The Research Staff Association of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, has blamed governments over the years for paying lip service to Science and Technology. The Association said, government’s emphasis on teaching and learning of Science and Technology alone cannot transform the country without investing much in the sector.

The National President of the Research Staff Association of the CSIR, Dr. Ebenezer Owusu-Sekyere, was speaking at a news conference at Nyankpala, in the Northern Region. The news conference was part of activities marking the 19th annual general meeting of the association. The delegates were from the 13 establishments of the Council.

According to Dr. Owusu-Sekyere, if government would adequately fund and motivate staff of CSIR, agricultural, industrial, infrastructural and environmental issues which continue to plaque the nation will be things of the past. He regretted that, the CSIR is always relegated to the background and the existence of CSIR is warped in the eyes of politicians and the general public.

Dr. Owusu-Sekyere said all the crop varieties developed by the CSIR and released through Ministry of Food and Agriculture to farmers are labeled Agric products but not CSIR products. He said it is universally accepted that science and technology is the bedrock of every country’s development and therefore called on government to enact legislation to put the council in its proper position and make it the fulcrum of the country’s development efforts thereby turning the fortunes of the country round.

He noted that there is a weak science policy that has created a very wide knowledge gap between scientists and government officials.