Don’t shun HIV/AIDS carriers - Medical
association boss
Nothing has changed - NDC
The
Government has released three billion cedis for disbursement to 600 poultry
farmers throughout the country. According to the Daily Graphic which carries
the story, the money, which is being channelled through Agricultural
Development Bank (ADB), forms part of the ¢700 billion Emergency Social Relief
Programme (ESRP) designed by the government to alleviate poverty.
Dr
Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Cooperation,
disclosed this in an interview in Accra at the weekend, while throwing more
light on recent reports in the media to the effect that poultry farmers have
expressed misgivings at the delay in making the promised financial assistance available
to them to procure the requisite inputs to get birds ready for this Christmas.
According
to Dr Nduom, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Sinapi Aba had been
tasked with coordinating the activities of the poultry farmers and that
together with the ADB, it had already made substantial progress in that regard.
“Over
the past week, about 488 poultry farmers who applied for the scheme have been
vetted and had their applications approved and the monies are being paid to
them to facilitate their operations,” he said.
He
pointed out that owing largely to concerns by the government to ensure the
success of the project, a strict selection criteria has been instituted to
enlist only qualified and competent poultry farmers for such financial
assistance. This, among others, is to ensure that they succeed and also repay
the loans for the scheme to expand for more farmers to benefit.
More…/
The
Minority Leader in Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has called on Ghanaians to accord
politicians a sense of decorum for the profession to attract the right calibre
of people.
He
said the country could only attain the much cherished socio-economic
development and good governance “if we make politics an honourable profession,
so that it can attract honest, truthful, loyal, patriotic and committed people
into the political leadership”.
Mr
Bagbin made the calc when he delivered a paper on “The Role of the Minority in
Nation Building” at a seminar organised by the University of Ghana branch of
the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at the weekend.
He
noted that with the current complexity of global trends, coupled with the
country’s fragile economy, there is the need for people with the requisite
skills and intellectual capabilities to be in the forefront for socio-economic
and political development.
He
expressed concern over recent developments in which some callers to radio phone
in programmes hide under the guise of freedom of expression and media pluralism
and malign political leaders and activists on all fronts.
This,
he said, culminates in professionals and men of substance who could make
immense contribution to the development of the nation shying away from
politics.
More…/
The
Fast Track High Court will on Tuesday commence hearing a case in which Alhaji
Yussif Ibrahim, Executive Chairman of Dara Salam Group, is seeking damages of
$5 million from the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) for demolishing his
hotel near the Kotoka International Airport.
Joined
in the suit are the Attorney General’s Department and the Ministry of Defence. It
would be recalled that the AMA, on April 12, 1999, demolished the yet-to-be
commissioned Pier Hotel, amid a heavy military presence. At the time of the
exercise, the AMA contended that the hotel had been built on a waterway and
was, therefore, an environmental risk.
The
Ministry of Defence, on the other hand, explained that the hotel was built at a
security zone. However, other buildings in the same vicinity of the demolished
hotel are intact.
The
issue was brought before Parliament during which the former Defence Minister,
Lt Col E.K.T. Donkor (rtd), was quizzed and vehemently condemned by Mr J.H.
Mensah, the then Minority Leader, on behalf of the Minority. The Minority
labelled the demolition as “anti private investment.”
The
paradox of the situation, however, is that the AMA had issued Alhaji Ibrahim a
permit for the construction of the hotel, but later decided to demolish it.
GRi…/
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The
Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) is establishing enforcement units in its Regional
Offices to deal with the influx of illegal African aliens into the country. The
units would help increase the capacity of the service to investigate cases of
breaches of immigration laws and inspection of work and residential premises.
Nana
Owusu-Nsiah, Director of GIS, announcing this during a familiarisation tour of
the Ashanti Regional Office of the Service in Kumasi last Tuesday, described
the presence of a large number of illegal African aliens in the country as a
“delicate issue with political implications.”
He
said GIS was increasingly coming under pressure to find a way to deal with them
especially at a time when it is suspected that they are a factor in the
increased crime and insecurity in the country.
The
Director urged immigration officers to guard against dishonest foreigners who
may attempt to exploit the prevailing liberal business climate in the country.
