Story: Abdul Aziz
10/03/08
The Government has ordered fresh feasibility studies into the reactivation of the Accra Plains Irrigation Project.
Mr J. H. Mensah, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), speaking at the launch of the World Development Report (WDR) by the World Bank in Accra, said the project was being financed by the Government of Ghana with grants from the Kuwait Fund.
Mr Mensah, who was a member of the team that fashioned out the Seven-year Development Plan of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) government of Dr Kwame Nkrumah in the 1960s said the irrigation of the Accra Plains was an integral part of the Akosombo hydro-power project.
He explained that the proposals to the World Bank, however, did not receive the approval of the bank subsequently, that component of the project was abandoned.
The senior minister observed that with the launching of the World Development Report with agriculture as its priority, the World Bank would give financial and technical assistance to complete the project and provide sustainable employment to farmers to help raise their standard of living.
Mr Mensah said Ghana was an agricultural country and any assistance in that sector would enable the country to feed itself and ensure food security for peasant farmers.
Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), said the government had been successful in reducing poverty by 50 per cent, far ahead of the 2015 set target.
He said this had been made possible by the allocation of about 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to agriculture and related activities such as access roads to food-growing areas and markets.
He said the next step to ensure that the growth in agriculture was sustained was to combine factors such as land, labour and technology for increased production.
Mr Debrah said the era for Ghanaian farmers and Africa was here with the arrival of biofuels which required farmers to crop.
Mr Derek Byerlee, Director in charge of WDR, who presented the report, said the report called for greater investment in agriculture in Africa and warned that the sector ought to be placed at the centre of the continent’s development agenda.
The report said the goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 could only be realised by giving agriculture the required attention.
The report praised the positive story of Ghana in accelerating agricultural growth above the average for Africa, especially in cereal production and horticultural products such as pineapple and mangoes for export.
The report, however, deplored the alarming rate of deforestation (1.7 per cent) taking place in the country, which was the highest in the world.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Bilharzia surveillance project for Ga West District
Story: Abdul Aziz
10/03/08
Five schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17years, who were randomly selected from 75 schoolchildren in two schools in the Ga West District and tested for bilhazia, a water-borne disease, all tested positive for the disease.
The Schistosomiasis Surveillance Project is being conducted by the Environmental Biology and Health Division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The project has the objective of collecting the urine and stool samples of about150 schoolchildren and specimen from the Sunkwa and Nsaki streams in Pokuase for the project.
The first batch of 75 samples has been collected from schoolchildren in the Pokuase District Assembly Primary and Junior Secondary Schools and Pokuase Methodist Primary School.
Despite the rapid urbanisation of the Ga rural area of the Greater Accra Region which has witnessed the construction of water supply systems and boreholes, people, especially children, swim in the streams.
Mr George Tetteh Mensah, Research Scientist of the council, also attributed the prevalence of the disease to the attitude of some people who have resorted to the drinking of water from the streams because of the salty nature of water from boreholes in the area.
Mr Mensah said the disease could cause havoc if steps were not taken immediately to prevent it from spreading in the area.
The research scientist said the disease could be rated as an outbreak when 30 out of every 100 samples tested positive for the disease.
He appealed to corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations to complement the efforts of the government in eradicating the disease in the country.
He said the best approaches to eradicating the disease included the administration of the drug, praziquantel to those already affected and the intensification of health education to break the cycle of the disease.
He said a new strategy had been developed to involve the communities in the research activities.
Mr Mensah said health education was, therefore, being carried out alongside the schistosomiamis surveillance project to enable the communities break the cycle of the disease and stop it from re-curring.
10/03/08
Five schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17years, who were randomly selected from 75 schoolchildren in two schools in the Ga West District and tested for bilhazia, a water-borne disease, all tested positive for the disease.
