GRi Newsreel Ghana
25 - 07 - 2001
New Juaben Municipal Disaster Fund launched
Pupils hawk deep into the night -Survey
Fisheries minister tours two regions
Finance Ministry to pay water bills of MDAs
Ministry of Energy outdoors petroleum pricing formula
African American made chief at Asiakwa
Faction to a dispute trick police to their side
Police, Queenmother flee as installation turns violent
New Juaben Municipal Disaster Fund launched
Koforidua
(Eastern Region) 25 July 2001
The Deputy
Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustav Narh-Dometey, has said the occurrence of
disasters particularly in the urban areas could be attributed to the failure of
land developers to abide by town planning regulations.
He noted that it is common sight to see people
in Accra, Kumasi, Koforidua, and other cities in the country building
structures in watercourses, drains and culverts.
Mr Narty-Dometey therefore urged the Town
Planning Department and District Assemblies to strictly enforce bye-laws on
land development.
He said:
"This would minimise, if not completely eradicate the incidence of human
induced disasters, which are rampant in our communities."
Mr Narh-Dometey launching the New Juaben
Municipal Disaster Fund at Koforidua on Tuesday, reminded Ghanaians of
government's preparedness to protect life and property. He, however, appealed
to individuals and non-governmental organisations to contribute towards the
Fund for the rehabilitation of disaster victims.
The New Juaben Municipal Assembly in response
to the appeal has contributed five million cedis.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei
Boateng, announced that from 1999 to date a number of residents of the Municipality
lost items worth about 1.6 billion cedis through disasters caused by flood, and
fire outbreaks.
He said, this year alone, about 946 people have
been affected by seven disasters with property destroyed totalling about 1.1
billion cedis.
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Pupils hawk deep into the night -Survey
Takoradi
(Western Region) 25 July 2001
A survey in
the Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis has revealed that 80 per cent of pupils, who
hawk after school, do so deep into the night.
The pupils, who are exposed to motor accidents
and other hazards, go to school the next day so tired that they are unable to
do well academically.
Mrs Angelina Mensah, Circuit Supervisor of
Education in charge of the New Takoradi and Accra Road schools, announced at
the first Pupils' Award Day held in Takoradi on Tuesday.
She said one disturbing outcome was that the
pupils learn very bad habits from the streets. Mrs Mensah appealed to parents,
who are compelled to use their children in their business ventures, to ensure
that all such activities come to an end by 18:00 hours to allow them time to
study.
She said some children have been maimed and
others have killed in motor accidents in accidents and called on parents not to
ruin the future of their children.
Mr Joseph C. Quansah, Shama Ahanta East
Metropolitan Director of Education urged parents to motivate their children to
give of their best academically.
He also called on them to pay special attention
to the training of their children by monitoring their activities at home and in
the school.
He said, "many parents are only interested
in the payment of the school fees of their children while their day to day
supervision is neglected".
Mr Quansah said currently, teachers and
headteachers in the Metropolis were undergoing in-service training in new
methodology in the educational reform programme and asked parents to assist by
playing their complementary role.
Thirty-six pupils drawn from various schools in
the circuit were presented with books and certificates for participating in
quiz competitions organised recently while Miss Belinda Cobbinah of the New
Takoradi Primary School was adjudged the neatest girl in the Circuit.
Ridge International School, which took both the
first and second positions in the kindergarten and primary levels, were
presented with two sets of computers with accessories. Poasi Methodist Primary
took home a gas cooker as the third prize.
Badu-Addo
Junior Secondary School (JSS) took away a computer for coming first at the JSS
level.
An endowment fund was also launched to support
brilliant but needy students and provide computers in the circuit to promote
quality education.
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Fisheries minister tours two regions
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 July 2001
Mr Ishmael
Ashitey, Minister of State for Fisheries, has toured some fish farming
communities in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions and said there is the need to
focus on fish farming because of depleting fish stocks.
He said fish landings from the sea and rivers
keep on dwindling, thus forcing the government to spend about 150 million
dollars annually to import fish.
"The
government, therefore, sees fish farming as one of the ways of reducing the
huge foreign exchange spent on fish importation," Mr Ashitey said, during
the tour which took him to some fish farms in the Ahafo Ano South and Atwima
Districts.
He also had discussions with some of the fish
farmers during which the fishermen complained about difficulty in securing
machinery such as bulldozers and tractors to construct fishponds.
They also
suggested that hatcheries should be constructed in all the 10 regions to supply
fingerlings and also offer training to prospective fish farmers.
Mr Ashitey told the fish farmers that some
contacts have been made to seek financial assistance for them "and at the
appropriate time they will be made known to you".
He said
plans are underway to train some farmers in hatchery management and fish faming
techniques within and outside Ghana.
