Tamale, Feb 20, GNA - Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, has called on religious bodies to assist the government to fight the rising crime wave and indiscipline in the society. He noted that crime and indiscipline in the society were having a negative impact on "Our hard won image as a country of peace and hospitality".

Alhaji Idris made the call in an address read on his behalf at the 40th anniversary of the Holy Cross Parish of the Catholic Church in Tamale on Sunday.

The Parish, which was established in February 1967 with the late Father Tom Tryers as the first Parish Priest, now has a multi-ethnic congregation of more than 200,000. Alhaji Idris attributed the spate of crime and indiscipline in the society to the desire of the youth "to get rich quick" without working and said the problem had become a national canker that required the concerted efforts of all to address "Before we are all consumed by it". He commended the Catholic Church for its interventions especially in the areas of education, health, agriculture and the provision of potable water.

The Regional Minister paid tribute to the Church and other religious organisations for their role in containing the conflict situation in the Dagbon area and said, "When the history of the difficult situation comes to be written, your names would be printed in letters of gold".

He urged the Church to use the pulpit to educate the congregation on the benefits of the National Health Insurance Scheme and to encourage them to register.

Alhaji Idris stressed the need for all Ghanaians to participate fully in activities marking Ghana's 50th Independence Anniversary. The Reverend Father Gerald Zienaa, acting Parish Priest, said the Church had over the years, supported the physically challenged and underprivileged and assisted many women's groups in rural areas to establish small-scale businesses to supplement their household incomes.