Seven
regional ministers in seven years?
Government
urged to check activities of fishing trawlers
Rawlings
receives message from Congolese President
Parade
of school children to mark 43rd Independence Day
African
government to develop capacity in the oil sector
Lack
of fuel disrupts television transmission in Upper West Region
Workers in Ashanti lose interest in TUC
Mills
lauds Peace Corps volunteers
Seven regional ministers in seven years?
Abrem
(Central Region) 1 March 2000
Chiefs in
the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abrem District have expressed concern about the way
regional ministers are changed annually in the Central Region.
The consist
change does not augur well for the development of the region, they said when
the Regional Minister Mr. Jacob Arthur, visited the four traditional areas as
part of his tour of the region on Monday.
They
appealed to the government to allow ministers posted to the region to stay
longer to enable development projects in the region to be effectively carried
out.
Nana Agyei
Koduah, Omanhene of Abrem Traditional Council, making the appeal, said in the
past seven years, the Central Region had seen seven regional ministers.
Anytime a
minister is changed the chiefs have to start negotiations with the new one, he
said, and stressed the need for stability of ministers in the region.
Nana Koduah
told the minister that he and his people have formed a taskforce that would
move to the villages to educate the people on the importance of the up coming
population and housing census and other civic matters.
He
commended the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for all the development
projects and added that they would continue to support the NDC government's
programmes and policies and appealed for the extension of electricity to the
area as well as the tarring of their roads.
At Eguafo,
the minister urged them to withdraw all chieftaincy and land disputes from the
law courts for amicable solutions.
GRi../
Elmina (Western Region) 1 March 2000
Canoe
owners in Elmina have again appealed to the Government and the Department of
Fisheries to help check the activities of fishing trawlers, which operate very
close to the shores of the town.
Nana Kodwo
Conduah, Omanhene of Edina Traditional Area, who made the appeal on behalf of
the canoe owners, said the trawlers flout laws, which prohibit them from
operating less than 30 metres away from the shores.
He made the
appeal when Mr Jacob Arthur, the Central Regional Minister, visited his palace
as part of his one-day tour of the district.
Nana
Conduah further appealed for the extension of the operating distant of the
fishing trawlers from 30 metres to about 200 metres so as to prevent them from
destroying their nets.
He warned
that the canoe owners would take the law into their own hands if the activities
of the trawlers are not checked.
He said the
activities of the trawlers had made it difficult for them to make good catch
for the past ten months.
Mr Arthur
assured them that everything would be done to check the activities of the
trawlers.
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 1 March 2000
An envoy
from President Denise Sasou-Nguesso of Congo on Tuesday handed President Jerry
John Rawlings a special message at the Castle, Osu, and held talks with him.
Mr Martin Adouki said the message is in
line with the special relationship between his Head of State and President
Rawlings that enables the two leaders to exchange ideas at various forums.
Mr Adouki said Congo has not lost sight
of Ghana's unique role in contributing to peace and stability in West Africa
and its interest in peace in Central Africa, which has seen instability in
recent years.
Mr James Victor Gbeho, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, spoke about relations between Ghana and Congo and said before
World War Two, hundreds of Ghanaians, mostly fishermen, moved to the Congo. Some
of them returned after the war but others are still there.
"The close ties between our two
countries remain and we have to use these to promote our development."
Mr Gbeho spoke about the civil war that
rocked Congo about two years ago and said "we are sorry about what
happened in the past. We are happy peace has now returned to the Congo."
GRi../
Accra
(Greater Accra) 1 March 2000
A parade of
school children , registered political parties and voluntary organisations
would be held at the Independence Square on Monday, 6 March to mark the 43rd
anniversary of Ghana's independence.
A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday by
Mr Kofi Sekyiamah, Director of Information Services Department, said President
Jerry John Rawlings would present the Head of State Awards to winners.
Similar
parades would be held in all regional and district capitals.
