Establishment of Alternative Dispute Resolution national headquarters advocated

Mr Gabriel Atsu, Coordinator of the Ashaiman Central Office of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has called for the establishment of headquarters for the national community ADR towards the creation of community ADRs in all the districts throughout the country.

Making the observation in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the weekend, Mr Atsu said the ADRs would help in the amicable and peaceful settlement of disputes through arbitration and mediation.

He appealed to institutions such as the Rent Control, Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Police Service and the Department of Social Welfare to always open their doors to the public, to find lasting solutions to disputes.

Mr Atsu said 205 of 214 debt cases recorded by the Ashaiman ADR last year were settled amicably with 9 of them pending.

He said so far as people gained access to micro finance loan, debt recovery would increase.

Mr Atsu said though the interest rate on such loans remained high, people would still go in for the package because of their pressing domestic problems.

He said inasmuch as people would use the loans to pay rent, school fees, funeral expenses and the settlement of old debts, the repayment of loans would continue to be headache to the beneficiaries.

Source: GNA