Equatorial Guinea's Political Parties Discuss Plans To Improve Agriculture And Health Sectors

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Equatorial Guinea's major political parties are working to increase investment in the agriculture and health sectors, according to their platforms and recent interviews with candidates.

Equatorial Guinea's economy continues to grow at a fast pace, which presents the opportunity to improve the living standards of all its citizens. The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE), the current majority political party in the country, is determined to continue with its development project to improve the integral well-being of the nation.

In reference to the agriculture sector, the PDGE plans to continue its support to modernize the industry and enhance the role of women and youth. The party wants to speed the transformation and commercialization of agricultural products in order to achieve higher quality goods. PDGE also plans to create public companies in the sector to promote investment, optimize the use of the country's soil to address local food needs and increase exportation.

Another plan for this sector is to build labs to analyze the country's soils and plants, develop agriculture-training centers to facilitate the local farmer's training and reduce rural emigration. Agriculture is a priority for PDGE's political platform; they expect to build centers and food conservation units in all provinces.

The PDGE's rival political party, the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), has put forth an alternative development plan.

In a recent interview, Andres Esono, communications secretary of the CPDS and candidate standing for election from Malabo for the opposition party, said, "Our platform strives to establish a democratic state and we have 13 key goals that we want to put into practice."\

When talking about his party's plans for the agriculture sector, Mr. Esono said that they plan to use some of the oil revenues for the promotion and development of agriculture to ensure farmers are able to provide to the national markets and improve the livelihood of the rural population. He continued to say, "Agriculture should be the base of our economy not oil. We plan to open credit banks for farmers, to support the sector's development and improve the country's rural zones."

Regarding the health sector in the country, PDGE plans to renovate the infrastructure of hospitals, and provide them with modern, therapeutic equipment as well as medicine needed to treat Equatoguinean citizens. The party expects to build new modern hospitals and centers, including a national reference center for preventative diseases. They also aim to guarantee access and pharmaceutical assistance to students free of cost. PDGE's platform plans to build psychiatric regional hospitals and strengthen the fight against malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.

CPDS shared similar health objectives to those of PDGE during an interview with Mr. Esono. "We plan to renovate hospitals and create more medical centers throughout the country," he said. "Hospitals should be better equipped with machines and medicine to provide for the country's citizens. CPDS plans to offer medical insurance to all Equatoguineans free of cost and heavily invest in professionals' training within the industry."

Both parties discussed their platforms as part of their campaign for the upcoming elections on May 26.

About Equatorial Guinea
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea (Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial) is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, and one of the smallest nations on the continent. In the late-1990s, American companies helped discover the country's oil and natural gas resources, which only within the last five years began contributing to the global energy supply. Equatorial Guinea is now working to serve as a pillar of stability and security in its region of West Central Africa. The country hosted the 2011 Summit of the African Union. For more information, visit http://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com.

SOURCE Republic of Equatorial Guinea