INDISCIPLINE, THREAT TO DEVELOPMENT — MILLS (PAGE 21)

The President, John Evan Atta Mills, has identified the increasing rate of indiscipline and lack of punctuality as a major stumbling block to the country’s development.
He said, “The carnage on our roads, which brings to mind tales of woes and agony, can be traced largely to the indiscipline on the roads. Statistics indicate that well over 90 per cent of road crashes in the country are caused by human error, apparently borne out of indiscipline,” he said.
“Indiscipline in our time management is also another contributory factor which also militates against our development efforts as a country,” he said.
The President was speaking at the 53rd annual council meeting of the Boys Brigade in Takoradi. He said the future of the country lay in the hands of the youth but sadly, “many of our young boys and girls are constantly being threatened and lured into negative tendencies such as alcoholism, casual sex, drug abuse and associated crime”.
He said statistics indicated that the youth constituted more than 50 per cent of the country’s population; therefore, they formed a major dynamic force that needed to be given the right orientation and direction within a positive framework towards the total development of the country.
Despite the challenges, the President said many of the youth displayed a sense of purpose and strength to move the nation forward and the government would do everything possible to help them.
Touching on the environment, Prof. Mills said indiscipline on the environmental front was phenomenal as rampant felling of trees, destruction of forest, bush burning, illegal mining in reserves, unscientific methods of fishing amongst others, tended to harm the environment and the very future existence of mankind.
“Our growing population with high expectations are becoming increasingly dependent on our small and shrinking natural resource base. It follows, therefore, that people and conservation can no longer be separated.”
Prof. Mills called for community involvement in development, which is about finding a balance between biodiversity, management and improvement of local people’s livelihood and security.
Education, the President said, was the art of awakening the soul and added that it was refreshing that the Boys Brigade had accepted the challenge to educate the young ones, who are the inheritors and leaders of the future.
With that, the President said, the level of indiscipline across all spectrum of the country could be reduced if not completely eliminated.
He commended the brigade and said the youth were very important to the government and that plans were far advanced to come out with a youth policy which would determine the way forward for the youth.
The President has also accepted to become a national patron of the boys brigade.