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Finance Ministry to pay water bills of MDAs
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 July 2001
Water bills
of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would from this year be paid directly
by the Ministry of Finance to the Ghana Water Company Limited.
The Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Madam
Theresa Ameley Tagoe said the MDAs have for some time been unable to honour
their water bills to the detriment of the service provider.
She was speaking at the opening of a bidder's
conference on urban water sector restructuring and private sector
participation.
Over 80
participants including four multinational bidding groups with others in the
water sector and the utility regulatory commission are attending.
The conference is to discuss the availability
of concessionary financing and deregulation of the water sector.
Madam Tagoe said the government is committed to
the Private Sector Participation (PSP) programme in the urban water sector, "since
it is the only sure way of providing affordable and equitable access to safe
drinking water in the urban areas throughout Ghana on financially sustainable
basis."
She said the ministry would facilitate the
disconnection of all consumers for non-payment of water bills, with the
exception of some critical institutions, such as hospitals.
Government, Madam Tagoe said, intends to
achieve the objectives by setting water rates at levels which would reflect the
full cost of supplying water, including the cost of operating and maintaining
assets and reasonable returns for future investment.
"We will also maintain a uniform tariff in
which the rates are the same within a particular class of customers throughout
the country," Madam Tagoe said.
Madam Tagoe said government was seeking support
from the World Bank to address the GWCL staff rationalisation issue.
This, she
said, was to ensure that private operators who would win the bid would not be
overburdened with an excess labour force.
"We are determined to make the transfer of
the water supply systems from GWCL to the private operators as smooth as
possible."
The chairman of the Water Sector Restructuring
Advisory Committee, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said under the Private Sector
Participation Strategy, GWCL would be transformed into an asset-holding
company, which would lease "Business Units" to the operators.
The business units have been divided into two.
Unit A comprises Greater Accra, Volta, Northern, Upper East and Upper West
regions while Unit B covers Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Western and Central
regions. The business units would be leased for an initial period of 25 and 10
years respectively.
Mr Osei-Bonsu said GWCL with the support of
donor funding should be responsible for undertaking and financing the majority
of extensions as well as planning and development of the sector.
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Ministry of Energy outdoors petroleum pricing formula
Accra
(Greater Accra) 25 July 2001
The
Ministry of Energy on Tuesday outdoored a petroleum pricing formula to enable
the public calculate with ease any increase or reduction in ex-pump refinery prices,
using all key indicators and determinants.
The formula provides for automatic adjustment
in the ex-refinery price of petroleum products based on changes in the Free on
Board prices of the products, government taxes and levies as well as changes in
the exchange rate and distribution margins.
The formula, which has been in existence since
1997, is being unveiled for the first time in fulfilment of the Energy
Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah's promise in February, to make the formula public
for all Ghanaians to understand how petroleum pricing is done.
Mr
Kan-Dapaah said the launch of the formula underscored the commitment of the
government to the principle of transparency in all facets of governance.
"It is my hope that the average Ghanaian
will be able, from today, to determine when to expect a decrease or increase in
petroleum prices," he said.
He debunked rumours that the launch of the
formula would lead to imminent increases in the price of petroleum products,
explaining that although the formula factors in the restoration of petroleum
tax, the tax would continue to be pegged at zero for now.
"Today the traded prices of crude oil are
falling and the exchange rate has stabilized. In these circumstances, there is
no threat of fuel price increases and the speculation must cease," he
urged.
The Minister, however, maintained that there
was the need to do realistic pricing of energy products, saying non-recovery of
cost of services would disrupt the reliability of supply of energy products.
Mr Dan Amoah, Acting Director of Petroleum said
the pricing policy is based on the objectives of full cost recovery of all
investments made to procure, refine, transport and market energy services,
enable government to raise revenue and ensure that prices of the ex-pump prices
are the same throughout the country.
He mentioned absolute changes of five dollar
per metric ton of the cost,
insurance
and freight, 50 cedis in the exchange rate per one dollar and the combined
effects of the two factors such that absolute change in the ex-refinery price
equals a minimum of 10 cedis per litre minimum as factors that could trigger
adjustment in ex-refinery prices.
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African American made chief at Asiakwa
Asiakwa
(Eastern Region) 25 July 2001
An
African-American medical officer, Dr Carole Ann Guy was at the weekend
installed Amanonehemaa under the stool name Nana Abena Agyeiwaa Koree by the Chiefs
and people of Akyem Asiakwa.
Nana Osabarimah Agyemang, Chief of Asiakwa who
performed the ceremony, said the installation is in recognition of her
contribution to the community.
Nana
Agyemang said Dr Guy and her husband Dr Senu Olle have for the past two years
given free medical care to people in Asiakwa and its surrounding villages.