The Schistosomiasis Surveillance Project is being conducted by the Environmental Biology and Health Division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The project has the objective of collecting the urine and stool samples of about150 schoolchildren and specimen from the Sunkwa and Nsaki streams in Pokuase for the project.
The first batch of 75 samples has been collected from schoolchildren in the Pokuase District Assembly Primary and Junior Secondary Schools and Pokuase Methodist Primary School.
Despite the rapid urbanisation of the Ga rural area of the Greater Accra Region which has witnessed the construction of water supply systems and boreholes, people, especially children, swim in the streams.
Mr George Tetteh Mensah, Research Scientist of the council, also attributed the prevalence of the disease to the attitude of some people who have resorted to the drinking of water from the streams because of the salty nature of water from boreholes in the area.
Mr Mensah said the disease could cause havoc if steps were not taken immediately to prevent it from spreading in the area.
The research scientist said the disease could be rated as an outbreak when 30 out of every 100 samples tested positive for the disease.
He appealed to corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations to complement the efforts of the government in eradicating the disease in the country.
He said the best approaches to eradicating the disease included the administration of the drug, praziquantel to those already affected and the intensification of health education to break the cycle of the disease.
He said a new strategy had been developed to involve the communities in the research activities.
Mr Mensah said health education was, therefore, being carried out alongside the schistosomiamis surveillance project to enable the communities break the cycle of the disease and stop it from re-curring.
Bilharzia surveillance project for Ga West District
Story: Abdul Aziz
10/03/08
Five schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17years, who were randomly selected from 75 schoolchildren in two schools in the Ga West District and tested for bilhazia, a water-borne disease, all tested positive for the disease.
The Schistosomiasis Surveillance Project is being conducted by the Environmental Biology and Health Division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The project has the objective of collecting the urine and stool samples of about150 schoolchildren and specimen from the Sunkwa and Nsaki streams in Pokuase for the project.
The first batch of 75 samples has been collected from schoolchildren in the Pokuase District Assembly Primary and Junior Secondary Schools and Pokuase Methodist Primary School.
Despite the rapid urbanisation of the Ga rural area of the Greater Accra Region which has witnessed the construction of water supply systems and boreholes, people, especially children, swim in the streams.
Mr George Tetteh Mensah, Research Scientist of the council, also attributed the prevalence of the disease to the attitude of some people who have resorted to the drinking of water from the streams because of the salty nature of water from boreholes in the area.
Mr Mensah said the disease could cause havoc if steps were not taken immediately to prevent it from spreading in the area.
The research scientist said the disease could be rated as an outbreak when 30 out of every 100 samples tested positive for the disease.
He appealed to corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations to complement the efforts of the government in eradicating the disease in the country.
He said the best approaches to eradicating the disease included the administration of the drug, praziquantel to those already affected and the intensification of health education to break the cycle of the disease.
He said a new strategy had been developed to involve the communities in the research activities.
Mr Mensah said health education was, therefore, being carried out alongside the schistosomiamis surveillance project to enable the communities break the cycle of the disease and stop it from re-curring.
10/03/08
Five schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17years, who were randomly selected from 75 schoolchildren in two schools in the Ga West District and tested for bilhazia, a water-borne disease, all tested positive for the disease.
The Schistosomiasis Surveillance Project is being conducted by the Environmental Biology and Health Division of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The project has the objective of collecting the urine and stool samples of about150 schoolchildren and specimen from the Sunkwa and Nsaki streams in Pokuase for the project.
The first batch of 75 samples has been collected from schoolchildren in the Pokuase District Assembly Primary and Junior Secondary Schools and Pokuase Methodist Primary School.
Despite the rapid urbanisation of the Ga rural area of the Greater Accra Region which has witnessed the construction of water supply systems and boreholes, people, especially children, swim in the streams.
Mr George Tetteh Mensah, Research Scientist of the council, also attributed the prevalence of the disease to the attitude of some people who have resorted to the drinking of water from the streams because of the salty nature of water from boreholes in the area.
