Inter Tourism '99 ends in Accra
Ghana Airways obtains two DC-10 aircraft
Grasshoppers control workshop ends at Akim Oda
Muslim women undertake projects
Don't fight over development projects, Rev Asore
Naadu commission's 86 million-cedi dormitory
Rawlings commended for resolving impasse
Berekum Civil Servants call for salary increase
Festivals should evoke virtue and values of long term visions
Inter Tourism '99 ends in Accra
Accra (Greater Accra), 4th October 99
Mr. Akuamoah Ofosu Boateng, a Minister of State, on Sunday called on district assemblies to develop tourism attractions in their area to international standards.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 10 - day second Inter-Tourism Fair in Accra on Sunday Mr. Boateng described tourism as dynamic sector and urged the assemblies to collect data that would help to promote the industry.
He stressed the need to update information to make tourism guest Friendly and said despite Ghana's diverse tourism resources, " its earnings of almost 300 million cedis in 1998 is lower than tourism earnings in Mauritius, which has less diversity and natural resources".
"This poses a big challenge to us to give value to our tourism sites to attract the large volume of visitors, that we envisage".
Mr. Boateng commended the organisers and said the Fair would go a long way in giving impetus for infrastructure and utility services improvement, job creation and the development of long term plans.
He called on the exhibitors to focus on areas that would further open up the country's potentials and said their investment would, "see light in the not-too-distant future".
The next Inter-Tourism Fair would be held in 2001.
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Return to top Ghana Airways obtains two DC-10 aircraft
Accra (Greater Accra), 4th October 99
Ghana Airways Limited has obtained the requisite financing from a reputable European Bank for the purchase of two additional DC-10 aircraft.
A statement issued by the management of the national carrier said the company has acquired the aircraft in furtherance of its fleet and route expansion programmes in future.
It said one of the new aircraft has been test flown and would arrive in the country this week, while the second is expected by the end of December.
The two aircraft, the statement said, would allow Ghana Airways more flexibility in her operations, increase reliability, enhance punctuality and customer care, and facilitate its projected expansion of routes and new gateways.
The DC-10 aircraft have been tried and tested by various airlines, and over the years the cockpit, cabin, engineering and technical personnel of Ghana Airways have been trained extensively to gain experience on the aircraft.
The company said Ghana Airways considered the cost of a modern aircraft, in view of its current financial standing, in purchasing the aircraft.
The management of the national carrier noted that "although some concerns were raised regarding the age of the aircraft, age in aviation business is not the determining factor in terms of air worthiness. What is important is the maintenance programme and records of the aircraft concerned."
It added that the DC-10 aircraft have been given the requisite maintenance and technical checks to obtain clearance from all the relevant competent bodies.
The change to more modern aircraft is planned under a medium-term programme, taking into account route structure, plans for expansion and the future privatisation of the airline.
Ghana Airways stressed that in its 40 years plus history, safety has been its hallmark and would not compromise on that.
The statement said that although the airline would rely on the old experienced staff, new technical staff would be recruited to help in the maintenance of the aircraft.
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Return to top Grasshoppers control workshop ends at Akim Oda
Akim Oda (Eastern Region), 4th October 99
A one-day training of trainers workshop on Green Muscle or Metarhizium spore - a biological pesticide for the control of variegated grasshoppers and locusts ended at Akim Oda on Friday.
Organised by the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and attended by 45 farmers and agricultural extension agents drawn from the Birim South District, it was aimed at introducing the product to the participants for the easy control of grasshoppers.
Mr. Wisdom Amegah, a Technical Officer of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services, one of the three resource persons at the workshop, said the product was manufactured by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Cotonou, Benin.
He said, hitherto, farmers were using orthodox pesticides such as Dieldrin and "DDT", which are not only harmful to the environment and human health but were also ineffective in controlling grasshoppers and locusts.
Mr. Amegah said after several years of research, scientists arrived at the new chemical, which is environmentally friendly and very effective in the control of the pests.
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Tamale (Northern Region), 4th October 99
The Tamale Municipal Assembly has in conjunction with other road agencies held the first of a series of public forums to explain traffic movement and the use of one-way streets in the municipality.
Mr. Alhassan Mohammed Adams, Tamale Municipal Chief Executive said the exercise was to ensure that the public comply with the new road designs and ensure its proper use to reduce motor accidents.
Mr. Theodore Quaye, Municipal Roads Engineer of the Tamale Urban Roads Unit, who spoke on the usage of road facilities and traffic movement said cyclists have the right of way at junctions and it is the duty of motorists to respect them and to stop for them to cross.
He advised cyclists to follow the traffic and not to ride against it since the practice causes a lot of accidents on the roads.
