GRi Business, Economics & Finance 31 –
01 - 2003
Tamale (Northern Region) 31 January
2003- Cotton farmers in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions on
Thursday appealed to the government to review the price of fuel, especially
kerosene, which they said was an essential commodity for the rural people.
Patrick A. Apullah,
National Vice-Chairman of the Ghana Cotton Farmers Association, who made the
call on behalf of the farmers, on Thursday at Tamale said,
the recent price hike in kerosene was suicidal.
He noted: '' As at now, farmers
have to sell between 15 and 20 kilograms of maize so that they could pay for
lorry fare to the regional capitals to buy kerosene.'' Apullah
said the situation might compel many farmers to sell their food reserves meant
for feeding their families during the lean season.
He said farmers who have been
encouraged to use liquefied petroleum gas for cooking might revert to the use
of charcoal and firewood. Apullah stated that the
situation could result in the cutting of more trees for fuel thereby causing in
environmental degradation.
He urged the government to buy
food surpluses for storage for sale at affordable prices during the lean season.
Apullah also appealed to the authorities to create a
tractor pool in the three northern regions so that the farmers could have
access to the facility at affordable fees during the farming season. He asked
the government to ensure that credit was released to farmers at the appropriate
time to facilitate agriculture activities.
GRi.../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Jumapo (Eastern Region) 31 January
2003- Nana Osei-Bobie Danquah, Gyasehene
of New Juaben Traditional area has said much as the
government was being commended for its effort in maintaining cocoa farms by
embarking on mass spraying exercise, its attention must also be drawn to
elimination of swollen shoot disease.
He said the current spraying
exercise was to control capcid and black pod diseases
adding the exercise does not address swollen shoot. Nana Bobie
Danquah who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Jumapo
on Monday said swollen shoot which attack the roots of cocoa trees at its early
stages, takes long period to have full effect on the plant.
He explained that when the
infestation gets to a certain level, it would be difficult to cure, leaving no
option than to cut off the affected tree to salvage others from being affected.
Nana Bobie-Danquah, onetime employee of Cocoa Services,
said if the disease was not controlled many cocoa farms in the country would be
affected.
He said as a matter of urgency,
government should set up a task force to embark on an exercise to eliminate the
disease and also coordinate the replanting of young species to avert the spread
of the disease.
Nana Bobie-Danquah
concluded that the exercise when put in place would eventually create job
opportunities for the youth in the rural areas and mitigate the urban
migration.
GRi.../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com
Accra (Greater Accra) 31 January
2003- The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) on Thursday called on the
government to reduce the current fuel prices by 25 percent or give
proportionate increase in student loans, national Service allowances and
salaries and wages to cushion both students and workers.
"In view of the unbearable
hardships as a result of the fuel price increases, the students of
If this is done, we also expect
a 50 percent appreciation of students loans, national
service allowances and salaries and wages, Edward Kofi Omane
Boamah, President of NUGS, told a press conference in
"Be that it may, if the
fuel prices cannot be reduced by our proposed 25 percent, then we demand a
proportionate increase in students loans, national service allowances and
salaries and wages."
Boamah said as much as the union agreed
that fuel price increases were inevitable, "we wish to state that the
almost 100 percent increase visited our bodies with goose pimples." He
said increase in fuel prices in future could be minimised "if taxes on
petroleum are reduced, the exchange rate is stabilised through effective macroeconomics
policies, there is effective management at Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and there is
judicious use of fuel by government officials."
He appealed to those who have
been smuggling fuel to desist from the unpatriotic act and called for stringent
measures from the Ministry of the Interior to curb the "unfortunate
situation."
On Government's alleged
consultation with the students' leadership in the deliberations that culminated
to the increase, Boamah said, "We were not consulted
to deliberate on any issue concerning fuel price increase as being peddled by
the government."
He said when the
"We hope this clarification
would end the cycle of accusations and counter accusations which have
characterised the consultative aspect of the fuel price increase on our
air-waves.
NUGS praised Ghanaians for not
resorting to violence as a way of registering their dissatisfaction at the fuel
price increase. He commended the government for the concession given pupils and
students up to 18 years of age with respect to public transport fares and hoped
that this directive would be adhered to or if possible extended to cover the aged.
GRi.../
Send your comments to viewpoint@ghanareview.com