the= Upper West Region.

The station, known as Radio for Development, (RADFORD 107.5 FM), was established in August 2009 through the efforts of the Sissala Youth Network, Plan Ghana International and Sissala East and Sissala West District Assemblies, to mobilise the communities in the two districts for development through the power of radio.

Mr. Iddrisu said that government was committed to creating an enabling environment to enhance efficient operations of community radio stations in Ghana and would ensure that the right to communicate through community radio was made available.

He was optimistic that the right to information bill when passed would also help to facilitate their work.

Mr. Iddrisu advised media personnel to discharge their duties professionally and avoid unsubstantiated allegations, misuse of media platforms to settle personal scores and failure to cross check facts before publication.

He said that the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting would offer a lot of opportunities for radio stations and urged management of the station to prepare adequately to reap dividends offered by new technologies in the broadcasting industry.

Mr. Iddrisu said that Plan Ghana's role in the establishment of the radio station such as the donation of equipment, recurrent expenditure support and human resource development among others was highly commendabl= e.