Falling trees destroy 15 houses
United Nations to celebrate the "day of six billion"
Public servants asked to avoid partisan politics-
Ensure success of census -Asante
Mumuni said government committed to Pricewaterhouse
Government votes 2.2 billion cedis for Sunyani-Odomase road
Agriculturist urged to tackle the problem of post-harvest losses
Falling trees destroy 15 houses
Yendi (Northern Region) 13 July '99
Fifteen buildings including the rehabilitated mortuary block of the Yendi Hospital were destroyed when a number of century-old kapok and mahogany trees lining streets in the Yendi township were uprooted in a rainstorm.
More than 40 people were rendered homeless but there were no casualties.
Ya-Na Yakubu Andani the second, had in the recent past asked the Yendi District Assembly and the Ghana Highway Authority to cut down the trees to avoid a disaster.
The call was however not heeded because the assembly said it had no money. However, the assembly now assures the victims that it will assist them to rehabilitate their houses.
The assembly's presiding member, Alhaji Sulemana Iddrisu gave this assurance, when he and officials of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) toured the scene.
Mr Abu Zolge, assembly member for the area, said a list of the destroyed houses have been submitted to the district assembly and NADMO for assistance.
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United Nations to celebrate the "day of six billion"
Ho (Volta Region) 13 July '99
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) will observe the "day of six billion", a day that will symbolise the birth of the child who will bring the world's population to six billion on October 12, this year.
According to the World Population Date Sheet for 1999 prepared by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB), the tale of the world's population started in the 1800s.
It took all human history in the 1800 to produce a population of one billion followed by another 130 years in 1930 for the world's population to reach two billion.
"Today, in a record period of 12 years, the world's population has risen from five billion in 1987 to six billion in 1999. It is expected that it will take another record time for the world population to reach seven billion".
The world's population grew 4.4 billion in the 20th century as against 600 million in the 19th century.
The world population date which speaks on the status of the world's population was co-written by demographers Carl Haub and Diana Cornelious.
It states that "about 98 per cent of the world's population increase takes place in less developed countries".
In May 2000, India will become the second country in the world to reach a population of one billion, the first being China.
The World Population Date sheet attributes the fast rate of population growth to increase in life expectancy in the 20th century.
"Never before have so many people lived so long; life expectancy at birth now is 75 years in more developed countries and 64 years in less developed countries," the report stated.
In India for example, life expectancy at birth now for men is 60 years compared to 23 years at the beginning of the century while in the United States, life expectancy rose from 47 to 77 years in the same period.
It indicates that as the century ends, there are more young people than ever before - nearly two billion, below the age of 20 in less developed countries.
The challenge for governments in these countries therefore will be the provision of education, health care and employment, as such high concentration of young people will soon be reaching their child bearing ages, thus guaranteeing an increase in population, concludes the population sheet.
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Public servants asked to avoid partisan politics-
Damongo (Upper East) 13 July '99
Mr Steve de-Graft Safo, West Gonja District Chief Executive, has asked heads of departments, public boards and corporations to be neutral in the performance of their work as civil and public servants.
Addressing a meeting of sector heads and assembly members on the district's second five-year medium term development plan, he said they should let loyalty to the state be their guiding principles and not their affiliation to any political party.
Mr Safo said the labour force in the district should work in concert with the district assembly and submit its reports to the assembly on schedule.
He asked assembly members to encourage their electorates to contribute to the implementation of projects in their communities.
One of the ways by which they can get the co-operation of their people is to meet with them regularly to brief them on the district assembly's proceedings and provide the assembly with feedback of their concerns.
Mr Albert Bugri Seidu, the district co-ordinating director, called for hard work by the assembly members.
The meeting appealed to the Ghana Water and Sewerage Company to speed up work on the Damongo water project.
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Damongo (Upper East) 13 July '99
Yagbonwura Bawa Doshie, paramount chief of the Gonja Traditional Council, has asked his divisional chiefs to fill all vacant skins and promote those due for promotion immediately.
Yagbonwura Doshie gave the order at the climax of this year's Damba festival at his palace at Damongo, attended by all divisional chiefs, sub-chiefs and the people of the area.