Mr Mensah said the disease could cause havoc if steps were not taken immediately to prevent it from spreading in the area.
The research scientist said the disease could be rated as an outbreak when 30 out of every 100 samples tested positive for the disease.
He appealed to corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations to complement the efforts of the government in eradicating the disease in the country.
He said the best approaches to eradicating the disease included the administration of the drug, praziquantel to those already affected and the intensification of health education to break the cycle of the disease.
He said a new strategy had been developed to involve the communities in the research activities.
Mr Mensah said health education was, therefore, being carried out alongside the schistosomiamis surveillance project to enable the communities break the cycle of the disease and stop it from re-curring.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Project to promote agric along Volta Lake launched
Story: Abdul Aziz
March 12, 2008
A US $5.3 million project has been inaugurated at Akosombo to facilitate the ferrying of agricultural produce from 739 villages along the Volta Lake to urban centres in the country.
The Volta Lake Transportation Improvement project is designed to find a lasting solution to the acute transportation problem confronting the 739 villages along the Volta Lake to reflect the status of the area as the food basket of the country.
The $5.3 million project is being funded by the Millennium Development Authority of Ghana (MiDA) from Ghana’s $547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programme.
At the contract signing ceremony to kick-start the project at Akosombo, Mr Edward Boateng, Chairman of the Board of MiDA, said the construction of two new ferries would augment the fleet of Volta Lake Transport Company to provide critical ferry services to farmlands and communities in the Afram Basin Zone to link Adawso on the southern shore to Ekye Amanfrom on the northern shore.
He said under the project, the floating dock at Akosombo would be rehabilitated to improve the capabilities of Ghanaians in ferry construction, repairs and maintenance through the transfer of technologies into the country.
He further said that landing stages at Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom would be overhauled to provide all-weather protection and adequate sanitation facilities.
Mr Boateng said works on the extraction of tree stumps from the crossing route between Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom would be carried out to eliminate navigational and safety hazards.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Pamela Bridgwater, for her part said she was excited by the project, which in the end would enable Ghanaians to build their own ferries and boats through technology transfer.
She said the new ferries would help reduce the number of hours spent to transport goods on the Volta Lake in an economical manner.
She, therefore, commended MiDA for its foresight in recommending the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) for such an important investment.
The Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Mr I. P. Azuma, said since last year the Volta Lake had not recorded any accident on the lake due to intensive patrolling to enforce maritime regulations.
He said maritime officers had been stationed in all the five major towns along the Volta Lake to check over-loading in wooden boats, which were the cause of previous accidents on the lake.
March 12, 2008
A US $5.3 million project has been inaugurated at Akosombo to facilitate the ferrying of agricultural produce from 739 villages along the Volta Lake to urban centres in the country.
The Volta Lake Transportation Improvement project is designed to find a lasting solution to the acute transportation problem confronting the 739 villages along the Volta Lake to reflect the status of the area as the food basket of the country.
The $5.3 million project is being funded by the Millennium Development Authority of Ghana (MiDA) from Ghana’s $547 million Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programme.
At the contract signing ceremony to kick-start the project at Akosombo, Mr Edward Boateng, Chairman of the Board of MiDA, said the construction of two new ferries would augment the fleet of Volta Lake Transport Company to provide critical ferry services to farmlands and communities in the Afram Basin Zone to link Adawso on the southern shore to Ekye Amanfrom on the northern shore.
He said under the project, the floating dock at Akosombo would be rehabilitated to improve the capabilities of Ghanaians in ferry construction, repairs and maintenance through the transfer of technologies into the country.
He further said that landing stages at Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom would be overhauled to provide all-weather protection and adequate sanitation facilities.
Mr Boateng said works on the extraction of tree stumps from the crossing route between Adawso and Ekye Amanfrom would be carried out to eliminate navigational and safety hazards.
