Deputy Transport Minister Dzifa Attivor has announced government’s decision to transform the Tamale Airport into an international one by the end of 2012. Speaking at an open forum to explain into detail the 2012 Budget, the minister promised that by 2012, Moslems in Tamale would not have to come all the way to Accra before embarking on their pilgrimage to Mecca. “…We are also trying to work on the Tamale Airport. We would be upgrading it to International Standards. [So my friends who will go to Hajj] from next year, God willing, Allah willing, you will commute direct from Tamale to Mecca," Ativor promised. The minister said, with the discovery of oil, the interest of foreign investors in the country over the last three years has increased and the number of private airlines in Ghana has doubled from 15 to 33 in the process. She said government is taking steps to expand the Kotoka International Airport to accommodate the increasing number of private commercial flights. Touching on the road sector, the minister said: “for the drivers and vehicle owners here, Professor Mills has noted that your vehicles are rickety, they are no longer good for the roads. So he has made allocation for procuring of buses to replace the old ones that you have,” the deputy minister promised. Ativor was convinced that singular act by government would reduce the carnage on the roads “because most of the accidents are because of the type of vehicles that are plying our roads.” According to her government’s commitment to improving the country’s infrastructure in the 2012 Budget is unprecedented, second only to the Nkrumah regime. She said with the drive to improve the country’s infrastructure a substantial number of young people would be taken off the street and would be provided with meaningful jobs. “As the transport ministry we are ready to deliver on the better Ghana agenda,” the deputy minister assured. The Forum was attended by high ranking government officials, including head of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, Dr. Tony Aidoo, Minister of Communication, Haruna Iddrisu, Deputy Finance Minister, Fifi Kwetey, Trade Minister, Hannah Tetteh. The Forum was chaired by the deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwah.