British
Air introduces "next generation" products
Gas
Pipeline project must be environmentally friendly
Accra
(Greater Accra) 22 March 2000
British
Airways (BA) is to introduce a new class of travel for long haul economy
passengers, called World Traveller Plus.
The new
service is a key element of the airline's programme of product improvements,
the biggest ever, that will redefine business travel for the 21st century and
set new benchmarks for comfort and innovation, Mrs Essie Anno Sackey, Country
Manager, of the airlines said at a press briefing in Accra on Tuesday.
The World
Traveller Plus service, which builds on a 150-million-pound investment in the
airline's economy World Traveller service rolled out last year, will commence
with New York, USA, this summer.
She said
the new World Traveller Plus is a dedicated cabin with new interiors to set it
apart from the world Traveller.
More than
200 million pounds is being spent by the airline to create a "lounge in
the sky" for business passengers to allow them to sleep, work or relax at
35,000 feet.
The
features include fully flat bed, unique foot stool, arm chair like support, new
on-board wash bags and business amenities like power points for laptop
computers and telephones to give the opportunity to work and stay in touch.
Mr Osei
Yeboah, an official of Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), who spoke on
how the airline industry could facilitate investment promotion in the country
called on airlines to reduce transit times on trips from Ghana to the Far East.
He said
some expatriate companies in Ghana had to fold up due the delay in getting
their raw materials and finished products in and out of the country.
Mr
Osei-Mensah noted that tourism is becoming a major foreign exchange earner and
the country could attract more tourists if the cost of air tickets could be
reduced.
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Accra, (Greater Accra Region) 22 March 2000,
Governments
and companies involved in the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project have been urged
to ensure environmentally friendly methods to save mangroves, forests and other
natural resources.
Dr Alex
Chinda, Director of the Institute for Pollution Studies, Rivers State
University of Science and Technology of Nigeria, said that a lot of lives are
lost and the environment damaged in the execution of oil and gas related
projects.
Dr Chinda
was presenting a paper on the Potential of Gas Pipeline Development on the
Mangrove Eco-system and local communities last Tuesday, at the information and
consultation meeting on the West Africa Pipeline Project in Warri, Delta State,
Nigeria.
The meeting
was organised by the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Network of Friends of
the Earth, Ghana, Togo and Benin and Oilwatch Africa International.
Dr Chinda
said mangrove plants are removed and used for housing and other purposes while
aquatic lives are destroyed during such projects.
He pointed
out that, during the transportation of equipment and personnel in vessels and
barges, there would be oil leakage's from machines into water bodies which
reduce oxygen and light, on which living organisms depend.
Dr Chinda
called for the monitoring of activities of oil companies to ensure that they
adhere to environmental regulations.
Mr Douglas
Oronto, Leader of the Chikoko Movement of Nigeria, an NGO in a paper on
Extractive Industries and African Societies, said foreign monopoly capital do
not consider the survival of communities but are interested only in the
accumulation of capital.
African
governments in their quest to attract foreign investments also disregard the
rights of the people and align with multi-national companies to divide
communities and subvert the collective will of the people. Mr Oronto noted that
the non-involvement of communities in the project is likely to make it
unsustainable.
Mr Noble Wadzah, Programmes Officer of
Friends of the Earth Ghana, called for the strengthening of NGOs in the
sub-region to enable them to educate communities on their environmental rights.
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