The US Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Pamela Bridgwater, for her part said she was excited by the project, which in the end would enable Ghanaians to build their own ferries and boats through technology transfer.
She said the new ferries would help reduce the number of hours spent to transport goods on the Volta Lake in an economical manner.
She, therefore, commended MiDA for its foresight in recommending the Volta Lake Transport Company (VLTC) for such an important investment.
The Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority, Mr I. P. Azuma, said since last year the Volta Lake had not recorded any accident on the lake due to intensive patrolling to enforce maritime regulations.
He said maritime officers had been stationed in all the five major towns along the Volta Lake to check over-loading in wooden boats, which were the cause of previous accidents on the lake.
Monday, December 31, 2007
KRISTO ASAFO SHOWCASES LIMO (Page 38)
Story: Abdul Aziz
Great excitement and uproar from a teeming crowd greeted the unveiling of the Kantanka Obrempon limousine, manufactured by Apostle Kwadwo Safo, Head of Kristo Asafo Mission, at a ceremony at Awoshie, a suburb of Accra, yesterday.
The ceremony was the high point of this year’s Charity and Technology Exhibition held by the church.
The first people to take a ride in the limousine were ministers of state and one of the aspirants who participated in the contest for the flagbearership of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
They included Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives, and Dr Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Chief Executive of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Other dignitaries included judges, senior civil servants and policy makers.
In an address, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government was determined to ensure that entrepreneurs and businessmen reaped the full benefit of the Golden Age of Business.
He said that would ultimately lead the country to achieve the desired middle-income status by 2015.
He said Apostle Safo's work was an epitome of a good private sector initiative and deserved all the support from the government and all patriotic Ghanaians to make the venture more productive.
He assured Apostle Safo and others in the private sector that the government would not relent in its efforts to ensure that business thrived by offering a congenial atmosphere for private initiative.
He urged Apostle Safo to consider exploring some initiatives and interventions, such as the Venture Capital Fund, to expand his business.
Mr Baidoe-Ansah said the government was focussing more on the small and medium enterprises sector, which constituted about 70 per cent of all the industrial establishments and contributed nearly 85 per cent of manufacturing employment.
He said his ministry was working in close collaboration with the Kristo Asafo Mission under the Technology Innovation Centre for Capital Goods Manufacture to establish an integrated foundry and tools training centre to produce tools as spare parts for the agricultural and industrial sectors.
For his part, Apostle Kwadwo Safo said he had placed emphasis on invention and high technology because no country could develop without a sound technological base.
He said the church’s Gomoa Mpota Technological Centre would recruit young graduates to train them in the production of high technology items.
The inventions on display at the exhibition included his first two vehicles, the latest limousine and an excavator.
Great excitement and uproar from a teeming crowd greeted the unveiling of the Kantanka Obrempon limousine, manufactured by Apostle Kwadwo Safo, Head of Kristo Asafo Mission, at a ceremony at Awoshie, a suburb of Accra, yesterday.
The ceremony was the high point of this year’s Charity and Technology Exhibition held by the church.
The first people to take a ride in the limousine were ministers of state and one of the aspirants who participated in the contest for the flagbearership of the ruling New Patriotic Party.
They included Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Joe Baidoe-Ansah, Minister of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiatives, and Dr Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Chief Executive of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Other dignitaries included judges, senior civil servants and policy makers.
In an address, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government was determined to ensure that entrepreneurs and businessmen reaped the full benefit of the Golden Age of Business.
He said that would ultimately lead the country to achieve the desired middle-income status by 2015.
He said Apostle Safo's work was an epitome of a good private sector initiative and deserved all the support from the government and all patriotic Ghanaians to make the venture more productive.
He assured Apostle Safo and others in the private sector that the government would not relent in its efforts to ensure that business thrived by offering a congenial atmosphere for private initiative.
He urged Apostle Safo to consider exploring some initiatives and interventions, such as the Venture Capital Fund, to expand his business.
