We
will ignore NATO sanctions – Jovanovic
Sawla
constituency demands removal of MP
Ilegal miners, our greatest challenge - Ministry of Mines
Accra records 72 accidents during Easter, no deaths
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
The Health,
Safety and Environment Adviser of the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project says a
lot of "behind the scenes" arrangements have been made to ensure that
the project does not have a negative environmental impact on the communities
that the pipeline will run through.
In an
interview with the GNA in Accra, Mr John Cornwell said what is being done now,
is the preparation of tender documents for the exploitation of the resources
after the necessary infrastructure has been put in place.
He said the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project would take off this June
after the four countries have approved the preparatory documents.
Mr Cornwell
said the consortium on the project was holding discussions with the four
sponsoring governments, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and agencies as well as
communities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that they have a
comprehensive environmental plan in place before the project takes off.
Mr Cornwell
said experts in marine conservation are also being roped in to help fashion out
a document acceptable to all.
He said a
series of agreements from the four participating countries are being
considered, especially after visits to all the environmental protection
agencies, except that of Nigeria.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
The
National Working Committee of the Atta Mills Brotherhood International on
Tuesday, appealed to its members and sympathisers to observe Thursday, April
27, 2000, as a day of fasting and prayer in commemoration of the 28th anniversary
of the death of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
A statement
issued in Accra said the day should also be observed in expectation of the
forthcoming extraordinary congress of the National Democratic Congress in Ho on
Friday April 28.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
The
Christian Council, Catholic Mission and Baptist Secretariat on Tuesday said
that all churches under their jurisdiction would adhere to the impending ban on
drumming and noise making imposed by the Ga Traditional Council to ensure a
peaceful Homowo festival.
Dr. K.B.
Asante, Chairman of the Gadangme Council, said this at a meeting to discuss
matters pertaining to the mobilisation of Gadangme citizens into a supportive
movement for the attainment of the aims and aspirations of Gadangme.
"This
year, we hope there would be no conflict whatsoever in the Ga Traditional Area
during the celebration of the Homowo festival because these bodies have come to
a compromise to ensure that everything goes on smoothly."
Dr. Asante
advised the chiefs and the youth not to take the law into their own hands but
exercise restraint and report to the appropriate quarters should the need
arises.
So far as
Accra remains the capital of Ghana, people would keep coming from all over the
country, he said, reminding all that there are rules governing the Gadangme
land.
"Most
of the land has been sold out to foreigners, making Gadangmes strangers on their
own land. This is what we need to correct," he said and suggested that
instead of selling the land, it should rather be leased out so that fees paid
on it could be used for development purposes rather than go into one person's
pocket.
"The
chiefs have a key role to play in this venture and these changes would go a
long way to move the Gadangme kingdom forward."
Mr Moi
Allotey, Managing Director of the State Insurance Corporation, called for the
institution of a recognised Gadangme chief under whom all the paramount chiefs
may work.
Members of
the council called on the executive to endeavour to convince the Ga Traditional
Council on the need to settle all chieftaincy disputes as they do not promote
development.
"If
the chiefs are separated due to disputes, how then could there be peace among
the people they are leading?" they asked.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
Yugoslavia
on Tuesday said it will continue to ignore any form of sanction imposed on it
by the foreign powers because they do not emanate from the United Nations.
Mr Zivadin
Jovanovic, Foreign Minister, told journalists in Accra that until UN resolution
1244 is fully implemented in Kosovo and its sovereignty is respected, "all
conditionalities will be ignored by our government".
Mr Jonavic
who is at the head of a business and diplomatic delegation on a three-day visit
to Ghana to explore and deepen economic and diplomatic relations said the only
lasting solution for the troubled Balkan nation will come from an un-dictated
dialogue among the various sections of the population.
"Yugoslavia
is open for co-operation from all people, even those who helped in its
destabilization."
He said the
NATO aggression ignited by a massive hate campaign failed to break the spirit
of the people after destroying infrastructure worth 100 billion dollars.