Nana Owusu Nsiah also disclosed that steps were being taken to speed up the
issuance of passports and to eliminate bottlenecks.
GRi…/
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Don’t shun HIV/AIDS carriers - Medical
association boss
Professor
Agyeman Badu-Akosa, President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged
the public to treat people leaving with HIV/AIDS with diligence because even
when they tested positive they can contribute towards the socio-economic growth
of the country.
According to a Ghanaian Chronicle story, he told
a durbar to climax the national HIV/AIDS float, which has traveled through the
length and breadth of the country, at Koforidua that with the support of
retroviral drugs, people leaving with HIV/AIDS could leave longer and still
play their roles in their societies.
The float was to draw the attention of everyone
to the HIV/AIDS threat and offer the opportunity to knowing one’s status
through voluntary testing and counselling. The GMA president noted that
HIV/AIDS is very dangerous and threatening, hence the need for all to know his
or her heath status.
More…/
The Paramount chief of Mepe Traditional Area,
Togbe Kwao Anipati IV, has said that the politics of destruction that is likely
to wipe out good projects master-minded by past governments for the improvement
and well-being of people, should be avoided in Ghanaian politics.
Togbe Anipati IV made these observations as the
guest of honour at the launch of the “Young Pioneer Movement”, a book on the
youth organisation in the Kwame Nkrumah era, in Accra.
The Book, written by Dr Matthew Narh Tetteh, a
scientist, catalogued Dr Nkrumah’s ideologies in building up the youth for
greater achievements in the development of the nation.
GRi…/
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Nothing has changed - NDC
The Public Agenda says while the Finance
Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo, is upbeat about the performance of the economy, the
opposition NDC are of the opposing view.
In an interview, which the Agenda says it had
with the NDC ranking member of Finance and MP for Nabdam, Moses Asaga, the
minority Spokesman for finance reportedly dismissed the mid-year review in
three phrases. “The same status quo; nothing has changed, economy has not
expanded,” Mr Asaga told the paper.
Besides his disappointment with the Finance
Minister for presenting a midyear review instead of a final budget, he said the
Finance Minister did not mention the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is
essential for measuring the performance of the economy.
The former Deputy Finance Minister had other
criticisms about the mid-year review budget: “The Kufuor administration had
projected a balance of payment surplus of ¢166 billion in their budget. At half
year, the balance of payment should have been around ¢80 billion but they have
made a deficit of ¢33 billion.”
“That point to a number of things. The
government was not conservative in their projections,” Asaga pointed out. He
slammed Osafo-Maafo’s claim that the economy is sound saying, “the country from
the midyear review was not doing well on the export front, exports have fallen
below expectation,” Asaga said.
Mr Osafo Maafo, had however, in an interview on
a local radio station in Accra on Friday explained that the government did not
include the GDP, because it covers a whole fiscal year, therefore it has to
wait till the end of the year.
More…/
Some market women the Public Agenda says it
spoke to in Accra were divided over the performance of the economy. While some
said the government needed more time to improve the economy, others felt the
NPP administration could not change the situation.
Although,
some of the women were not aware of the presentation of the mid-year review of
the budget by the Finance Minister, they had comments on the general
performance of the economy.
“The Positive Change promised during the
campaign has turned into a ‘Negative Change,” said Patience, a garden eggs
seller at Makola Market in Accra. She said market trends indicate that food
prices may not go down as the country enters the dry season, as have been
promised.
Patience’ neighbour, Mercy shares her opinion.
Mercy also selling garden, says the government’s slogan “Positive Change” has
been stalled by HIPIC and as such it cannot work. How can a HIPC country change
positively? She asked.
Daavi Akpene sells tomatoes. She says the price
of tomatoes is high because of Transportation cost and lack of adequate
rainfall. However, Akpene believes things will improve should there be adequate
rainfall next year.
She said a box of tomatoes now sells at
¢350,000 when sometimes it can come down as low as below ¢50,000. Yaa Akyaa, a
plantain seller was optimistic, “the government says next year the situation
will improve, so let us give the government the benefit of the doubt.”
GRi…/
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