Bui Dam not cost effective - Wereko-Brobby
Ghana Journalist Association honours Kabral
New AIDS drug comes to Ghana
Fake phone calls hampering work of police
patrol teams
Fruit processing factory for Tongu District
Did Internal Revenue Service fund Mill's
Campaign?
Catholic University to open in September 2002
Kotoko, Charles Taylor case in new twist
Private Enterprises Foundation reveals defects
in manufacturing industry
Bui Dam not cost effective - Wereko-Brobby
The Public Agenda carries that after nearly
four decades of Ghana advertising the Bui Dam as the panacea for the nation’s irrigation
and electricity woes, the controversial project may never be constructed after
all.
The bombshell, according to the paper, came
from Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority
(VRA), who barely one week ago shocked electricity consumers by suggesting a
nearly 220 percent hike in electricity tariffs, ostensibly to pay for $50
million dollar debt owned to the electricity company of Cote D’Ivoire.
Every government since the Nkrumah regime in
the 1960’s had toyed with the idea of building a second dam on the Black Volta
to augment electricity and to irrigate flat lands of the Northern and Upper
Regional to boost agriculture.
The Kufuor Administration raised people’s hope
in the dam when Finance Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo made a firm commitment to
construct the Bui Dam in the Government’s first Budget, to augment electricity
supply.
Briefing the media in Accra last week, however,
Dr. Wereko-Brobby said the construction of the dam might be a very expensive
venture. The economics of hydro dams, he said, has changed tremendously over
the years.
“One can no longer assume that hydro power
generation is cheaper anymore,” he said, stressing: “If you are running thermal
with gas, you can run it half the cost of hydro power from Bui.”
He said although VRA has made appreciable
progress in efforts to implement the Bui Hydro project, the country’s need for
immediate electricity supply calls for something that can be implemented at a
cheaper cost and also quickly.
The $600 million Bui dam should it be
constructed will be completed by 2006.
GRi…/
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Ghana Journalist Association honours Kabral
The Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) last
Friday organised a cocktail party in honour of Mr Kabral Blay Amihere, Ghana
Ambassador to Sierra Leone in Accra.
Mr. Amihere who is the President of the West African
Journalists Association (WAJA) was also a former GJA president.
He was honoured for his meritorious services to
the association, according to a Ghanaian Times report.
Mrs Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, President of the GJA
said the association during Mr Amihere’s tenure in office witnessed a kind of
growth that made the body more visible and vibrant. This, she noted, had
culminated in the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law.
Mrs Afenyi-Dadzie lauded the new position of Mr
Amihere and said that journalists must not only be encouraged to work as
watchdogs but should also accept to serve the nation in other capacities.
A citation, accompanying gifts presented to Mr
and Mrs Amihere, said “your ability to organise, manage crises and champion the
cause of press freedom made the GJA a formidable independent professional
organisation in Ghana and West Africa and an important player on the media
landscape.”
Responding, Mr. Amihere thanked his colleagues
for laying a good foundation for the growth of GJA, that he was overwhelmed by
the support he received from members on his appointment as ambassador.
He praised the past and current leadership of
GJA and described his new role as a call to serve the nation.
GRi…/
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New AIDS drug comes to Ghana
The Daily Graphic reports that a new drug that
would help in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients has been introduced in the
country. The drug- Aikoxyrol shark liver oil, was developed by a team of
scientists from Sweden, Japan and America.
A statement issued by the West African agents
of the manufacturers of the drug, Lynkate Limited of Accra, and signed by its
Managing Director, Mr Osei Kofi, said the drug is currently on sale in the US,
Canada and Europe.
The statement said the drug is derived from the
liver of sharks and has the active ingredient ALKYGYCEROLS (AKGS), which can
remove all contaminants and toxins in the body.
It explained that sharks are renowned for
incredible resistance to infection and this immunity to diseases is traced to
its liver, which has abundance of alkyglycerols.
The statement said individuals who take
supplements rich in alkyglycerols boost their immunity, improve their health
and ensure longevity.
More…/
Fake phone calls hampering work of police
patrol teams
The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Dr
K. K. Manfo, has said that the growing incidence of fake phone calls by some
members of the public to police patrol teams is seriously undermining efforts
to curb armed robbery in the metropolis.
The paper quotes Dr Manfo as saying "a lot
of calls that are received by the patrol teams these days are hoaxes,
diversionary and frivolous", adding that the teams often rush to locations
that are pointed out by callers only to find out that there are no problems in
those areas.
Sometimes, he said, the teams are also called
to attend to matters, which are "very trivial and often bordering on
marriage, family and civil feuds where no lives or security of property are
threatened".
The commander said although some criminals
especially, armed robbers, may often be the architects behind such calls, some
of the public also engage in making such calls habitually and for no special
reason.
He pointed out that genuine calls are those
required by the police patrol teams to fight crime and therefore asked the
public to call the patrol teams only when lives or security of property are
threatened.
More.../
Fruit processing factory for Tongu District
A $1.5 million (equivalent of 105 billion
cedis) fruit- processing factory, known as Tongu Fruits Ghana Limited, has been
commissioned at Nutekpor-Afave, near Sogakope in the North Tongu District of
the Volta Region.
The company acquired 200-acre of land from the
chiefs and people of the Agave Traditional Area on which it cultivates
pineapples on irrigated plots and process the produce for export and the local
market.
The company intends to cultivate 700 acres
within the next three years, with a view to increasing its exports to 100
tonnes a week and to offer job avenues to more than 1,000 people.