"The
world were deceived to go along with NATO in the aggression under the guise of
human rights and ethnic minority rights violation."
Mr
Jovanovic said Yugoslavia cares for all it’s people and it is sad to hear those
whose multi-national companies exploit the poor, lecture the world on human
rights. "Strength is not always and necessarily right and wise. The new
inquisitors are killing the truth."
He said
several journalists were killed in the NATO air strikes, which aimed at
incapacitating the media in that country.
"Three
fourths of the people killed were civilians. They just killed them because they
had learnt that our strength lies in our hearts so they killed to destroy our
morale."
He
described the presence of the 40,000 KFOUR soldiers and thousands of
international volunteers in the area as "adding to the worsening
conditions of Kosovo".
He said
terrorists had been re-designated liberation movements, adding: "these
people are allowed to butcher poor Serbs and drive them from their land".
Mr
Jovanovic described the War Crime Tribunal in The Hague as a "tool and
will of the aggressor to make the victim responsible for whatever happened. It
is sad that some Africans have been lured into the trap of doing the dirty work
for NATO."
The
Yugoslav Foreign Minister said his country is reconstructing its infrastructure
and economy and hopes to exploit the opportunity to upgrade its technology and
strengthen its relations with peace loving nations.
He said
Ghana is one country that has demonstrated its commitment to international
peace and non-interference in other nations' internal affairs.
GRi../
Sawla (Northern Region) 26 April 2000
The
executives of the Sawla/Kalba Constituency of the NDC, members of the
Progressive Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) and traditional authorities have
called for "the immediate replacement" of the MP for the area, Mr
Joseph Bayel.
In
a 10-point resolution signed by 12 persons, the three bodies accused the MP,
among other, of "failing to make transparent and vivid account of his
share of the MP's common fund".
He
is also said to have refused to recognise the ACDRs and 31st December Women's
Movement as party organs and has not organised any forum or rally to explain
the government’s policies and programmes to the people.
The
resolution, which was presented to the Bole District Chief Executive, Hajia
Azara Bukari, at the palace of the Sawla-Wura, said Mr Bayel's continued stay
in office had created disunity and mistrust within the party and he should be
replaced before things get out of hand.
Receiving
the resolution, Hajia Bukari appealed to party members not to allow personal
interests to supersede those of the party.
She
said the opposition should not be allowed to infiltrate the ranks of the NDC to
undermine its peace and stability.
When
contacted, Mr Bayel described the allegations levelled against him as false,
adding that it was a move by the opposition to destabilise the party in the
area.
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Ilegal
miners, our greatest challenge - Ministry of Mines
Accra
(Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
The
Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) on Tuesday described the operations of
illegal miners as one of its greatest challenges, saying these miners have the
potential to defeat the giant strides made in investments in the sector.
Known as
"Galamsey Operators", the illegal miners are guilty of trespassing on
concessions of large-scale mining companies and cause considerable damage to
the environment which makes it difficult for their operations to be
regularised, Dr John Abu, Minister of
Mines and Energy told a 'Meet-The-Press' session in Accra on Tuesday.
He said
there is also a conflict of interest as they are usually reluctant to move from
concessions they operate on illegally.
In order to minimise these illegal mining activities, 16 areas in the
country have been demarcated for small-scale gold mining in the country, where
some of them would be relocated.
Dr Abu said
the Geological Survey Department is in the process of determining the mineral
potentials of these areas adding that district officers of the mines Department
are training small-scale miners as part of their capacity building process.
"Two
hundred and ninety-two small scale-miners were trained in 1999 and budgetary
allocation has been made to train 600 more this year. It is believed that this
training, coupled with the practical extension service delivery, will make the
miners better equipped to carry out their operations", he said.
Commenting
on the demand for electricity by mining communities, Dr Abu said the government
has put in place "Emergency Power Supply Expansion Plan" which
includes measures to "fast-track" the installation by private
operators of emergency power generation facilities.
