Civil Aviation Authority not for sale - D-G

Adabre urges study of Vision 2020 document

Canadian aid agency to replace 2,700 boreholes for Upper West, East regions

Okyenhene urges greater commitment to education

Declare Brong Ahafo anniversary reconciliation period- Nana Apem

Tema workers to demonstrate against on 'over time' allowance

No extension of deadline for car dealers-TDC

Kumasi (Ashanti), 27^th October 99

Wing Commander Andy Mensah, Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has reiterated that the GCAA is not for sale.

He dismissed as untrue and misleading the notion by some members of the public that the GCAA, is to be sold out.

"We cannot sell Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, its not on sale, and will never be sold out," Wing Commander Mensah said in response to a question by Mr Kojo Yankah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, when the GCAA boss paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Kumasi on Tuesday.

He stated categorically that there is no country in the world where the Civil Aviation has ever been sold and Ghana cannot dream of such a venture.

Wing Commander Mensah said the GCAA is being restructured under the Ghana Gateway programme in line with the Vision 2020, and not being sold out.

The Director-General said the authority was in close contact with some friendly donors who have expressed their readiness to provide funds to further develop and improve upon the state of domestic airports.

He said as soon as the funds are released to the authority, security and safety at the local airports, including the Kumasi Airport, would be tackled first, and the next stage would be to carry out extension works on the Kumasi Airport runway.

Mr. Yankah lauded the moves of the GCAA at improving and trying to bring the Kumasi Airport up to international standards, which, he said, was crucial, especially with the creation of the Inland Port at Fumesua.

He said good airports were very vital for accelerated development in any country, particularly in respect of effective tourism promotion drives.

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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 27^th October 99

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Donald Adabre, has advised religious bodies and other development partners of the country to acquire copies of the Vision 2020 document for study.

This, he said, would enable them to determine the best assistance they could offer to supplement the efforts of government to develop Ghana into a middle-income earning nation.

"The attainment of the objectives of the document will require the collaborative efforts of all and it is important that churches and other agents of development study it to enable them to assist in its actualisation," he stated.

Mr. Adabre who was opening the first session of the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sunyani on Tuesday said one major objective of the document is the provision of quality service in health and education.

The synod, the first to be held since the creation of the diocese about 30 months ago, is under the theme "The holistic development of the Anglican diocese of Sunyani for the year 2000 and beyond".

To help in the attainment of this objective and to help eliminate waste, the various churches must find ways of coming together to undertake joint projects and establish private universities to supplement existing ones.

Mr. Adabre asked religious organisations to help district assemblies to accelerate their pace of development by encouraging their members to pay their taxes and undertake communal labour.

The Bishop in charge of the diocese, the Right Reverend Thomas Brient, said issues of women empowerment, poverty alleviation and community development would be the major preoccupation of the diocese in the years ahead.

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Nakori (Upper West), 27^th October 99

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is spending 27.2 billion cedis to replace 2,700 boreholes in the Upper West and East Regions under the Community Water and Sanitation Programme.

Mrs Janet Graham, Canadian High Commissioner, said this when she and Mr David Osei-Wusu, Upper West Regional Minister, jointly commissioned this year's borehole replacement programme at Nakori in the Wa District on Tuesday.

Mrs. Graham gave the assurance that CIDA would continue to lend its support to ensure that about 600,000 people in the two regions have access to potable water.

In the Upper West Region, 1,017 boreholes are being replaced with new and better water yielding ones. Out of the number, 258 have already been replaced under the programme that was launched in 1994.

A new borehole at Nakori, a guinea worm endemic community, was selected for commissioning to represent 150 newly replaced boreholes in the region this year.

Most of the boreholes are 58.9 metres deep and can yield 90 litres of water per minute.

Mr. Osei-Wusu said the National Community Water and Sanitation policy would ensure that 85 per cent of the population of the region have access to safe water supply by 2009.

Currently, 55 per cent of the communities have access to potable water, with Lawra district leading with 71 per cent while Wa district has the lowest coverage of about 36 per cent.

This partly explains why all 28 guinea worm cases recorded in the region this year were found in the Wa district.

Mr. Osei-Wusu reminded the people that the provision of the facilities involved a lot of money and "it will be criminal negligence to allow them to break down".

Alhaji Ali Seidu Pelpuo, Wa District Chief Executive, said low water yields after years of usage of water facilities often compelled people to look to other unhygienic sources for water.

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Okyenhene urges greater commitment to education

Koforidua (Eastern Region), 27^th October 99

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, on Tuesday called on chiefs, non-governmental organisations, individuals and institutions to show greater moral commitment to the development and improvement of education in the country.

"It has become importantly clear that the government alone cannot provide all the necessary facilities needed in the pursuance of quality education," Osagyefuo Amoatia said during a courtesy call on the Eastern Regional Minister, Miss Patience Adow, at Koforidua.

"There is, therefore, the need for individuals, organisations and communities, which have benefited from education, to contribute immensely to improve facilities and infrastructure in schools".

It was to enable the Okyenhene to thank the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for its support during the burial of the late Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Kuntunkunuku, and his installation as the new Okyenhene.

Osagyefuo Amoatia said his priority would be to ensure quality education for children in Okyeman and the nation as a whole and expressed his disgust at conditions in some schools he visited in Kibi during a recent familiarisation tour.

"Poverty should not be an excuse to deprive innocent children of their right to education," he said, adding: "the development of a child depends not only on the teacher but also on parents and the community".

