Attorney General's Department to set up Environmental desk
Minister calls for partnership in communications
Osama bin Laden is not our friend - Palestinian Ambassador
Accra (Greater Accra) 16 October 2001 - The Minority in Parliament on Monday criticised the Ministry of Health for its decision to withhold the certificates of new doctors from the country's medical schools as a means of stemming the exodus of young doctors.
In a statement signed by Mr Alban Bagbin, the Minority Leader, they described the decision as "shocking" and "a clear violation of the rights of graduates" and said it must be rescinded immediately.
"The decision is desperate and ad hoc and smacks of an admission of an administration that appears overwhelmed by the challenges of governing.
"The Minority advises the government to deal with the systematic causes of the exodus of doctors and other professionals, rather than just attacking the symptoms."
Mr Moses Dani Baah, Deputy Minister of Health, said at the weekend at Tamale that the ministry would as from next year withhold certificates of new graduates from the medical schools for three years, to stem the exodus of young doctors in search for greener pastures,
He said this would also enable new doctors to pursue post-graduate course at the medical schools.
The Minority's statement said it was sad that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that made "a campaign issue of access to health care and promised so many miracles in the health sector, almost one year into its term, has failed to deliver and has instead resorted to holding medical graduates hostage."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 October 2001 - Mr Adu Gyimah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, on Monday denied allegations levelled against him that he had "co-operated with criminals" that has led to his interdiction.
"The Minister, who ordered my interdiction, has not been able to establish any wrongdoing on my part," he said in an interview.
Mr Gyimah, who was interdicted last week, said the letter interdicting him did not state the reasons for the action.
He alleged that there were people within the rank and file of the Police Service, who saw his work as a threat to their ambitions and wanted to tarnish his reputation just to satisfy their selfish ends.
He said he has been the most ruthless pursuer of armed robbers ever since the new government took over and was instrumental in formulating strategies for effective Police patrols in the country.
Mr Gyimah, who is over six foot tall and burly, was the Acting Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations until recently when he was sent to the Central Region.
It was during his time that: "Operation Tuo Mu Ye Sum" was launched with the military to retrieve unlicensed firearms and ammunition from the public.
He was the main co-ordinator of the President's security details soon after President John Agyekum Kufuor was sworn in.
Mr Gyimah said he was prepared for any probe since it would definitely absolve him and belie the orchestration of those, who have come to realise that he stood a better chance of becoming the number one policeman in future, since their abilities and competencies could never measure up to his.
He denied that he earned a bad reputation when he was in charge of the Ashanti Region saying: "I spent five years there which is no mean feat, judging from the terrain."
He said he received presents worth over 30 million cedis at a farewell party organised for him by the Police Administration in the Region, adding: "If I had not worked well could that have happened?".
Meanwhile, Superintendent Angwubutoge Awuni, Director of Police Public Relations, has denied that he said: "Mr Adu Gyimah was interdicted for supplying AK 47 rifles to armed robbers."
He told the Ghana News Agency that the news item to that effect that was put out at noon on Peace FM on Friday October 12 was concocted.
Superintendent Awuni said he has protested to the Management of Joy FM, a private radio station, for also using the concocted story.
In a related development the Management of Peace FM has suspended Mr Charles Osei Asibey and Akwasi Agyeman both of the station in connection with the story.
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Mampong (Ashanti Region) 16 October 2001 - Six persons died on Sunday at Asaam, a farming community near Asante-Mampong when a vehicle on which they were travelling was involved in an accident.
The deceased identified as Agyenin Boateng, 24, Kwabena Ofori, 35, Kwabena Dwomoh, Kwaku Amoah, Kwabena Latif and B.S.K. Kumordzi alias "Kofi Kofi."
The bodies have been deposited at the Mampong Government Hospital. Fifteen others who sustained injuries are responding to treatment.
The remaining passengers numbering over 10 who sustained minor injuries were treated and discharged.
The Mampong police said the vehicle with registration number AS 6731 D, which was travelling from Kofiase to Asaam somersaulted three times and landed by the roadside at the outskirts of Asaam.
The passengers mostly footballers of Kofiase Football Club were bound to honour a match at Asaam. The driver of the vehicle, Kwaku Oduro, 32, is reported to be at large.
One Osei Kwabena, 30, who took advantage of the accident and attempted to steal from the late Kumordzi, the team manager of Kofiase football club was lynched by an angry mob at Kofiase.