Alongside
the commissioning of the initial 330 megawatt combined cycle generation
capacity at the Takoradi Thermal Power Complex, the government and the Volta
River Authority (VRA) are taking steps to stabilise the level of electricity
imports from Cote d'Ivoire.
He said
evacuation bottlenecks restrict the utilisation of the total capacity of power
from the western corridor, adding that the VRA has initiated a programme to
construct a 161 kv transmission line from Prestea to Obuasi to remove these
bottlenecks.
"VRA
has also initiated the retrofitting programme of the units at Akosombo, which
is expected to increase the capacity of the plant by about 18 per cent".
Dr Abu said
despite this constraint, the available capacity for this year is estimated at
1,240 megawatts as against demand estimated to be 1,415 megawatts with a
reserve margin of about 95 megawatts.
He said in
line with the power sector development policy, the government is establishing a
transitional plan under which there will be a greater degree of private
participation in on-going and future projects to accelerate the build up of
additional thermal power generating capacity to complement existing hydro power
sources.
"The
transitional period is to cover the period until natural gas becomes available
in Ghana, via the proposed West African Gas Pipeline Project.
"So
far, the government's consent has gone for private investors for two pioneer
projects, one being to increase the capacity of the Takoradi Thermal Power
Complex from 330 megawatts to 666 megawatts. The government also hopes to
develop a 50 to 80-megawatt steam and power facility adjacent to the Tema oil
Refinery so as to utilise cracked residual fuel oil to be produced from the
refinery's new catalytic cracking unit", Dr Abu said.
He said the
GNPC, in collaboration with the government, is setting up a similar
public-private partnership to install a 125- megawatt barge-mounted gas turbine
power plant and stressed that the transitional plan focuses on measures to ensure
adequate power supply from the year 2000 to 2002.
GRi…/
CP now
CPP
Accra
(Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
The
Electoral Commission on Tuesday announced that the Convention Party (CP) is now
known as the Convention People's Party (CPP).
Speaking to
the GNA on telephone, Mr. David Kanga, Deputy Chairman of the Commission
(Operations) said the name has been gazetted and the party can now use it.
The
Commission announced on April 13 that CP had notified it of its intention to
change its name and slogan and said the public was given seven days to raise
objections.
The party
will now be known as the Convention People's Party and the slogan changed from "Forward Ever" to
"Forward Ever Backward Never". The symbol of a white cockerel on a
red background remains the same.
CP claims
its roots from the Convention People's Party of Dr Kwame Nkrumah who led the
country to independence in 1957.
The name
was banned after the 1966 coup, which ousted Dr Nkrumah's government. Subsequent
legislation banned the use of the name of all political parties that had been
in existence since 1966 but the new political parties law allows the use of
such names.
GRi…/
Accra
records 72 accidents during Easter, no deaths
Accra
(Greater Accra) 26 April 2000
Accra
recorded a total of 72 accidents involving 129 vehicles during the Easter
holidays. Eleven were "very serious" with huge financial costs, a
senior Police Officer told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on Tuesday.
Forty-six
people were injured, but no deaths were recorded, Mr. Samuel K. Appiah,
Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Police in charge of the Motor Transport and
Traffic Unit (MTTU), said adding that the figures contrast with the 110
accidents recorded last year with four deaths and 49 injuries.
He said the
decrease in figures was due to constant police patrol throughout the holidays.
Kaneshie recorded the highest of 12 accidents involving 29 vehicles, followed
by Achimota with 10 involving 14 vehicles and Teshie five involving five
vehicles.
Mr. Appiah
said these areas are included in the "Conflict Zones" which he
defined as areas where there is always confusion due to huge traffic.
He said the
accidents were caused by recklessness of drivers, change in the road structure
and the increase in the number of vehicles on the roads "all fighting for the same space." As part of the Unit's preparation towards
the Easter celebrations, police personnel were deplored to various parts of
Accra, especially the "Conflict Zones".
Mr Appiah
said most of the 46 people injured were treated and discharged and advised
drivers to observe traffic regulations as well as exercise restraint in order
to ensure safety and minimise the number of accidents on the roads.
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