Friends of Earth opposes resettling of chimpanzees in Ghana

Vice-President donates to charity

Residents to pay for services of AMA

Ministry reiterates ban on firecrackers

No need for panic as millennium approaches - Clergy advises

Government declares December 27 holiday

Two security guards found dead

Birim South Town Planning Officer not happy

Agbenaza commends journalists for efficiency

DCE commends NADMO for assisting victims

Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

Friends of Earth, Ghana (FOE), an environmental NGO, on Thursday said it is opposed to the proposed resettlement of chimpanzees in Ghana from the United States.

It said the moral and ethical dimensions of the resettlement project are highly doubtful and called for thorough investigations.

A statement signed by Mr Theo Anderson, Director of FOE, said there is no documentary evidence to establish the origin of the chimpanzees, which have been in the US since the 1950s.

FOE said the project has the potential of setting a dangerous precedence for Ghana as a dumping ground for laboratory primates, which might have long-term negative consequences for the entire population.

It said there are many unanswered questions regarding the benefits and dangers of the project.

"We request that an independent and credible investigation is undertaken to ensure that the proposed project does not bring about any adverse environmental, social and health effects on the Ghanaian populace and our environment."

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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

The Vice-President Prof. John Atta Mills, has donated 25 million cedis to the Ghana Heart Foundation, an official statement said on Thursday.

The statement said Prof. Mills also gave two million cedis to the Castle Welfare Fund and one million cedis to the Osu Children's Home.

It said the amounts were part of donations given to the Vice-President at the funeral of his father who was buried last Friday.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

Residents in the Accra Metropolis will pay for all services rendered by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) as from first January, 2000.

Mr Samuel Addokwei Addo, Chief Executive of AMA, said this at an end-of-year reception for the press in Accra on Wednesday.

He said it is time people in the metropolis start paying for sanitation and other services rendered by AMA as the assembly can no longer bear the cost.

Mr Addokwei Addo said AMA has injected massive resources into sanitation to make Accra one of the cleanest cities in the West African sub-region.

Cleanliness of the city should not be the concern of the assembly alone but of everybody, he said, adding that personnel of AMA would go from house to house and shop to shop to collect fees to clean the city.

The AMA boss said under the "Sanitation 2000" programme initiated this year, the assembly has been able to evacuate a number of unsightly refuse heaps in the Metropolis, adding "we need money to sustain this."

He said collection of refuse from various homes and businesses can no longer be free of charge in the face of the economic realities facing the country.

"We have promised to do the work but your support is needed and if we need better services we must pay for it.

"The sanitation headache is dead and gone forever and the present cleanliness momentum would be maintained forever."

He said AMA would also lay emphasis on development, noise and traffic control in the city and urged churches and drinking bars to minimise their noise.

Mr Addokwei Addo commended the media for putting the AMA on its toes.

The AMA Chief Executive assisted by Miss Ghana '99, Mariam Suguri Bugri presented certificates and 100,000 cedis cash each to 25 journalists who were AMA award winners.

Among them were Mr Edward Ameyibor, News Editor, GNA who received a certificate for being the Best Consistent News Editor, Miss Beatrice Asamani,

Senior reporter, GNA, for being the best reporter on AMA affairs and Mr Ibrahim Awar, Graphic, for projecting AMA.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

The Ministry of Trade and Industry on Thursday reiterated that there is a ban on the importation, possession and use of "specified" firecrackers.

It said in a statement signed by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Dan Abodakpi said "the impression that there is no ban on the sale of these products is therefore wrong."

The statement said the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1661 on the ban and importation became effective on 16 December 1999.

"The Ministry wishes to inform traders, security agencies and the general public that apart from the L.I. that bans the importation, there is also an Executive Instrument (E.I. 21) sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior, which have banned the possession and use of the firecrackers.

"The two regulations are complementary, but the E.I. became effective on 29 October 1999. The two ministries, Interior and Trade and Industry worked together to enhance the effectiveness of the exercise.

"The public should therefore take note that these regulations together have banned the importation, possession and use of the specified firecrackers."

The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Ken Dzirasah however made it known on a Radio GAR programme that Parliament has not passed a law banning the sale of fire crackers in the country as reported by some media organisations.

He said rather, it is the importation of certain categories of firecrackers that have been banned with effect from Thursday, 16 December 1999.

Mr Dzirasah said the instrument passed into law by Parliament is the one that takes effect from 16 December, it shall be unlawful for anybody to import into the country the specified categories of firecrackers.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

Ghanaians were on Thursday urged not to panic or live in fear with the approach of the new millennium since there is nothing spectacular about the coming year.

Reverend Gaylord Aidoo Dadzie, Senior Pastor of the Holy Ghost Assemblies of God Church and Rev. Father Emmanuel Armah, of the St. Monica's Anglican Church, speaking with the GNA in Accra, said Ghanaians should rather deepen their faith in God with the dawn of a new century.

Rev father Armah noted that "because we live in fear, we think bad things would happen.

"Even with AIDS around, if we should intensify our relationship with God as we enter the millennium, and educate the public, God can even give a cure for AIDS."

Rev. Dadzie said there would be nothing new about the millennium. "The new thing about the century would be the change in date."

He however cautioned Christians to be alert and not follow signs and wonders, which could lead them into destruction.

