Accra (Greater Accra), 16 March 2000
President Jerry John Rawlings on Wednesday swore into office a Deputy Minister of Health and a nine-member Forestry Commission at the Castle, Osu.
Mr Charles Mante Akrasu-Kpabitey swore the official oath, the oath of secrecy and the oath of allegiance as a Deputy Minister of Health after which the President congratulated him and handed him his patchment of office.
The Forestry Commission is under the chairmanship of Naa Poube Chiire, Nandom Naa. Its members are Mr S.K. Appiah, Chief Executive of the Commission and Mr Kojo Wereko-Brobbey, a lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Others are Capt Seth Amponsah(RTD), an accountant, Miss Cecilia Amoah, a lecturer, Mr Michael Pepra, Managing Director of Scanstyle, Miss Sakeena Bonsu, a social scientist and Mrs Cyntha Nunoo, Secretary of Friends of the Zoos.
The 1992 constitution assigned the Forestry Commission with the responsibility for ''the regulation and management of forest and wildlife resources'' and the co-ordination of policies in relation to them.
President Rawlings spoke about the nation's depleting forests and said people must be made aware of the need to conserve the dwindling forests.
He urged members of the commission to be steadfast in the discharge of their duties. ''People will come at you, you will be subjected to great temptations. Just ignore them and do your work. You will get support form the government''.
Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, Chairman of the Council of State, suggested that people living in the northern part of the country should be encouraged to grow more shea trees to serve as a buffer against the southward movement of the Sahara Desert.
He told the commission members ''much is expected from you. I know you can do it''.
Mr Richard Dornu-Nartey, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forestry, told members of the commission that the government would rely on them to come out with a workable programme to curb the decline in the country's forest resources.
"It is our hope that we will be able to rejuvenate within 20 years what we have taken 50 years to destroy''.
He said with passage of the Forestry Bill, the sector could attract young people to go into tree plantation. ''Encourage the district assemblies to go into it so we can all rejuvenate our forests''.
GRi
Accra (Greater Accra), 16 March 2000
Fishing communities in Ghana and 24 other countries in West and Central Africa are to benefit from a 34-million dollar project aimed at raising their standard of living through capacity-building programmes.
The five-year project sponsored jointly by the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation will take off in August this year.
Under the programme, communities would be assisted to identify their strengths and weaknesses in the area of human resource development and finance for Improvement. There would also be educational, health and environmental Programmes.
Opening a workshop to brief stakeholders in the fisheries sector about the project, Mr Mike Acheampong, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, said a participatory approach would be adopted for the implementation of the project in line with the policy of decentralisation to ensure its success.
About 60 participants including representatives of Fishing Administrations, the Ministry, District Chief Executives, policy makers and fisher folks from the Volta and Greater Accra regions would be sensitised on responsible fishing practices, aqua culture development, fisheries management and fish utilisation. Similar workshops would be organised for the other regions later.
Mr Acheampong said irresponsible fishing practices such as the use of explosives lead to depletion of fish stocks, which ultimately results in poverty in fishing communities.
"Fish provides about 60 per cent of our animal protein nutritional value because it is cheaper. Therefore, poor fish management would lead to widespread malnutrition".
He underscored the importance of the workshop saying such forums bring to the fore problems facing the fisheries sector.
The Deputy Minister cautioned against duplication of programmes saying the project should complement existing projects that are addressing the problems of the sector to make it effective.
Mr George Anyane, acting director of the Department of Fisheries, said poverty in the fisheries sector is multi-faceted, adding that it is important to involve other related sectors to resolve the problems.
"This project is to improve the capacity of fishing communities to eliminate poverty and ensure the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Code of Conduct".
GRi