Accra, Nov. 1, GNA - Government is taking inventory of all public assets to determine how best to deal with abandoned and under-utilised projects, Mr Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Minister of Works and Housing, said on Tuesday.

He said the spectacle of uncompleted projects even in Accra, the national capital, had to be erased at a point in the history of the nation.

The Minister was responding to queries raised in a statement made by Mrs Elisabeth Amoah-Tetteh, Member for Twifu-Atti Morkwaa, on "Abandoned Structures, Vehicles, Implements, etc". He attributed the problem to unrealistic budgeting in the past saying that "the present government has no hand in the making of that problem.

"They represent wasted resources as they litter every major city and town in the country."

Mr Alfred Kwame Agbesi, NDC- Ashaiman, said a Police barracks project, which was started in 1979 had been abandoned in his constituency.

He cited a court building complex project in Tema, which also been abandoned.

The member advised that when projects were started, they should be completed before new ones were started. Mrs Amoah-Tetteh had attributed the spectre to lack of funds, inadequate inventory taking and improper project conception. "Over enthusiasm of politicians to satisfy the electorate without proper planning. Sometimes result in uncompleted structures." She also reasoned: "In some cases new governments abandon projects because they were started by their predecessors."

The member mentioned abandoned projects in the Volta, Ashanti, Central and Greater Accra Regions.

In another development, the House adopted the report of the Finance Committee on the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill. The Bill is to amend the Value Added Tax Act 1998 and provide for related matters.

It aims at reducing the qualifying threshold for refund of exporters to 25 per cent from 75 per cent. According the report, the Bill is intended to ease the cash flow problems encountered by exporters and boost the national export drive.