Wives of murdered soldiers visit husbands'
tombs
Military to undertake national afforestation
programme
We'll provide
infrastructure for energy needs – Minister
British Diplomat
explains low donor interest in Volta Region
Tolon MP challenges government on debt issue
Government to review vision 2020
Ghana Standards Board seizes unwholesome
products
Government asked to set indictors on how to
achieve budget targets
Rainstorm causes disaster at Chiraa
Canadian High Commissioner calls on interior
minister
HIPC initiative
will revitalise economy - Youth Organiser
Wives of murdered soldiers visit husbands'
tombs
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 April 2001
The wives of three soldiers who were killed under mysterious circumstances in February 1982 visited their husbands' tombs at the military cemetery in Accra on Wednesday.
The soldiers were Commander Joel S. Barnor, Chief Petty Officer K. Hughes and Lieutenant Commander Joseph S.A. Ajavon. The tombs were numbered 228, 229 and 230 respectively.
Rear Admiral John Gbenah, Acting Navy Commander, led the widows and their children to the cemetery.
At a meeting with some officers of Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Rear Admiral Gbenah told the families that they have taken the initiative to clear doubts in the minds of Ghanaians that nobody knows where their colleagues were buried.
He said the GAF takes full records of all its undertakings adding, "it is not like a public cemetery where anybody could be buried anywhere".
Rear Admiral Gbenah assured the families that adequate preparations are being made by the appropriate quarters of the GAF to give them the needed support and compensation.
The widows appealed to the GAF to expedite action on the payment of a reasonable compensation.
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Military to undertake national
afforestation programme
Ho (Volta Region) 12 April 2001
Brigadier J. B. Danquah, Commander of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, said on Tuesday that the military would undertake a National Afforestation Programme to replace the country's depleting forests.
He said it is also aimed at complementing the efforts of the Forestry Department, which is charged with preserving and protecting the country's forests.
Brigadier J. B. Danquah announced this during a courtesy call on the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboah, as part of a day's familiarisation visit to the Medium Mortar Regiment (MMR).
He said the new military command would be transparent in its activities, especially with the public, since "there is nothing to hide".
Brigadier Danquah noted that the military could not win the support of some people in the past because of lack of openness, and called for greater support and co-operation from the district assemblies "because there is a lot that the military can also offer towards the development of our areas".
Mr Owusu-Yeboah reiterated government's commitment to building a modern army, saying: "we believe in the value of professional soldiering and we will encourage that".
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We'll provide
infrastructure for energy needs – Minister
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 April
2001
Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of
Energy, said on Wednesday that the government intends to invest sufficiently in
infrastructure to fully satisfy the energy needs of the country.
The energy sector, which is an
important facet of the economy, should be given the highest priority if the
government is to achieve its aim of creating wealth among the citizens, Mr
Kan-Dapaah told Dr Peter Schweizer, the Switzerland Ambassador, who called on him
to discuss developments in the energy sector and the way forward.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said in the short
term, AES Limited, an American company, is to put up a 300-megawatt plant to
provide the bulk of its power to Valco and the rest to complement national
needs.
Currently, the nation depends
primarily on hydropower, which provides about 1,100 megawatts, while the
Takoradi thermal plant provides 550 megawatts from its 660 megawatts capacity.
The extra 110 megawatts would be produced from its second plant using the
combined cycle that produces power from steam.
Ghana also imports electricity
from Cote d'Ivoire during peak period.
Government holding discussions
aimed at developing a 400-megawatts hydropower from Bui Dam in the Brong Ahafo
Region.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said the Bui project
would alter the mix in energy sources as well as provide a dependable source of
energy.
This would also provide surplus
power that would enable government to satisfy "suppressed demand".
Mr Kan-Dapaah said export of
energy used to be the third foreign exchange earner but "we have lost that
as a result of difficulties faced in the sector."
"We, therefore, want to take
advantage of the West African power pool that is being developed so as to
become the net exporter of electricity in the sub-region."