In a related development, two women in their late twenties, Portia Ampadu, a teacher at Ejura Local Authority JSS and Regina Gyimah, a trader, also died at Kyerefamso near Asante-Mampong on Saturday in an accident.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 October 2001 - The Attorney General's Department is to establish an environmental desk as part of its re-organisation process to redefine and enforce the country's environmental laws.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Justice and Attorney - General, who announced this, said the desk would take a critical look at the various laws to make them responsive to efforts to ensure a sustainable environment.
He was speaking at the launch of the International Eco-Tourism Festival in Accra on Monday on the theme: "Celebrating the Earth in the New Millennium: For Nature, People and Culture."
The 12-day festival would focus on eco-tourism as a means of putting value on natural resource conservation and to create public awareness about the effects of environmental degradation and the unsustainable use of natural resources.
Nana Akufo-Addo said although there were good environmental laws on the country' s statute books, they were hardly enforced.
He put the blame on the poor resource base of the Department, which he said limited its ability to deal with the numerous issues.
The Deputy Tourism Minister, Nana Ankomeah, said the search for economic freedom was at the heart of the increasing environmental degradation. It is estimated that out of eight million hectares of virgin forest in the country at the turn of the last century, only 1.2 million hectares still stands today due to unbridled exploitation of natural resources.
Mr Joseph Nyarko, Chairman of the EcoFest Foundation, said the unsustainable manner in which resources were exploited was a threat to the ecology of the country.
He expressed the hope that the festival would not only go to enrich tourism but also help reverse people's negative attitude to the care of the environment.
Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, Okyenhene, underscored the importance of tourism as a vital tool in the control of factors that threatened the eco-system.
He, however, cautioned that tourism be done in a manner that would preserve rather than disrupt the eco-system. "We understand the economic benefits in such activities for the tourism industry. However, care must be taken to balance exploitation with sustainability.
"Creating a sound global economy, which harnesses rather than destroys the environment, is both a moral imperative and a practical necessity," the Okyenhene added.
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Cape Coast (Central Region) 16 October 2001 - Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister for Communications and Technology, on Monday called for partnership between the government, research and financial institutions for the development of tele-communications.
He noted that the development of digital technologies and the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications offer opportunities for new technologies.
Applied research and transfer of technological know -how is an indispensable part of accelerating access to such technologies, Owusu-Adjapong stated in an address read on his behalf at the opening of the fourth international workshop on radio, dubbed 'Radio Africa 2001' at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The five-day workshop is on the theme " radio digital communication network for sustainable development in Africa". About 50 scientists, policy makers, engineers and planners from eight countries including Ghana, United Kingdom, Kenya, Nigeria and Switzerland are attending.
The Minister stressed the determination of the government to ensure that the telecommunication sector contributed to economic development.
He said that the National Information Technology policy framework and the institution of a board for the National Communication Authority (NCA) were steps towards the goal.
The Minister expressed regret about poor quality and high cost of services in the sector and said the Ministry was studying operational problems confronting the sector and "would gradually eliminate the existing bottlenecks".
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Accra (Greater Accra) 16 October 2001 - Mr Ibrahim Omar, Palestinian Ambassador in Ghana, has pointed out that Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi-born dissident, who is the prime suspect for the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, has never been a friend of the Palestinians' fight for statehood.
"Palestinians are very uncomfortable with the manner Osama bin Laden, after his confrontation with America, will now want to make the issue of the struggles of the Palestinian people for statehood as a focus of his confrontation with the United States of America," Mr Omar, who is also the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Ghana, said.
A statement issued on Monday by the Information and Publication Department of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said the Ambassador made the remarks during a courtesy call on the Executive Committee members of the TUC in Accra at the weekend.
A three-member team led by Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General of TUC, received the Ambassador.
Mr Omar explained that throughout the period that bin Laden claimed to have decided to confront America over her world policies, the issue of Palestine had never been of concern to him. Neither did it feature in his calculations.
"It is for this reason that Palestinians are amused and surprised at the listing of the Palestinian issue as of importance to bin Laden and his associates since September 11 events in the United States."
Mr Omar, therefore, called on bin Laden to leave the Palestinians alone to wage their struggle for nationhood and not to draw them into arenas that would compound their current plight.
The US is leading an attack on Afghanistan, the adopted home of bin Laden. The statement said Mr Omar and Mr Adu-Amankwah recognised the natural right of every human being to have a state and urged governments and civil society organisations to pressure Israel to end the brute force it was applying to the issue and return to the negotiating table.
Mr Adu-Amankwah gave assurance to the Ambassador that the TUC in collaboration with the International Confederation of Free Trades Unions (ICFTU) would continue to bring the PLO issue to the public domain until it was peacefully resolved.
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