Various minority Christian sects and groups attach special significance to the start of the new millennium, with some expecting the end of the world.

In Israel for instance a number of foreign Christians have been deported this year out of concern that they might use violence to try to spark the apocalypse.

Security is said to be tight especially on the Mount of Olives, doomsday cultists, interpreting from scriptures, believe that when the end of the world comes and the Messiah makes his second coming, there would be no better "front row seat" than the Mount.

In Ghana, though less intense, some of these fears have gained grounds with the recent rumours that a huge stone capable of destroying millions have been sighted in the sky. These have further been compounded by the Y2K problems.

On the Second Coming of Christ, Rev. Dadzie said: "Christians should not take anything for granted because no one knows when the Lord Jesus will come. He will come as a thief, the bible says, but if Christians should remain dedicated to God and the scripture, his coming will not take us by surprise".

The Rev. minister explained that signs of the end time started long ago even during the time of the apostles and urged Christians not to be shaken by what the next millennium holds for them.

"You must hold fast to the Lord who has been the lord of the fleeting years and will continue to be in the looming one."

"Let us be firm in our faith and not be too materialistic. We should be awakened in our minds and spirit and honour God as we enter the new millennium".

Meanwhile, a study published last month by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation singled out Jerusalem as a potential magnet for religious extremists bent on unleashing Armageddon, a final battle between the forces of good and evil prophesied in the New Testament's Book of Revelation.

The last's New Year's Eve of Christianity's second millennium falls on a Friday - an important day for both Jews and Moslems in a city so sacred to the three monotheistic religions.

For Moslems, living in the year 1420 by the Islamic reckoning, 31 December will be the fourth and the most important Friday of Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 23 Dec. '99

The government has declared Monday, December 27 as a public holiday, according to an official statement issued in Accra on Wednesday by the Minister of the Interior, Nii Okaija Adamafio.

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Takoradi (Western Region) 23 Dec. '99

Two security guards of the Ghana Postal Service (GPS) were on Wednesday found dead in the main yard of the company in Takoradi.

The two, J. K Yalley, 54, and Peter Obeng, 46, were on duty the previous night.

The bodies were found by some workers when they reported for duty around 06:00 hours and the Police was informed.

The hands and legs of Yalley were tied with his shoelace and blood was oozing from their mouth.

The Takoradi Railway Police confirmed the death and said the case is under investigation.

The bodies have been deposited at the Takoradi Hospital mortuary for autopsy.

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Akim Oda (Eastern Region) 23 Dec. '99

The Birim South Town Planning Officer, Mr Kwame Ampaabeng-Kyeremeh, has expressed concern about the alarming rate at which churches and private schools are springing up on residential plots contrary to provisions made in layouts for the development of the district.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Akim Oda, on Wednesday, he warned that if the practice was not checked, sooner or later, there would be chaos in the area as some residents were poised to confront those churches, that make noise in the night.

Mr Ampabeng-Kyeremeh said under Local Government Act 462 of 1993, it would be an offence for anybody to re-zone land use plans.

He explained that "an allocation of land shall be null and void of the purpose or use for which the allocation is made contrary to the provision of an approved developers plan."

"Any person who allocates, transfers, sells or develops land for a purpose that is contrary to an approved development plan commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 200,000 cedis or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both," he stressed.

The District Planning Officer, therefore, appealed to the District Director of Education and the President of the Local Council of Churches to alert their outfits of the offence, saying that, "much as no one is against the establishment of churches, the right thing must be done".

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Cape Coast (Central Region) 23 Dec. '99

The Central Regional Minister, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Agbenaza (Rtd.), has commended journalists in the region for their efficiency and dedication to duty.

The minister, who was addressing the press corps at an end-of-year meeting in Cape Coast on Tuesday, expressed his appreciation to the media for their good coverage of events in the region and urged them to keep it up.

He assured residents of Cape Coast, that roads that have not been included in the rehabilitation exercise currently going on in Cape Coast under the World Bank Urban III Project will be tackled by the Municipal Assembly.

Col. Agbenaza regretted that, in spite of the relatively high number of educational institutions in the region, the literacy rate there was low, adding that the Regional

Co-ordinating Council would, therefore, continue to support educational development in the region.

A lot of improvement has, however, been made in the health sector, with all district capitals and major urban centres now having health facilities.

The regional minister said electricity, water and telecommunications have also improved remarkably, adding that all the district capitals have been hooked to the national grid.

Apart from Twifo Praso, Ajumako and Asikuma Districts, all the other districts also have some form of telecommunication facilities.

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Salaga (Northern Region) 23 Dec. '99

Mr Jerry Draman Jackson, East Gonja District Chief Executive, has commended the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and other benevolent organisations for assisting the district assembly in its efforts to resettle victims of the recent floods.

He said their contribution of relief items notably, building material; medicine and food have greatly helped in alleviating the plight of the people.

Mr Jackson gave this commendation at Salaga when he took delivery of 200 pieces of student mattresses and 1,400 mosquito nets from NADMO for distribution to area and town councils.

He said the Tamale Catholic Arch-diocese Development Organisation has also provided 500 mini-bags of maize and 560 emergency kits containing empty jelly cans, blankets and provisions for supply to victims at Makango and Lonto fishing communities, who were among those seriously affected.

He appealed to the people to reciprocate this goodwill by stepping up agricultural and other economic activities.

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