The minister said there is deficit
of power in Nigeria, Benin and Togo, and expressed the hope that the West
African Gas Pipeline Project would soon take off to complement efforts to
achieve this aim.
He said participating countries -
Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Togo - have expressed their political will and what
is left is for consultations to be concluded for the award of contracts. The
project will be completed by the middle of 2004.
On oil exploration, the Minister
said Ghana has not achieved any success in finding hydrocarbons in the shallow
seas.
However, there is the need to
conduct a survey for data to be used as basis for exploration in the deep seas.
Mr Kan-Dapaah reiterated the
pledge by the new government that it would not throw out policies of the
previous government.
"We will study them to come
up with our own ideas, but at this stage, I do not think there will be much
difference."
The Minister said the catch in
most of the policies is the privatisation drive, which has its advantages and
disadvantages.
He said the disadvantages come
with huge costs to the nation and government would, therefore, take its time to
consider both sides before taking major decisions.
He also dispelled rumours that
Ghana would soon venture into nuclear power. However, he said, "it is
important for the country to collect data, all available data, on nuclear for
future use."
Mr Schweizer commended the new
government for sending the right signals in both political and economic
direction and expressed the hope that there would be maximum co-operation
between the two countries.
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British Diplomat
explains low donor interest in Volta Region
Ho (Volta Region) 12 April 2001
Mr Craig Murray, Deputy British
High Commissioner, said on Tuesday that donors shied away from the Volta Region
under the previous government to avoid being labelled as favouring the region
because of its affiliation to the government.
Mr Murray called for more
attention from the present government to the Volta Region, which he described
as a "political paradox", to bring it at par with others in the
country.
The region is "comparatively
underdeveloped in spite of its massive support for the former government",
the British High Commissioner told the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kwasi
Owusu-Yeboah, at Ho during a courtesy call.
He cited poor infrastructure,
including roads, as drawbacks to its commercial development.
Mr Owusu-Yeboah announced that he
was consulting with the various ministries to consider establishing a
"Volta Regional Desk" to speed up development in the area.
He said the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development is considering making some districts in the
region more manageable and accessible.
The regional minister appealed to
the British diplomat to assist the region to undertake a study of its
investment potentials for packaging and marketing to investors.
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Tolon MP challenges government on debt
issue
Tamale (Northern Region) 12 April 2001
Alhaji Abudulai Salifu, NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for Tolon on Tuesday asked the government to stop harping on the country's debt situation because it is a global phenomenon.
He told a public forum in Tamale on this year's budget that the debt left by the NDC government was cumulative from the Nkrumah regime.
The forum organised by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and Save the Children's Fund, to which all MPs in the region were invited, was poorly attended. Only Alhaji Salifu turned up.
He said the new government is to borrow 10 trillion cedis this year to balance the budget.
"Debts are not payable over-night. They are long term loans repayable in about 30 to 40 years", he said.
Alhaji Salifu said most of the development programmes being embarked upon by the NPP are essentially a continuation of the NDC government's policies.
He cited the Value Added Tax (VAT), which the NPP vehemently opposed when it was in the minority and said the government is now reaping the fruits of that system.
Alhaji Salifu, who was a Minister of State in the former government said the NDC agrees with some aspects of the NPP's budget, adding, "what is left is for them to implement and deliver".
He accused the government of remaining silent on wage and salary increases for workers in view of the economic hardships they are undergoing.
Mr Adam Baba Zakari, an Assistant Registrar at the University for Development Studies (UDS) Tamale, appealed to the government to solve the problem of post-harvest losses if its agricultural policy is to succeed.
He also suggested that the government should encourage industry to add value to agricultural products to make them competitive on the world market.
On the government's decision to join the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, Mr Zakari remarked, "we may not be among the world's poorest countries but we are among the most indebted."
He said the initiative taken by the government is in the right direction to relief the country of some of its debts.
Mr Zakari said HIPC is not a permanent condition and when things get better "we can opt out of it".
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Wa (Upper West) 12 April 2001
This year's Northern Easter School ended at Wa on Tuesday with a call on district assemblies in the three northern regions - Upper East, Upper West and Northern- to strive to explore new areas of revenue generation.
