GRi Newsreel Ghana 17 - 03 - 2001
CPP concern over water privatisation
Kpong Water Works under threat from
encroachment.
France to establish two more French Training
Departments.
Drivers urged to put rubbish bins in their
cars
Aflao (Volta Region) 17 March 2001
Togo on Friday morning closed its side of the border with Ghana, with heavily armed Togolese security personnel patrolling
their side of the border.
No official reasons were given for the closure, but travellers from Lome said the action might be connected with an anti-government demonstration planned for the Togolese capital on Friday.
Ghanaian border officials told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that their Togolese counterparts informed them that the closure was on "instructions from above."
They could however, not tell how long the border would remain closed.
Some stranded travellers on the Ghana side of the border expressed disappointment with the Togolese action saying it was against the objectives of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Ghanaian customs and immigration officials were on virtual holiday as a result of the closure.
The situation is expected to affect international trade in salt, plastic wares and cola across the border if the closure should persist.
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CPP concern over water privatisation
Accra (Greater) 17 March 2001
The Conventions People's Party on Friday expressed concern about government's intention to privatise water supply, saying the use of water, a natural resource, should not be conditioned on the accumulation of monetary profit.
"The CPP is also shocked at the disclosure that as many as 50 per cent of the workforce of the Ghana Water Company will be laid off as part of the exercise," the party said in a statement signed by its national chairman, Dr Abubakr Al-Hassan.
The statement said the intended privatisation can only lead to a situation in which financially handicapped communities and individuals would be denied access to potable water simply because of their inability to help inflate the profit margins of private corporate interests.
It quoted available statistics, which, indicated that more than 40 per cent of Ghanaians still do not have access to potable water.
"This situation can only mean that there is a lot of work to be done by the workers of the Ghana Water Company to expand their services to deprived areas."
It has therefore advised the government to rescind its decision, in the hope of its avowed commitment to address the plight of disadvantaged Ghanaians.
It stressed that the position of the party stems from recent experiences of privatisation of state enterprises, which, indicated that the transfer of public owned enterprises into private hands in themselves do not ensure efficiency.
It cited Tema Shipyard and Dry-dock and the Produce Buying Agency of the Ghana Cocoa Board as examples of state-owned companies that have suffered serious liquidity problems after their privatisation.
The Party said under a more responsible management team, the Ghana Water Company can improve its revenue collection capacity and operational efficiency.
The CPP said it is to protect the citizenry from the adverse impact of the privatisation of key social and economic service institutions that many developed countries strive to protect such organisations from making profit.
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Kpong Water Works under threat from
encroachment.
Kpong (Eastern Region) 17 March 2001
More than 100 acres of the 600 acres Kpong Water Headworks land has been encroached upon, a situation which could have negative impact on future expansion works at the plant that supplies the bulk of water to residents in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan areas.
Mr Frank Agyei, Station Manager, said apart from physical structures that had been erected, some religious groups were also using the reservoir area for their retreats and appealed for a concerted effort to prevent further encroachment on the land.
He was briefing the Eastern Regional Minister, Dr Francis Osafo-Mensah, during a tour of the facility that produces over 46 million gallons of water a day for residents in Accra, Tema, the Akuapem Ridge and Krobo areas.
Mr Agyei said, although the plant has the capacity to service more areas, lack of storage facilities such as reservoirs and ageing pipe lines had contributed to the occasional ineffectiveness of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
He said in view of the huge capital needed for any expansion work there was the need to encourage private participation in the water sector, adding that, this could also enable the GWCL to purchase power directly from the Volta River Authority (VRA) which could bring down production cost.
Dr Osafo-Mensah who was accompanied by officials of the Regional Co-ordinating Council and the Manya Krobo District Assembly paid a similar visit to the Kpong Power Generating Plant and interacted with staff of the Akuse Government Hospital.
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France to establish two more French
Training Departments.
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 March 2001
France is to spend a total of eight billion cedis to establish two more French Training Departments at the Wesley College in Kumasi and the Bagabaga Training College in Tamale this year.
The departments, to be completed in September, would increase the number in the country's training colleges to three, including that of the Mount Mary's college at Somanya in the Eastern Region.
They are also to enjoy a yearly assistance of five to six billion cedis to enable them to train more French teachers to beef up the limited number in the basic schools.
Mr Jean-Michel Berrit, the French Ambassador announced this on Thursday when he called on the Minister of Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi in Accra.
Mr Berrit said the small number of students learning French at the junior and senior secondary schools is not encouraging and wondered whether French could not be made a core subject in the curriculum.
He said out of the total university student population, only 700 are studying French adding, ''this is just too small.''
"Even though Ghana is surrounded by French speaking countries, Ghanaians do not endeavour to learn French as the French speaking countries learn English.''
He said it is important that Ghanaians study French to enable them to interact with their neighbours and promised continuous French support in Ghana's efforts to make the teaching and learning of the language attractive.
Professor Ameyaw- Akumfi said the Ministry and the French Embassy have been working closely to get as many students as possible to study French at the basic level.
He said for French to be made a liberal subject for first year students in the universities calls for refurbishing of language laboratories and asked the Embassy to put more emphasis on the educational sector.
"Meanwhile we shall maximise the use of existing facilities in our schools and counsel students on the need to study French to enhance their job prospects.''
He said when their interest is sustained, the Ministry would consider making French a core subject.
The Minister commended the Embassy for its assistance and urged it to slot in at least a 30-minute programme on "How to speak good French'' on the FM station, Radio France generate increased public interest.
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Drivers urged to put rubbish bins in their
cars
Accra (Greater Accra) 17 March 2001
Professor Dominic Kweku Fobih, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology on Friday urged drivers of commercial vehicles to place rubbish bins in their vehicles to help reduce the indiscriminate throwing about of rubbish by passengers.
Launching a project code-named "Plastic Free Accra", Prof. Fobih said the problem of plastic waste materials has become a serious issue for government, "because it has left the city of Accra in a very insanitary state."
The 300,000- dollar project to operate under the name City Waste and Management Company based at Pokuase, near Accra, has the fundamental objective of recycling plastic waste for use by the rubber companies.
The German government procured the plant for the project while the Swiss government has donated 10,000 dollars for payment of plastic waste collection.
The project, seeking to create employment for the physically disabled people, will ensure that they manage the collection points and pay people who bring in plastic waste.
Prof. Fobih lamented the way people throw rubbish around without due regard to the nuisance and danger it causes, saying, "with value on the plastic waste, many of us will stop throwing these about."
Those who care less and continue to negligently throw these materials about will no longer cause a nuisance, as they will be picked by those who would like to make money from them", Prof. Fobih said.
He commended "Plastic Free Accra" as a laudable project, and said it has come at an opportune time to eliminate "the non-degradable plastic material".
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