Parliament on Thursday okayed a credit agreement between the government of Ghana and the Central Bank of Austria for an amount of 7,495,000.00 euros for upgrading and enhancing technical and vocational training centres in the country. This was after a report of the Finance Committee on the agreement was read by Mr. James Klutse Avedzi, Chairman of the Committee, on the floor of Parliament. The Speaker, Mrs. Bamford-Addo ruled for the adoption of the loan. Mr Klutse said the purpose of the agreement was to provide funds for the implementation of the first phase of the project. Mr. Avedzi said the terms of the agreement included, a five-year grace period, repayment period of 8.5 years, maturity period of 13.5 years, interest rate of zero per cent and management fee of 0.5 per cent, commitment fee of 0, 25 per annum and grant element of 36.08 per cent. He said Tema Technical Institute, Takoradi Technical Institute, St Paul Technical School, Kukurantumi, Kumasi Technical Institute and Accra Technical Training Centre were selected for upgrading under phase one. Training fields and areas of study to be covered under the facility include; mechanical engineering, Electrical engineering, Automotive engineering, computer engineering and home economics and catering. He said Article 13 of the Agreement requires that all payment and activities in connection with the agreement and all payments and activities in connection with the implementation of the concerned contract shall be waived from all kinds of taxes and duties such as stamp duty, customs duties, value added tax, withholding tax, imposed by the government of Ghana. Also, all repayment to be made by Ghana to the Lender shall be made without set-off or counterclaim and free of all taxes and charges. The committee in this vein advised the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Education to endeavour to bring to the house in due course for consideration and approval, a formal request for the waiver of taxes and duties with the project. Mr. Avedzi noted that government places emphasis on Teacher Education and Technical and Vocational Education as part of its enhanced human resource development efforts. For that reason, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning approached the Central Bank of Austria for funding to implement this project. He noted that the total cost of the project was estimated at twenty five million Euros, adding, due to the financing constraints, the project has been phased into two. Mr. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, supporting the agreement, asked when the remaining 72 per cent of the project would be assessed adding, even most machines of the institute have broken down. Mr. Samuel Aye Paye, Member for Ayensuano, said most of the selected institutes were in the cities adding, the next phase should consider those technical schools in the rural centres. Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, Member for Ho West, said the government should do well to include Volta Region and the three Northern Regions. Source: GNA