Mr. Quaye announced that traffic lights are to be installed at various road junctions early next year to help regulate vehicular movement while studies have been completed for the erection of street lights in the main business centre of the municipality.
A representative of the consultants, Twum Boafo and Partners, Mr. S. Biney, explained the features of the dual carriageway, which has bicycle lanes, the only one of its kind in the country.
He said the road network has covered drains, which are designed to control the flow of floodwaters and advised the people against dumping garbage into them.
Mr. D. K. Sintim-Aboagye, Regional Director of Ghana Highway Authority, who spoke on protection of the roads, called on motorists to desist from unnecessary activities that damage the road and the environment.
He said water, fuel and lubricants, debris, sharp objects, metal rims of punctured tyres, tractor ploughs and overhauling of vehicles on carriageways are the major causes of road damages, which the public must guard against.
Mr Sintim-Aboagye advised the public to help protect the roads and report all cases of theft of road signposts, guardrails and bolts and nuts to the Police.
Messrs Taysec Construction Company Limited is undertaking the rehabilitation of about 65 kilometres of the municipal roads, out which about 30 per cent has been completed.
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Muslim women undertake projects
Akim Anyinam (Eastern Region), 4th October 99
The Women's Muslim Association (WMA), at Akim Anyinam in the East Akim District has initiated a 3.5 million-cedi three-year development programme under which it, hopes to construct a kindergarten.
The Secretary of the Muslim community, Mr. G. Seidu, told newsmen at the project site on Saturday that, the District Assembly has provided 20 bags of cement while the MP for Atiwa, Mr. Yaw Baning-Darko, gave a packet of roofing sheets. The Muslim community is providing communal labour.
Madam Fati Fuseni, Secretary of WMA, said members are making a monthly contribution of 2,000 cedis each to ensure the early completion of the project.
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Winneba (Cape Coast), 4th October 99
The District Chief Executive for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, Lieutenant Daniel William Osardu, has commended "Peace FM" Radio Station in Accra for the able manner it handles issues concerning personalities in the country.
He made the commendation after listening to a programme that dealt with the settlement by President Jerry John Rawlings and Otumfuor Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, of the misunderstanding between Nana Akwasi Agyemang, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi and Dr Winfred Richard Anane, MP for Bantama.
The DCE said at Winneba that the careful and able manner the Presenter conducted affairs prevented certain individuals who phoned in to contribute from using indecent language.
He asked presenters of other radio stations to learn from their counterparts at "Peace FM" and to promote freedom of speech as enshrined in the 1992 constitution.
Lt Osardu said that he was highly impressed when the presenter told a contributor that, "please mind your words; we are not here to do things that will disintegrate the people but to unite them for national development".
He said Ghanaians despite their ethnic, political and religious leanings belong to one strong and dynamic family and should ensure lasting unity, peace, stability, economic growth and progress.
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Return to top Don't fight over development projects, Rev Asore
Lawra (Upper East), 4th October 99
Reverend Simon Asore, Member of the Council of State has urged communities not to fight over the siting of development projects because the government is committed to providing their needs irrespective of where they live.
He asked district assemblies to involve representatives of communities in the planning stages of development projects to avoid misunderstandings and tension
The Council of State member was addressing the chiefs and people of the Lawra traditional area on the occasion of their annual Kobine festival on Saturday.
The festival is celebrated to give thanks to the gods and ancestors for a bumper harvest. In apparent reference to tension in some communities in the district over the distribution of development projects, Rev Asore reminded the people that some development projects need to be done in stages and asked the various communities to wait their turn.
Mr. David Osei-Wusu, Upper East Regional Minister announced that the Wa Technical Institute and the Eremon Senior Secondary/Technical Schools are to be rehabilitated under the Government of Ghana/Netherlands funding project.
The Regional Minister said each of the five districts in the region was given a credit of 20 million cedis under the youth in agriculture programme for disbursement to farmers' groups.
Naa Abaifa Karbo, president of the Lawra Traditional Council, commended the government for its timely intervention during the army worm invasion and the recent floods in the region.
He appealed to the government to find a lasting solution to the "vicious cycle of drought and floods" in the area, which adversely affect food production.
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Return to top Naadu commission's 86 million-cedi dormitory
Gomoa Potsin (Central Region), 4th October 99
Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, wife of the Vice President, has asked parents not see education as the preserve of boys and to give their daughters the opportunity to fully exploit their potentials.
Mrs Mills was speaking at the commissioning of a 86 million cedi girls' dormitory block for T.I Ahmadiyya Secondary School at Gomoa Potsin in the Central region.
The Parent Teacher Association of the school constructed the dormitory, with assistance from the Ghana International Women's Club, a non-governmental organisation and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana.
