Govt asked to apply science, technology in devt.

THE President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), Professor Reginald F. Amonoo, has urged the new government to dedicate itself to the application of science and technology to solve the country’s development problems.
He said while emphasising the study and application of science and technology, he would, however, caution that the government should not neglect the humanities, arts and culture, religious and moral studies, as well as philosophy.
Prof Amonoo made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday and said overall education, with emphasis on applied research, was basic to solving most of the challenges that the new Prof Mills administration would face.
He said the academy was a society of learning, with interest in development through the application of its research findings to the development and advancement of Ghana and Africa at large.
Prof Amonoo suggested that since Ghana was in the tropics, solar energy should be the preferred source of energy the new government could resort to, stating that though it was expensive in the short term, in the long run it would be very beneficial to the country’s energy sustainability.
He proposed that instead of importing solar panels into the country, “we must try and construct our own panels so that their maintenance and enhancement become easier”.
On the use of wind energy, he noted that windmills could be built, particularly along the coastal belt where wind blowing from the sea to land could be positively exploited.
He further called on the new administration to take the issue of re-afforestation more seriously than it had been handled in the past.
The GAAS has also elected a 11-member council presided over by Prof Amonoo, who is a professor of French, to steer its affairs for a two-year period commencing January 2009 to December 2010.
Other council members are Prof Francis K. Nkrumah, a professor of Medicine and Paediatrics, as Vice-President of the Science Section, and Prof Lawrence A. Boadi, a professor of Linguistics, who retains his position as the Vice-President of the Arts Section of the academy.
Prof Elizabeth Ardayfio Schandorf, a professor of Geography, is the Honorary Treasurer, while Prof Seth K. A. Danso, a soil scientist, also retains his position as the Honorary Secretary.
Other members of the council are Dr Leticia E. Obeng, water and environment consultant and Immediate Past President of the academy; Prof Daniel A. Akyeampong, a professor of Mathematics; Prof Samuel K. Date-Bah, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana; Prof Samuel Sefa-Dedeh, a professor of Food Science; Prof Yaa Ntiamoah-Baidu, a professor of Zoology, and Prof Jacob Songsore, a professor of Geography.