Osagyefuo Amoatia emphasised that Okyenman would not allow party politics to divide it and called on the RCC to support it to attain its developmental goals.

Miss Adow congratulated the Okyenhene and said the RCC and the East Akim District Assembly would support him in his educational drive.

She said the government's decentralisation programme places responsibility of the development of school infrastructure at the basic level on District Assemblies and the communities.

Miss Adow called on assembly members and unit committees to help School Oversight Committees to ensure efficient teaching and learning in the schools and urged teachers to be more dedicated to their work.

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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo), 27^th October 99

The Brong Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs has been urged to declare the region's 40th anniversary celebration "a period of reconciliation" and resolve all chieftaincy disputes that had bedevilled it over the years.

Nana Gbetu Apem, chief of Nasana and president of the Tain divisional council, was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Sunyani on Tuesday.

He noted that the region is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year in recognition of the role, sacrifice and foresight that past chiefs demonstrated, leading to its creation in 1959.

He said the present generation of chiefs could also page themselves into the history books by resolving once and for all the numerous chieftaincy disputes "that have impeded the development of the region."

"I believe that such attempts to resolve these disputes will be regarded by posterity as one of the most enduring contribution to the development of the region", he stated.

Nana Ampem said the house is capable of resolving these disputes as borne out by the fact that it took it less than a month to settle a dispute between him and the paramount chief of Seikwa, Nana Kwaku Gyimah Ankoanda.

He praised the president of the house, Nana Kwadwo Nyarko for the meaningful role he played in resolving the dispute, which had been pending for three years and urged him to intervene in other disputes.

"It will not be proper for people to continue to live in insecurity due to chieftaincy disputes and the house must give the people a decent birthday gift by using the 40th anniversary to resolve such disputes", Nana Ampem added.

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Tema (Greater Accra), 27^th October 99

The Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL) is to organise a demonstration in Accra on Tuesday, November nine, to protest against high taxes on overtime payments, bonuses and other incentives.

Members of the TDCL will also withdraw working overtime from that date to press their demand for the government to waive taxes on "these incentives which are meant to make up for their low wages".

Mr. Wilson Agana, chairman of the TDCL, said "we are now poised for the fight; there will be no more passing of resolutions and the demonstrations will continue until our demands are met."

The decision was taken at a meeting held at Tema on Tuesday to express their displeasure about the government's delay in implementing its own decision to review taxes on incentive payments after petitions by the TDCL through the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

All the 150 members present at the meeting voted unanimously to support the decision, saying, university students and nurses recently achieved what they wanted through such actions.

Mr. Agana recalled that TDCL in July last year adopted a resolution to the Speaker of Parliament on how workers over-worked themselves to earn additional income due to low wages only for a greater percentage of it to be taken away in taxes.

The TDCL therefore called for a waiver of taxes on "these incentives but we have been ignored".

Later, the council sent a reminder and the issue was referred to various Parliamentary Select Committees which later referred the issue to the Tripartite Committee and a special sub-committee was set up to come up with proposals.

Mr Agana said in March this year, the government has reneged on it s promise to to tax overtime at 10 per cent and not more than 50 per cent of employees monthly salary.

Bonuses were also to be taxed at a concessionaire rate of five per cent of not more than 15 per cent of an employees annual salary.

He said the Ministry of Finance was supposed to prepare the necessary Legislative Instrument that will give effect to the implementation of this decision and lay it before Parliament but this has still not been done.

Mr Agana said from "these facts, workers have given government enough time and any government which respects workers' rights would have acted by now".

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Tema (Greater Accra), 27^th October 99

The Tema Development Corporation (TDC) has rejected an appeal by car dealers in Tema for an extension of the quit order deadline of October 31 to move to the new car market at Kpone.

Mr. Ebenezer T. Ayibonte, the Managing Director, said the TDC stands by its decision to remove them to pave the way for the development of the Meridian Hotel area into a modern first class commercial centre.

He was reacting to a petition sent by the Tema Vehicle Dealers Association for an extension of the deadline to the end of January 2000 "since November and December are the peak period for sales and meeting their tax obligations".

The petition signed by Mr. Ekow Hayford, interim chairman of the association, said it will cost each member not less than three million cedis to evacuate cars and set up new offices at the new market.

Mr. Ayibonte, however, said the squatter car dealers were supposed to move to the Kpone car market in July this year but this was extended to October 31 to address a number of issues they raised during a demonstration in Accra.

He said they agreed to move at a meeting called by the Tema Municipal Assembly which was also attended by the TDC and the Police after which most of their demands were met.

Mr. William Ofori-Darko, TDC's Director of Development, said the 26-acre car market forms part of a 154-acre new industrial area developed by the TDC at a cost 5.2 billion cedis.

The area has basic infrastructure facilities like electricity, water and roads and the TDC recently added a cafeteria at a cost 150 million cedis to be commissioned this Friday, October 29.

Mr Ofori-Darko said the car dealers have a special concession to own their plots at less than 50 per cent of the actual cost of 34,000 US dollars or its cedi equivalent for an acre of industrial plot.

He said the TDC has also agreed that those who cannot pay outright will be allowed to pay 25 per cent deposit while those who do not want to own their plots can rent them, adding that the options to car dealers are many and varied.

He therefore urged the car dealers to move to enable the TDC to carry out its laid down corporate plans.

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