Mr Baidoe-Ansah said the government was focussing more on the small and medium enterprises sector, which constituted about 70 per cent of all the industrial establishments and contributed nearly 85 per cent of manufacturing employment.
He said his ministry was working in close collaboration with the Kristo Asafo Mission under the Technology Innovation Centre for Capital Goods Manufacture to establish an integrated foundry and tools training centre to produce tools as spare parts for the agricultural and industrial sectors.
For his part, Apostle Kwadwo Safo said he had placed emphasis on invention and high technology because no country could develop without a sound technological base.
He said the church’s Gomoa Mpota Technological Centre would recruit young graduates to train them in the production of high technology items.
The inventions on display at the exhibition included his first two vehicles, the latest limousine and an excavator.
Friday, December 21, 2007
SUBJECT JUDGES' DECISIONS TO CRITICAL ANALYSIS (Page 24...Published Dec 17, 2007)
Story: Abdul Aziz
The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, has called on Ghanaians, especially legal luminaries, to critically examine the decisions of judges and analyse them for the development of the judicial system.
Justice Wood explained that for sometime now the bench had no source of knowing what other institutions such as the Bar thought of their work as judges.
Mrs Wood made the call when she delivered the keynote address at the launch of a book, “The Role of the Supreme Court in the Development of Constitutional Law in Ghana’’ by Dr Seth Y. Bimpong-Buta, a former Director of the Ghana School of Law.
The Chief Justice said such reviews were useful in helping the judiciary to revise and reflect on their work so as to update their knowledge on the current state of the law.
She said the publication had, therefore, come to fill the yawning gap in the development of constitutional law in the country.
She commended Dr Bimpong-Buta, saying that his work would contribute in a great measure to the development of democratic culture and good governance in the country.
She recommended the book to the bench, Bar, teachers of the law, and all institutions and individuals who had an interest in the development and administration of law and justice.
Mrs Wood said the author had successfully demonstrated that the development of a democratic culture and good governance in the country did not depend on the Supreme Court alone, and that the complementary role of the Bar, civil society organisations (CSO), the media and the individual was crucial to the establishment of a truly democratic, peaceful and stable society.
Dr Bimpong-Buta said the book mainly praised the Supreme Court for some of its superb and courageous decisions since independence, that had helped in the development of constitutional rule in the country.
He said in doing so he was also compelled to comment on some of the shameful decisions of the Supreme Courts that enabled politicians to trample on the rights of Ghanaians, with far-reaching consequences.
Launching the book, Mr Justice V. C.R .A.C. Crabbe, a constitutional expert, who had presided over the drafting of two constitutions for the country, said the study of the law could be found in judgements.
Justice Crabbe said the publication of the book was, therefore, a one-stop shop for lawyers, teachers, judges and law students in search of information on landmark judgements in the country.
Nana (Dr) S .K. B. Asante, a constitutional expert who helped in drafting the 1992 constitution and chairman for the book launch, said Ghanaians needed to appreciate the fact, with some sense of gratification, that the country had enjoyed an uninterrupted constitutional regime for 15 years.
Dr Asante, therefore, observed that the occasional calls for amendment of the constitution stemmed from a failure to appreciate the critical role of the Supreme Court in interpreting, clarifying, refining and consolidating the constitution.
The Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, has called on Ghanaians, especially legal luminaries, to critically examine the decisions of judges and analyse them for the development of the judicial system.
Justice Wood explained that for sometime now the bench had no source of knowing what other institutions such as the Bar thought of their work as judges.
Mrs Wood made the call when she delivered the keynote address at the launch of a book, “The Role of the Supreme Court in the Development of Constitutional Law in Ghana’’ by Dr Seth Y. Bimpong-Buta, a former Director of the Ghana School of Law.
The Chief Justice said such reviews were useful in helping the judiciary to revise and reflect on their work so as to update their knowledge on the current state of the law.