Tongu Fruits was incorporated by a Dutch
national, Mr Den Heiger, and local partners under the Dutch Government support
for emergency markets, in consonance with the national Free Zone project aimed
at attracting foreign direct investment into the country.
GRi.../
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Did Internal Revenue Service fund Mill's
Campaign?
The Ghanaian Chronicle recalls the giant
billboards that were very visible in the country during the heated race for the
Osu Castle last year bearing the 'batakari' portrait of NDC candidate, Prof.
John Atta Mills, saying that source of
funding for those boards is now becoming an issue of major concern.
The paper, which claims there is the likely
involvement of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), also points out that
transfiguration has now occurred and instead of Prof Mills on the billboards, a
number of tax education are seen.
Prof Mills was the Commissioner of the IRS from
where he emerged virtually unknown to be running mate and eventually
Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
With controversy now raging over the funding of
those boards the Ministry of Finance has queried the IRS, the institution,
which is alleged to have paid for the advertising boards with cash from the
Ghanaian taxpayers.
According to the paper, its investigations over
the last seven months were thwarted until recently when payment for the
outstanding 25 per cent of the contract sum was struck because certain Ministry
of Finance officials came up quizzical.
The contract for the construction of the billboards
was reportedly given to Orakle, a subsidiary of Argon, an advertising company
owned by Mr Torgbor Mensah, an NDC strongman and Member of the Board of the New
Times Corporation. He is also an Executive of Ghana Real Estate Development
Association (GREDA) with interests also in Insight Advertising, another firm.
It was Orakle, which raised the invoice for the
difference in the payment after 75 per cent of the contract sum was paid last
year.
More.../
Catholic University to open in September 2002
Private participation in the country's
educational sector is continuing to yield positive results, as the call has
already seen a number of religious bodies, establishing universities in the
country, writes the Chronicle.
The Roman Catholics will soon join the
religious bodies, which have established tertiary institutions in the country
by opening a university at Fiapre, near Sunyani.
The university to be known as "Catholic
University of Ghana", Fiapre, will commence in September next year, Rev
George Kwami Kumi, the administrator of the Catholic Secretariat, who is
helping the planning committee, disclosed to the Chronicle.
He said Rev Fr Albert Apuri was appointed as
registrar of the university last year and has since been working hard to get it
opened.
GRi…/
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Kotoko, Charles Taylor case in new twist
The controversial Charles Taylor saga took a
dramatic turn last Thursday when instead of sitting on the case, the
Disciplinary Committee of the GFA spent hours listening to submissions from
lawyers of Hearts and Kotoko as to whether or not the Porcupine Warriors have
the right to proceed with a protest.
Ernest Thompson, representing Hearts argued
with vehemence that Kotoko should have protested within 72 hours, that once
they failed to do so, the Disciplinary Committee should dismiss their protest.
Kotoko’s lawyer dismissed Ernest Thompson’s
bluff, arguing that the GFA bye-laws clearly stipulate that in the specific
case of unqualified player, the aggrieved party has 14 days within which to
protest.
The committee upheld Kotoko’s stance and
decided to sit on the case next Thursday.
Kotoko contend that Charles Taylor attracted
yellow cards in the 4th, 7th and 18th week
matches which made him ineligible to feature in the 19th week Kotoko
versus Hearts match in Kumasi.
In rather unexplained circumstances, the 18th
week yellow card never reflected in the records of the FA. Referee J.K. Essel,
who handled the match, failed to put in an appearance at the hearing but has
been asked to show up at next Thursday’s sitting.
GRi…/
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Private Enterprises Foundation reveals defects
in manufacturing industry
Low capacity utilization, use of obsolete
machinery, unfair competition of imported products due to over-liberalisation of
trade, lack of credit facilities, irregular supply of raw materials and other
problems have been identified as some of the major constraints inhibiting
progress in Ghana’s manufacturing sector of the economy.
According to the High Street Journal (HSJ),
these were contained in a survey report on the performance of the manufacturing
sector in Ghana undertaken by the Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF).
In all, 120 micro, small and large-scale
companies were surveyed, out of which 90 responded; representing a 75 per cent
response rate, with interviews conducted in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Sekondi and
covering ten sub-sectors of the manufacturing sector.
The highlighted constraints of the report
included trade liberalization (41 per cent), domestic inflation (44 per cent)
and exchange rate fluctuations (61 per cent).
Others were cost of electricity (79 per cent)
and unreliability of electricity supply (56 per cent).
More…/
The Director of Information at the Ghana Export
Promotion Council (GEPC), Kwamena Boateng, has said in an interview that it is
not illegal for persons to export gari, maize, yam, plantain and other
essential products of the country.
He said some people do argue that the GEPC,
which deals with the promotion of non-traditional exports, should restrict the
export of such products because they felt it is responsible for the high cost
of food stemming from the shortage of this produce in the country.
Boateng, however, explained that GEPC has no authority
to restrict the export of any non-traditional product since the Export and
Import Act 503, Section 4 of 1995 clearly defines that “all other goods not
classified as traditional export goods” under the act can be exported.
Lamenting, he said Ghanaians have been
complaining about lack of access to market for local goods and now that a
larger market has been found to deal with surplus goods, the same people are
again complaining about it and said persons should rather be encouraged to sell
to the larger markets, and incentives provided to them.
He said this will encourage them to produce
more to satisfy both local and international markets.
GRi…/
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