Agenda To Reduce Cost Of Living Unveiled

 

Vice President Bawumia has laid bare a four-point agenda to help reduce the cost of living when he becomes president.

They are mainly in the areas of agriculture, housing, transportation and power.

Speaking at his maiden national address to unveil his vision and priorities for the nation at a programme in Accra yesterday, Dr. Bawumia admitted the rising cost of living globally, including Ghana, and identified the four key sectors affecting cost of living, which he has identified ‘sustainable solutions’ for, by his government, if elected.

“A major priority of my government will be to reduce the cost of living,” was how he put it.

That, he said, was due to the fact that, “the cost of living in the world has increased massively following the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.”

Aside that, Dr. Bawumia who is the governing New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential candidate in the upcoming 2024 general elections said,  “global inflation increased from 1.55% in 2016 to 8.27% at the end of 2022, a five-fold increase!

“In particular, the increase in the cost of living has been driven by increases in food prices, energy prices, housing (rents) and transport prices.

“Any attempt to reduce the cost of living on a sustainable basis must therefore tackle agriculture, energy, housing and transport prices, and that is what I am going to do.”

On agriculture, Dr. Bawumia gave a comprehensive outline for modern agriculture to ensure precision in agriculture and food security.

“I want a Ghana where we attain food security through the application of technology and irrigation to commercial large scale farming.

“We will also promote the use of agricultural lime to reduce the acidity of our soils, enhance soil fertility and get more yield from the application of fertilisers,” he said.

On public transportation, Dr. Bawumia announced that his government intends to promote the use of electric vehicles, which he said will postively impact factors affecting the high cost of public transport in Ghana.

“My administration will endeavour to reduce the cost of public transport between 30-40% with the adoption of electric vehicles for public transportation,” he noted.

Under Bawumia’s ‘Housing for All’ policy as president, his government intends to have a major focus on the provision of public housing in the same manner that Singapore did, he said.

“We will partner with the private sector to build large housing estates without the government having to borrow or spend.

Dr. Bawumia noted that as part of the effort to reduce the cost of living, “my government will implement policies to have energy self-sufficiency at a reduced cost through solar and other renewable sources, with the application of market efficiency to the energy market.

“We will diversify the generation mix by introducing 2000MW of solar power and additional wind power through independent power producers to reduce our dependence on oil and gas by the end of my first term in office. This will significantly reduce the cost of electricity.”

By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent

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