Takoradi, Sept. 7, GNA - Mr Samuel Kwami Tetteh, Vice President of the Ghana Arbitration Centre (GAC), has said that Alternative Dispute Resolution, (ADR) mediation and conciliation were the best methods for settling industrial disputes. He said it was less expensive, faster and guaranteed the sustenance of business.

Mr Tetteh, who is also the President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), said this at the opening of a day's seminar on Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Ghana at Takoradi on Thursday.

It was organised by the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), for 60 business executives in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis and sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF).

Mr Tetteh said many businesses had collapsed due to the long delays of settling disputes at the traditional courts. He said Ghana had been practicing Alternative Dispute Resolution since time immemorial and there was the need to revive it to make it more acceptable and to supplement the court system.

The arbitration process, he stressed was strictly confidential, informal and flexible to meet the demands of the various stakeholders. Mr Tetteh explained that the GBA's support for the Ghana Arbitration Centre (GAC) was meant to reduce the burden on the courts and assist individuals to have speedy resolution of their cases. Mr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, Programme Officer of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) said the role of PEF was to encourage the business community to use alternative disputes mechanisms in solving their problems.

Mr Emmanuel Amofa, administrator of the GAC said some of the existing courts had failed to solve many industrial and commercial disputes and this had affected several foreign investors whose investments had been lost.

He said the adoption of the ADR in any conflict-based situation would require less personnel but efficient services. Mr Amofa said the rules of the GAC were flexible and had been part of the judicial process.

He said the GAC would soon publish the Arbitration Law Journal to enable more people to have access to their operations.