The
statement said the finals of the national schools debate, which is part of
activities marking the anniversary, would take place at the Teachers' Hall on
Thursday.
Pope John
Secondary School and Opoku Ware Secondary School would compete in the finals.
The topic would be "Socio-economic
development degrades the environment."
The statement said on 5 March, there
would be the re-enactment of the declaration of Independence at the Kwame
Nkrumah Mausoleum at 2000 hours.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 1 March 2000
African
governments have been called upon to develop the human resource base of their
countries to ensure that the continent achieves the objective as the Petroleum
Province of the 21st century.
Mr Tsatsu
Tsikata, Chief Executive, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) made the
call on Tuesday at this year's press orientation for Oil and Gas Africa 2000
conference scheduled to take place in Accra from 7 to10 March.
He said
Africa has a lot of potential in the petroleum industry and made reference to
offshore drilling in Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and Gabon.
Mr Tsikata
said the Oil and Gas conference would enable operators in the African oil
industry to have the opportunity to interact with their international
counterparts to help in the trade and financing of the industry.
Ghana, he
said, has experienced good exploration activities, in the last three years.
He said
GNPC has a professional responsibility to wait for scientific results before
commenting on the story that appeared in the 'Daily Graphic' newspaper that
Dana Petroleum, UK, had struck oil in Ghana.
Ms Esther
Cobbah, Public Relations Manager, GNPC, said the source of gas for which the
West Africa Gas pipeline would be constructed is the Western Delta of Nigeria,
which has a reserve of 40 trillion cubic feet.
The
pipeline to be constructed from the Western Delta in Nigeria to Effasu in the
Western region of Ghana would be 800 kilometres long, and the estimated cost of
the first phase of the project is 400 million dollars.
She said
natural gas is the fuel of the future and is cheaper, cleaner and more
reliable, adding, "it will fuel the development of the Region, and give
West Africa its position in the global village".
Ms Cobbah
said West Africa Pipeline Company (WAPCO) would be formed to manage the
project.
Nana
Asafu-Adjaye, Exploration Manager, GNPC, said 80 million dollars have so far
been invested in exploration business in Ghana and five companies have so far
signed agreements with the state and GNPC for exploration works.
GRi../
Wa (Upper West) 1 March 2000
Television
transmission in Upper West Region has ceased since the past five days because
there is no fuel to run the generators at the Han transmission station.
Mr Mahama
Sumani, Regional Director of the GBC told the GNA on Tuesday that he has for
some time been purchasing fuel on credit from various dealers at Wa to keep the
station going.
"The
station cannot, therefore, operate anytime we fail to obtain fuel on credit
terms as a result of liquidity problems", he said.
"Today
we are in the process of going to procure some diesel on credit, which can only
serve for two transmission days after, which the station will be shut if we do
not receive any money from Accra".
Mr Sumani
said the extension of electricity from the national grid to the station would
solve the problem permanently.
Mr Gershwin
Hoegah, Area Manager of the Volta River Authority (VRA) assured the public that
contractors are busily stringing power lines to the station under the self-help
electrification scheme and would complete the job by the middle of the year.
He said the
project could have been completed ahead of schedule but for the short landing
of some of the materials adding that the Ministry of Mines and Energy was
making strenuous efforts to procure remaining materials.
Communities
should be very conscious of the destructive effects of bush fires, saying that
21 high tension poles in the Han area have been already been burnt.
GRi./
Workers
in Ashanti lose interest in TUC
Miss Dorcas
Amuquandoh, Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says
workers in the region have lost interest in the union.
They are under the erroneous impression that
the leadership of the TUC has sold their interest to the government, she told
the GNA in Kumasi.
Miss
Amuquandoh, who is one of three women to be appointed regional secretaries,
attributed this wrong notion to the lack of education.
She said, "workers believe that the
leadership of the TUC has compromised its stand on very vital issues affecting
them".