Osabarima Agyemang, who is also the Nifahene of
Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, urged the new chief not only to promote the
interest of Asiakwa citizens but all Ghanaians back home in the U.S.
Nana Agyeiwaa Koree thanked the chiefs and
people and promised that she and her husband would do their best to solve some
of the health problems in the community.
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Faction to a dispute trick police to their side
Kumasi
(Ashanti Region) 25 July 2001
A faction
in a 17-year-old court dispute over the inheritance of the estate of a
prominent Kumasi businessman, on Tuesday tricked the police into providing them
with security cover as they set out to demolish part of the house at the centre
of the litigation.
The late Opanin Kwadwo Oppong's children led by
Madam Akosua Nyarko who have
been
litigating with their cousin Madam Adwoa Fosuaa, were said to have written to
the Regional Police Administration informing them about plans to develop their
building at the Adum commercial area in Kumasi into stores.
They convinced the police that since the volume
of human traffic in the area was heavy it was necessary that the police
provided assistance by directing the movement of people as they knock down
walls of the building to prevent an accident.
Having succeeded in getting the police to the
scene, they went into action pulling down parts of the structure, an action
that drew fierce protest from Madam Fosuaa and her faction.
Madam Fosuaa seething with rage told the Ghana
News Agency after the Regional Police Commander, Mr George Asiamah had ordered
the withdrawal of the policemen from the scene that the action of the other
faction was both "provocative and contemptuous."
She wondered why Madam Nyarko and her family
took that action even though they were aware the case was still pending before
court and had been fixed for hearing on August 3, 2001.
The Regional Police Commander when contacted on
phone regretted the presence of his men at the scene of the demolition, saying,
they were not told the truth.
He said since the matter is a purely civil one
there is no way the police would permit itself to be drawn into it and has
ordered that the demolition be stopped.
Mr Asiamah said he has advised both parties to
allow the matter to be determined by the court.
The destroyed part of the house contained four
rooms.
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Police, Queenmother flee as installation turns violent
Dormaa (Brong
Ahafo Region) 25 July 2001
Five
policemen were injured following rioting at the installation of a chief at
Akontanim in the Dormaa district on Monday.
A mob opposed to the installation of a new Akyempimhene,
Mr Kwame Yeboah, went violent, hurling stones, sticks and other missiles and
forcing the police, the Queenmother and other chiefs to flee for dear life.
District Police Commander, Deputy
Superintendent Charles Oduro-Botchway, who led a 17-member police platoon to
the ceremony, was among the injured.
He sustained a deep cut in his forehead, which
needed emergency surgery. The others were Constable S. Torgbor, Constable
George Doe, Corporal J.K. Anyimah and Corporal Asem Boakye.
The Queenmother, Nana Ama Amponsah, her
sub-chiefs and supporters of the new chief escaped through the bush to Dormaa
Ahenkro but her house and others were vandalised and looted.
She told the Ghana News Agency at Dormaa
Ahenkro on Tuesday that the mob stole more than a million cedis cash from her
house and damaged other property.
DSP Oduro-Botchway said his office received a
letter from the Dormaa Traditional Council informing the police about the
installation.
Later, he said he received two other letters
from the Akontanim Youth Association and the head of the royal family,
expressing their opposition to the installation.
He said on the basis of the letters he led the
police platoon to maintain law and order but on reaching the town " a mob
attacked us from all directions with all kinds of missiles, compelling us to
retreat".
Mr Oduro-Botchway said they were taken by
surprise because they were only in the town to maintain order and not to
support any faction.
A leader of the youth association, Richard
Tuah, was arrested for his alleged role in inciting the mob against the police.
He has been granted bail pending further
investigations.
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Tema
(Greater Accra) 25 July 2001
The chief
and people of Kpone have expressed concern about the rate at which the Tema
Development Corporation (TDC) was selling lands belonging to the Kpone
Traditional Council (KTC) to settler farmers to the detriment of its citizens.
The people feared that looking at the spate at
which the lands were being sold there would be nothing left for present and
future development.
In a release signed by Mr Alex Nii Annang,
Assemblyman for Kpone on behalf of the chief and people, they have, therefore,
petitioned the TDC and the government to release the land to the KTC before
matters escalate.
The people made a further request to the TDC to
pay all compensations and annuity due the KTC since the acquisition of the
Kpone lands by the TDC in 1952 for development.
The release explained that upon a series of
petitions by the Kpone Youth Association (KYA) to the government, the TDC
released only 116 hectares equivalent to 811 plots to the KTC and promised to
hold the rest of the land in trust for them.
However, they said the TDC was selling the land
to settler farmers, who in turn dispose of them to estate developers to put up
buildings.
''We will, therefore, apply all means necessary
to protect the lands from wanton sales and destruction to avoid future
judgement by posterity,'' the release warned.
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