Mrs Naadu Mills said that the education of the girl-child is a priority of the government, and parents must make use of opportunities in education by sending their children to school.
She commended the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission for providing educational structures, particularly in the rural areas and asked other religious bodies to emulate it.
Mrs. Ama Benyiwa Doe, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, called on parents to assist the government in footing the cost of education asked students to take their studies seriously to justify the sacrifices made by their parents.
Maulvi Wahab Adam, Ameer (Head) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, said it was time everybody got involved in funding education "since the government alone cannot do it."
He gave the assurance that the Mission would continue to help to improve educational standards in the country.
Mr Mohammed K. Ackonu, Headmaster, said out of the 125 students of the who wrote the 1998 Senior secondary school examination, 87 passed with 12 qualifying to write the university entrance examination.
The Headmaster appealed to the government to connect the school to the national electricity grid, since the school can no longer afford the use of a generator.
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Rawlings commended for resolving impasse
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 4th October 99
The Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Abdallah Ahmed has commended President Jerry John Rawlings for the matured manner he has handled the impasse between Nana Akwasi Agyeman and Dr R. W. Anane.
He said President Rawlings has once again shown political maturity and proved that he cherishes the lives of the people by acting in time to avert a catastrophe in Kumasi.
He also praised the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II for his role in the settlement, and Nana Agyeman, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, and Dr Anane, Member of Parliament for Bantama for giving the President a chance to resolve the issue amicably.
Alhaji Abdallah also praised the government for its bold decision to purchase a new presidential jet to provide the President with a safer means of transport.
He noted that no country worth its salt would toy with the life of its cherished president with a "flying coffin".
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Return to top Berekum Civil Servants call for salary increase
Berekum (Brong Ahafo), 4th October 99
The Berekum District Civil Servants Association has called on the government to increase the salaries of civil servants by 50 per cent, as the implementation of the Price Waterhouse Report has woefully failed to address the problem of low salaries in the service.
It noted that the report officially referred to as the Ghana Universal Salary Structure has only succeeded in consigning civil servants further into economic destitution in the face of rising school fees, medical and other utilities bills.
This was contained in a three-point communiqué issued at the end of a meeting at Berekum last Friday.
Endorsing the recent threats by the Greater Accra regional branch of the association to go on strike if salaries were not reviewed upward, the communiqué urged the government to heed to the call of the association by the end of this month to forestall any industrial action.
"If the government refuses to heed our call for pay increases we shall deem it as a deliberate intention on its part to make the civil servant poorer in order to make the civil service weak and turn around to call it names," the communiqué said.
It condemned the withdrawal of allowances enjoyed by civil servants since the Price Waterhouse Report became operational and called for their immediate re-institution to enable civil servants cope with the rising cost of living.
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Festivals should evoke virtue and values of long term visions
Worawora (Volta Region), 4th October 99
The virtues and values, which guided the visions of the founders of Ghanaian communities and which form the bases for several community festivals in the country should also shape the present generation's approach towards building a proud country.
Alhaji Seidu Iddi, Volta Regional Minister made the call when he addressed the Akwantutenten Festival of the chiefs and people of Worawora in the Volta Region on behalf of the Vice-President Professor John Evans Atta Mills last Saturday.
The festival was instituted this year by the people in remembrance of their long migratory journey from Breman Kuntanase in the Ashanti Region between 1732 and 1891.
The occasion, which is to be an annual affair is also meant to re-establish Worawora's historical links with Ashanti Kuntanase and serve as a rallying point for the citizens of the area to plan and mobilise resources for its rapid development.
Alhaji Iddi said as the founders of all Ghanaian communities had long term visions, which they pursued with a tenacity of purpose, unity and sacrifices so should Ghanaians aim at loftier long-term visions and be ready to sacrifice towards their attainment.
He said it is in this direction that the country's vision 2020 programme should be pursued as symbolised in the Akwantutenten (long journey) of the people of Worawora and other Ghanaian communities to their present homes.
Alhaji Iddi, therefore, cautioned Ghanaians against holding the government to ransom with election year demands for short-term gains, which could undermine the country's economic gains.
Alhaji Iddi said the economic gains made by the country need to be sustained over a long period to enable the nation to attain a respectable stature within the shortest possible time.
Nana Asare-Baah III, Omanhene of Worawora commended President Rawlings for acting swiftly to resolve the problem between the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive and a Member of Parliament from the area.
Nana Asare-Baah thanked the government for taking concrete steps to improve the road network from Jasikan to Worawora and from Kpando to Worawora and called on the Jasikan District Assembly to address the problem of deteriorating school infrastructure in the area.
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