This became apparent when Miss
Amuquandoh, joined the Social Security National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) team to
visit districts in Ashanti to collate ideas on the proposed amendment to the
SSNIT Act.
The Regional TUC Secretary said they
contended that the Secretary - General has lost the dynamism, which endeared
him to them on his appointment.
Miss Amuquandoh noted that the lack of
education was responsible for this unfortunate view and put part of the blame on
the District Councils of Labour (DCL), which she said had failed to perform
this role.
To right the situation, she said she has
started re-organising the DCL in 10 out of the 18 districts, hoping that it
would help to educate workers properly on the role of the TUC and trade
unionism.
Miss Amuquandoh said the TUC would soon
embark on membership census so as to know the actual number of workers who
belong to the union to be able to plan very well for them.
She expressed appreciation to the Industrial
Relations Officers (IROs), who supported and encouraged her to apply for the
post and said she had so far enjoyed good working relationship with them.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 1 March 2000
The third
national good corporate citizen award programme has been postponed
indefinitely.
A statement issued by the Ghana Trade
Fair Company (GTFC), organisers of the seventh Ghana International Trade Fair
on Tuesday did not give reasons.
It said the resumption of the award
programme would be announced in due course.
The award programme was part of
activities planned for the on-going fair and was expected to honour hardworking
individuals and organisations in the country.
GRi../
Accra (Greater Accra) 1 March 2000
Vice-President
John Atta Mills on Tuesday paid tribute to American Peace Corps saying the
volunteers have won the nation's heart through their immeasurable contributions
to the development process over the years.
"We salute the volunteers for their
efforts. They have made their mark by making their services available to each
nook and corner, " Prof. Mills told Mark Schneider, Director of Peace
Corps, who paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.
The American Ambassador Kathryn Dee
Robinson and the Ghana Director of the Corps accompanied him.
Mr Schneider, who was appointed head of
the volunteer group early this year, is visiting Ghana for the first time to
participate in an international conference of Peace Corps country directors in
Africa.
The Vice-President said a remarkable
achievement of the Peace Corps in Ghana is that volunteers readily adapt to
less privileged areas where even Ghanaians reluctantly accept postings to work.
The volunteers are engaged in social and
humanitarian activities in most parts of the country, especially the
countryside, where they assist the people to better their lot.
They also provide technical assistance in
agriculture, education, health and industry, as well as undertake development
programmes for the youth.
Vice-President Mills said the orientation
of the volunteers, especially their sacrifice, must serve as inspiration for
Ghanaians.
"As the beneficiaries, we in Ghana
should learn from the volunteers by coming to terms with the fact that there is
no where in the country that is too far."
Vice-President Mills expressed the hope
that the volunteers also benefit from the exposure they get while working with
Ghanaians and pledged the government's continued assistance to them.
He commended former American President John
Kennedy for establishing the Peace Corps saying it is one of his greatest
achievements.
Mr Schneider said Ghana has the largest
volunteer group in Africa and commended the authorities for their co-operation.
GRi../
Ejisu (Ashanti Region) 1 March 2000
The
Ejisu-Juaben District Assembly, in response to public protests has slammed a
ban on the sale of public lands at Fumesua in Ashanti.
A press release issued by the assembly and
signed by the Co-ordinating Director, Mrs Dina Hammond, directed all those who
have purchased plots of land in the town to submit their documents for
examination and review.
It also ordered all prospective
developers at Fumesua to stop work to enable the assembly sort out unauthorised
developments on public plots.
It reminded all developers in the area
and elsewhere in the district that it is an offence to build without the
requisite building documents.
Meanwhile, the assembly has invited all
developers at Fumesua to a meeting on 7 March and warned that those who fail to
attend do so at their own risk.
It may be recalled that a group of angry
youth of Fumesua recently stormed the offices of the district assembly to ask
for its intervention to stop the sale of public reserve lands including areas
meant for schools.
GRi../