This would not only improve the financial position of the assemblies but also place them in good stead to provide the many social services needed to improve the lives of their people.
This was among a number of recommendations made by the 145 participants at the end of this year's Northern Easter School at Wa on Tuesday.
The five-day school was under the theme "Globalisation and the socio-economic development of Northern Ghana".
The participants were of the view that in order to improve revenue generation, revenue collectors should be given serious training while the assemblies also make compilation of relevant revenue data.
The resolution further called for inter-district and inter-regional co-operation for the total development of Northern Ghana.
"Our efforts at promoting rapid socio-economic development in the face of globalisation and international economic competition depends on the co-operation of both Northerners and the rest of the country.
"We ought to identify our potentialities of our human and material resources and how to harness them."
The participants suggested that food crops that could be produced locally must be encouraged whilst farmers are directly given credit facilities for production.
"In order to enhance effective national integration Ghanaians should learn at least two Ghanaian languages in addition to their mother tongue. There should be the encouragement of inter-ethnic marriages".
The Raporteur-General of the school, Mr Samuel Badu-Nyarko said 105 out 145 participants were attending the school for the first time, indicating that the Easter School continues to attract new clientele "which is good for our programmes.
Mr Conor Caesar Dzakoasu, Director of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE), organisers of the school, said the African Growth and Opportunities Act provides the opportunity for products of the North such as smocks, baskets and other unique items to be exported to the United States.
Mr. A. T. Konu, Registrar of the University of Ghana, Legon, who said he had worked for the University for over thirty years, commended the IAE for instituting the school which had afforded him, the opportunity to know the northern part of the country for the first time.
The school serves as a forum for deliberating on the developmental problems of the north and making suggestions for their resolution.
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Government to review vision 2020
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 April 2001
The government is reviewing the Vision 2020 document, written by the past government as the blueprint for socio-economic development, to achieve the aims that have been elusive over the years.
Mr Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Wednesday said the revised document is putting emphasis on the reduction of poverty, bringing about equity, including gender equity issues, and promoting rights based on the development approach.
This was contained in a speech read for him in at the opening of the 31st annual general meeting of the Ghana Institute of Planners (GIP) in Accra.
The meeting, which is a workshop and seminar, is on the theme "The changing face of planning in the 21st century."
Mr Wiredu said planning has to change from its traditional base to one that incorporates all aspects of development in the social and economic spheres of people's lives.
"People's participation is considered critical in the planning of any event that seeks to bring about change," he said.
Mr Wiredu said Ghana has adopted a decentralised planning approach as the framework for promoting people-centred development.
"This new planning framework integrates social, economic, political, spatial and environmental facets of development with bottom-up structures put in place to address planning problems of communities and districts."
Many rural and urban development programmes in the past, Mr Wiredu said, did not achieve the desired effect as social, economic and physical planning were done in isolation, devoid of integration and collaboration.
"Ghana's planning framework, therefore, seeks to correct this situation in order to make planning an effective tool for development," he said.
The President of GIP, Mr Kofi Danquah Osei said even though the country's first development plan pre-dates that of a host of other countries, "Our present level of development, by all indications, remains far below those of these countries".
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Ghana Standards Board seizes unwholesome
products
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 April 2001
The Ghana Standards Board (GSB) said on Wednesday that it has seized unwholesome products, mainly food items, from various parts of the country.
They include Tropical Fruit Juice Drink, Holstein Beer, Tiger Beer, biscuits, and Celerac baby foods.
The others are Cadbury chocolate, salad cream, cheese, Kelloggs, Corn flakes, rice crispies, canned drinks and drugs.
In a statement issued in Accra the board warned the public against the purchase of such products.
"The GSB reminds the public to be mindful of the harm that expired and unwholesome products in the market can cause and ...refuse to buy them," the statement said.
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Government asked to set indictors on how to
achieve budget targets
Tamale (Northern Region) 12 April 2001
Participants at a forum on the 2001 budget on Tuesday called on the government to set up indicators on how it intends to achieve its objectives as envisaged in the fiscal policy.
