Julius Debrah
CHIEF OF Staff Julius Debrah has called on the management and staff of the Department of Parks and Gardens to take advantage of the ongoing restructuring programme to rebrand itself as a viable public institution.
He made the call in his keynote address read on his behalf by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Jerry Osei Kofi, at the 1st Regional Parks and Gardens Directors Workshop held at the Aburi Botanical Gardens.
The workshop was under the theme: ‘Greening and Beautification Of Ghana, The Role Of Parks And Gardens’.
He indicated that the restructuring of the Department of Parks and Gardens which started during his tenure of office as the local government minister brought up many ideas and suggestion as to how the department can be transformed.
The chief of staff further reminded the department of their core mandate as stated in Section 14 of the Civil Service Act 1993(PNDCL327).
Dorothy Onny, Director of Research, Statistics and Information Management (RSIM), who represented the Local Government Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda, averred that many opportunities abound in the horticultural industry.
She further indicated that the horticultural industry has a global trade volume of $101.84 billion, mentioning the Netherlands, Sweden, Malaysia and Denmark as some of the industry players.
Head of the Civil Service, Nana Agyekum Dwamena, was happy that the Department of Parks and Gardens was undergoing restructuring process to rebrand itself for the horticultural market.
He added that the Ghana Civil Service has, also in response to the changing global business trends, embarked on various capacity building initiatives to enhance the efficiency of the service in delivering its mandate.
Dr Dwamena also reminded them to be guided by the Civil Service code of conduct, which, according to him, must be seen as a road map to every civil servant in their normal dealings with their principal stakeholders.
Acting Chief Parks and Gardens Officer, Ishmael Nii Adjei Brown, mentioned that the department has been bedevilled with a number of challenges regarding funding and logistics to help it discharge its mandate effectively.
He assured that the department would become a beacon of horticultural business in the coming months as a number of programmes have been planned.
By Solomon Ofori