She said the publication had, therefore, come to fill the yawning gap in the development of constitutional law in the country.
She commended Dr Bimpong-Buta, saying that his work would contribute in a great measure to the development of democratic culture and good governance in the country.
She recommended the book to the bench, Bar, teachers of the law, and all institutions and individuals who had an interest in the development and administration of law and justice.
Mrs Wood said the author had successfully demonstrated that the development of a democratic culture and good governance in the country did not depend on the Supreme Court alone, and that the complementary role of the Bar, civil society organisations (CSO), the media and the individual was crucial to the establishment of a truly democratic, peaceful and stable society.
Dr Bimpong-Buta said the book mainly praised the Supreme Court for some of its superb and courageous decisions since independence, that had helped in the development of constitutional rule in the country.
He said in doing so he was also compelled to comment on some of the shameful decisions of the Supreme Courts that enabled politicians to trample on the rights of Ghanaians, with far-reaching consequences.
Launching the book, Mr Justice V. C.R .A.C. Crabbe, a constitutional expert, who had presided over the drafting of two constitutions for the country, said the study of the law could be found in judgements.
Justice Crabbe said the publication of the book was, therefore, a one-stop shop for lawyers, teachers, judges and law students in search of information on landmark judgements in the country.
Nana (Dr) S .K. B. Asante, a constitutional expert who helped in drafting the 1992 constitution and chairman for the book launch, said Ghanaians needed to appreciate the fact, with some sense of gratification, that the country had enjoyed an uninterrupted constitutional regime for 15 years.
Dr Asante, therefore, observed that the occasional calls for amendment of the constitution stemmed from a failure to appreciate the critical role of the Supreme Court in interpreting, clarifying, refining and consolidating the constitution.
Friday, December 14, 2007
MINISTRY TO CLOSE UNAPPROVED ROUTES ON MOTORWAY (Back Page)
Story: Abdul Aziz
The Ministry of Transportation has embarked on an operation to close all unauthorised access routes on the Accra-Tema Motorway to avoid further accidents.
The unauthorised exit and entry points on the motorway had been a source of danger to the motoring public. It would be recalled that former President Jerry John Rawlings narrowly escaped death on the motorway when a vehicle appeared from an unauthorised route to cross his path.
According to Mr Ken S. Anku, a media consultant to the Ministry of Transportation, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) was undertaking the exercise purely in the interest of the safety of the motoring public and not for any other considerations.
He said as a responsible and sensitive ministry, it had developed some short term and long term solutions to ease the effects of traffic jams that might result from the closure of those unauthorised routes.
He said as a first step, the ministry was in the process of providing alternative exit and entry points on the motorway at a location further west of the overhead cattle bridge.
Mr Anku explained that the intervention was intended to provide a safer access to residents located along the road.
He further said that in order to ease traffic movements within the Accra East corridor, the ministry, through the Department of Urban Roads, was continuing to improve on the La beach road.
The Ministry of Transportation has embarked on an operation to close all unauthorised access routes on the Accra-Tema Motorway to avoid further accidents.
The unauthorised exit and entry points on the motorway had been a source of danger to the motoring public. It would be recalled that former President Jerry John Rawlings narrowly escaped death on the motorway when a vehicle appeared from an unauthorised route to cross his path.
According to Mr Ken S. Anku, a media consultant to the Ministry of Transportation, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) was undertaking the exercise purely in the interest of the safety of the motoring public and not for any other considerations.
He said as a responsible and sensitive ministry, it had developed some short term and long term solutions to ease the effects of traffic jams that might result from the closure of those unauthorised routes.
He said as a first step, the ministry was in the process of providing alternative exit and entry points on the motorway at a location further west of the overhead cattle bridge.
Mr Anku explained that the intervention was intended to provide a safer access to residents located along the road.
He further said that in order to ease traffic movements within the Accra East corridor, the ministry, through the Department of Urban Roads, was continuing to improve on the La beach road.
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