This, they contended, would give the public greater insight into the budget and enable them to contribute more meaningfully to the achievement of its goals.
The forum was organised by the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and Save the Children's Fund, both NGOs at Tamale.
On the decision of the government to join the HIPC initiative, the participants said its ability to solve the country's economic problems are debatable, considering the fact that most countries which have embraced it are not better off.
The participants called for transparency in all government dealings over the country's debt situation and commended the new government for making it possible for Ghanaians to know how much they are indebted.
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Rainstorm causes disaster at Chiraa
Chiraa (Brong Ahafo) 12 April 2001
Property worth more than 50 million cedis was destroyed at the SDA cluster of schools at Chiraa, near Sunyani in a rainstorm on Tuesday.
It blew off the roofs of all the four blocks of 20 classrooms while some of the walls collapsed.
Several boxes of teaching materials, including textbooks were soaked beyond recovery.
Mr Amenfi Kyeremeh, head teacher of the primary division, told the Ghana News Agency that more than 1,400 pupils have been displaced from their classrooms.
"But for the fact that school would be on vacation by next Thursday we would not know what to do," he said.
He said the buildings are more than 40 years old and had not been properly maintained which explains why the storm caused such an extensive damage.
Mr Kyeremeh appealed for prompt assistance by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Sunyani District Assembly, so that the blocks could be repaired before schools re-open after Easter.
Other buildings which suffered some damage included the Roman Catholic Primary School, Islamic JSS and a number residential houses.
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Canadian High Commissioner calls on
interior minister
Accra (Greater Accra) 12 April 2001
Alhaji Malik S. Yakubu, Minister of the Interior, on Wednesday appealed to the Canadian Government to assist the security agencies with logistics to enable them to combat the increasing crime wave.
He said armed robbery is on the increase and there is the need for the security services to be well equipped to deal with the menace.
The minister was speaking when the Canadian High Commissioner, Ms. Janet Graham called on him to discuss areas of common interest to the two governments and how best Canada could assist Ghana to stem the increasing crime wave.
Alhaji Yakubu reiterated government's commitment not to allow bureaucracy to retard its work, saying transparency in governance could reduce corruption.
He assured the High Commissioner of government's commitment to see to the health needs of prisoners, saying that a budgetary allocation has been made to ensure that they are well catered for.
Ms Graham said her government would continue to support Ghana to fight crime and promised support for training programmes for security agencies to facilitate their work.
The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr Ernest Owusu-Poku said the police service has cordial relations with its Canadian counterpart and supported the minister's appeal for Canada's assistance.
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HIPC initiative
will revitalise economy - Youth Organiser
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 12 April
2001
The government's adoption of the
Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is a reflection of its
preparedness to take bold measures to revitalise the country's ailing economy,
Mr Kwame Twumasi-Awuah, Interim National Organiser of the Youth Wing of the New
Patriotic Party (NPP), said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at
Sunyani.
He said, "the adoption of the
initiative was neither done blindly nor was it the result of a panic reaction, but
one of the many carefully-considered measures the government is pursuing to
free the economy from its perpetual stagnation".
The government is fully aware of
the precarious state of the economy and is determined to adopt the right
measures to save the situation.
"In the adoption of these
measures, however, the government will always be mindful of their impact on the
socio-economic life of the people and those that are inimical to the welfare of
Ghanaians will not be pursued".
Mr Twumasi-Awuah said HIPC was
adopted after a thorough study during which the government was totally
convinced that its acceptance would yield several benefits for the country.
"Though these benefits may
not be immediately seen by Ghanaians, it will not be long when people will begin
to feel and enjoy its positive sides and vindicate the government for its
foresight in adopting it".
He said with the county expected
to enjoy some respite from its debt servicing obligations under the HIPC
initiative, the government would be in a position to respond effectively to the
socio-economic needs of the people.
"The country is likely to
witness an explosion in the execution of projects in the areas of poverty
reduction, health and education because HIPC will free more resources for such
human-centred ventures".
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