He said the filling of the vacancies will ensure full restoration of peace in the Gonja Traditional Area to enable, the people contribute meaningfully to the development of Gonjaland.
A member of Council of State, Hajia Fati Jawula, the district chief executives of West Gonja and Bole, heads of decentralised departments and delegations of Gonja Youth Associations were among the large number of people who attended the festival.
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Ensure success of census -Asante
Asamankese (Eastern Region) 13 July '99
Mr Emmanuel Asante, West Akyem district chief executive, has appealed to the district assembly to ensure the success of the population and housing trial census to be conducted between March and April next year.
They could do this by disseminating information on the census to the people in their areas to win their ready co-operation with enumerators.
"We need to inform our people that the census is in no way connected with taxation and that any information obtained by the enumerators is confidential," he said.
He was addressing the district assembly, at Asamankese at the weekend on the importance of the trial census.
Mr Asante said the census would give the population and key characteristics of personal housing types in every Ghanaian town or village.
This information will assist the central Government and district assemblies in planning educational, health, housing and other socio-economic services.
Mr Asante said the census information would help the business and private sectors to plan efficiently and effectively in order to play their role in Ghana's economic development.
He said foreign countries, donors, investors and other world bodies need the same information when planning technical and economic assistance for the country.
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Mumuni said government committed to Pricewaterhouse
Accra (Greater Accra) 13 July '99
The Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Muhammad Mumuni on Monday assured workers that government is "unreservedly committed" to implementing in full, all the negotiated components of the public sector medium to long term salary and wages policy (Pricewaterhouse Report).
"In consequence, all errors, technical or otherwise, that occurred in the computation of the June 1999 salaries of affected workers will be corrected as directed by the President and payment effected by July 19 as intimated by the Controller and Accountant General."
In a statement issued in Accra the minister said this is in pursuit of the overall objective of ensuring equal pay for work of equal value in the public sector.
The statement said the assurance was given when the Minister and his two deputies met with the executives of at a Forum, which comprises the Ghana National Associations of Teachers (GNAT), Civil Servants' Association of Ghana (CSAG), Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) and the Judicial Service Staff on June nine.
The minister expressed regret that some workers have been exposed to hardship and financial embarrassment as a result of the errors.
Mr Mumuni said payment of salaries for July, 1999 was being advanced to mitigate the suffering of any such workers.
There was widespread confusion when June salaries were paid as thousands of workers complained that their salaries had either come down drastically or there was nothing on their pay cheque. In some cases, workers even owed the government.
The statement said the Forum expressed grave concern over the serious lapses in the implementation of the public sector medium to long term salary and wage policy, which, it said, had violated the cardinal undertaking in the Memorandum of Understanding.
The Memorandum of understanding states that "No worker would be made worse off with the implementation of the new wages and salaries policy."
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Government votes 2.2 billion cedis for Sunyani-Odomase road
Odomase (Brong Ahafo) 13 July '99
The government has voted 2.2 billion cedis for the tarring of the six-kilometre Sunyani-Odomase trunk road by the end of this year.
Mr Donald Adabre, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, said this at a durbar of chiefs and people in his honour on Saturday.
He advised the people to bury their differences and pool their resources to accelerate the development of the town.
Mr Adabre said peace is the cornerstone of development in every society and therefore urged them to seek compromises on issues affecting them in order to move forward as one people.
The Regional Minister who is on a second visit to the town since his assumption of duty in the region seven months ago promised the people of his administration's readiness to provide social amenities to enhance their living standards.
Mr Adabre urged the people to support the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to ensure more of such development projects.
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Agriculturist urged to tackle the problem of post-harvest losses
Maakro (Ashanti Region) 13 July '99
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has been called upon to take the challenge of reducing post-harvest losses in the country.
The Atwima District Best Farmer, Mr Kwadwo Asante, said this is necessary if the goal of achieving national food security through interventions like the Youth in Agriculture, Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) and the Poverty Alleviation Fund is to be realised.
He was interacting with newsmen during the weekend at Maakro near Abuakwa.
Mr Asante noted that the absence of effective preservation and storage technologies for food crops and vegetable, force farmers to sell their produce cheaply particularly during bumper harvest.
The scenario where farmers become poorer with good harvest must be avoided if the country's youth are to be enticed into agriculture.
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