Accra, July 25, GNA - Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and National Orientation, on Tuesday said the Ministry had drawn up a new strategic and communication plan, which would support the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to become the vibrant newswire service provider it was established to be.

He said GNA had the potential of becoming a buoyant world class news agency like Reuters if given the necessary support adding that the Ministry would soon provide it with a new server, vehicles and other logistics to aid it in the collection and dissemination of information to the rest of the media community.

The Agency's server, the main equipment through which information was collected and transmitted, broke down in 1997 and had been replaced with ordinary PC, which required considerable human intervention. Mr Bartels was interacting with the Management and Board of Directors of the Agency when he paid a visit to familiarize himself with the work and facilities of the Agency, the first media organisation he has visited since his assumption of office.

The Minister and his entourage, made up of the Deputy Minister, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie and Chief Director, Mr Valentine T. Kuuzume, were taken round the various departments of the Agency by the Acting General Manager, Nana Appau Duah.

Mr Bartels said the Government expected a lot from the Agency in terms of assisting it to receive feedback from the entire country, especially the rural areas, concerning its policies and programmes and it was necessary to support the GNA to achieve this goal. He said the restructuring exercise currently being undertaken by the GNA should help it to generate revenue from other sources other than relying entirely on government subvention, which was sometimes not forthcoming.

Mr Bartels said the restructuring exercise must be carried out with the support of the entire Staff, Management and Board of Directors of the Agency and that the consultant working on it must prepare a strategic medium term plan in line with the guidelines of the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms.

He said the entire hierarchy of the Ministry would solidly support the programmes GNA was undertaking to give it a facelift adding that it would expedite action to ensure that all promises made became a reality. Mr Bartels commended the Board for handling the affairs of GNA very well and urged them to bring their good works to bear on the resolution of the internal wrangling of the Agency.

Mr Rex Owusu-Ansah, GNA Board Chairman, said the establishment of the Agency on the eve of independence by Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah, Ghana's First President, GNA was the life wire of the media in Ghana, since it had the widest coverage and dealt with a wide range of news covering economics, social, political and science.

However, he noted, that the myriad of problems the Agency was facing including budgetary and staff constraints made it difficult for it to carry out its mandate to the desired level.

Mr Owusu-Ansah said the downward trend in Government's subvention coupled with the low revenue it generated was a hindrance to the work of the Agency and how it would survive in the face of the huge competition. He expressed the Agency's appreciation to the Minister for the assistance so far received from the Government and said the Agency would partner the Government to achieve its goals. 25 July 06