Friday, October 31, 2008
poverty stilla problem in rural areas
Accra, Ghana - Mr. Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, on Thursday said though human resource development and capacity building programme had led to increased food supplies and crop yields, poverty still remained a major problem among rural population.He said the challenge was for stakeholders to develop strategies that more clearly addressed the needs of the poor and ensured that they benefited.Mr. Debrah said this at the launch of the first Edikanfo Progressive Foundation/Communicating America Education Programme (EPF/CAEP) National Agriculture Human Resource Development and Exchange Programme, a collaborative programme between the ministry and Edikanfo Foundations, an NGO to expose Ghanaian farmers to international best practices. He said the pov erty reduction strategy recognized agriculture as a sector with the greatest potential to reduce poverty. "We recognise the fact that poverty reduction will only be achieved through appropriate actions - a combination of activities to increase production and productivity."Mr Debrah said the youth in modern agriculture programme was also to provide gainful employment for the unemployed and underemployed particularly those in the rural areas. He noted other challenges facing the sector as finance and mechanisation. "My ministry is pursuing vigorous policies to enhance farmers' access to timely mechanised services." Mr Debrah urged young farmers, agriculture students and ministry to take advantage of the opportunities that the programme offered to develop themselves.Mr Patrick Kwabena Arthur, Coordinator, EPF said developing effective strategies to unlock the potential of Ghanaian agriculture was crucial to achieve the country's growth and poverty reduction goals. He said the foundation had supported development interventions through advocacy, education and training, among others. Mr Arthur said the exchange programme would offer Ghanaian farmers valuable experience in specified areas, improve communication skills to ensure personal growth and development.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Committee institute punishment against students
Eastern Ghana – The Committee set up to investigate an alleged sexual scandal that rocked Osino Presbyterian Senior High School in the Eastern Region has recommended outright withdrawal or suspension of all offenders.
The committee also recommended the abolition of the title “Chief Boarding Officer” as well as the “school mother and father relationship” and also fencing of the school compound.
These were contained in a report presented to Mr Daniel Dugan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, when he visited the school in the company of the Director, Department of Children, Mr Peter Eduful and an Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit to assess the situation.
The findings discovered a general breakdown of discipline. It also found out that the alleged rape of a female student was false as stated by a doctor’s report.
It also came out that the channel of communication was not working properly, and that there was gross abuse of “school father and mother relationship” and too many outlets to the school.
Mr Dugan condemned the spate of indiscipline that is creeping into schools and called on students to take their academic work serious.
He said negative peer influence was a destructive force that must not be condoned, saying, “Study hard, aim high and let the sky be your limit”.
Mr Eduful said government was committed to creating the enabling environment to ensure that education for all was achieved.
Mr Kwadwo Akyeampong-Sakyi, Headmaster of the School, expressed his disappointment about the manner the media carried the story.
“In fact the school has over the past two weeks been under constant harassment from the media.”
He said copies of the report would be forwarded to the Ghana Education Service and other authorities concerned.
Mr Akyeampong-Sakyi said the school with a population of 1,200 lacked basic school amenities such as dormitory blocks and science laboratory.
The committee also recommended the abolition of the title “Chief Boarding Officer” as well as the “school mother and father relationship” and also fencing of the school compound.
These were contained in a report presented to Mr Daniel Dugan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, when he visited the school in the company of the Director, Department of Children, Mr Peter Eduful and an Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit to assess the situation.
The findings discovered a general breakdown of discipline. It also found out that the alleged rape of a female student was false as stated by a doctor’s report.
It also came out that the channel of communication was not working properly, and that there was gross abuse of “school father and mother relationship” and too many outlets to the school.
Mr Dugan condemned the spate of indiscipline that is creeping into schools and called on students to take their academic work serious.
He said negative peer influence was a destructive force that must not be condoned, saying, “Study hard, aim high and let the sky be your limit”.
Mr Eduful said government was committed to creating the enabling environment to ensure that education for all was achieved.
Mr Kwadwo Akyeampong-Sakyi, Headmaster of the School, expressed his disappointment about the manner the media carried the story.
“In fact the school has over the past two weeks been under constant harassment from the media.”
He said copies of the report would be forwarded to the Ghana Education Service and other authorities concerned.
Mr Akyeampong-Sakyi said the school with a population of 1,200 lacked basic school amenities such as dormitory blocks and science laboratory.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Assemblies urged to be innovative
Accra, Ghana – Mr. Eric Oduro Osae, senior lecturer at the Institute of Local Government Studies, on Monday urged assembly members to devise innovative means of generating internal resources, to fund development activities in their localities.
He said the District Assembly concept gave so much power to assembly members to be able to raise revenue to meet the development aspirations of their electoral areas and also to pay their personal emoluments.
Speaking at a workshop organised by the Foundation for Female Photojournalists, Mr Osae noted that the inability of assembly members to familiarize themselves with the guidelines of the district assemblies had caused their problems.
The workshop sponsored by Right And Voice Initiative on the theme: "Ghana must Compensate Assembly Members, a Call for Civil Society Support" was to advocate for an effective local governance system.
He said Article 250 of the constitution stated that the emolument of presiding members and other assembly members should be determined and paid out of the assembly's own resources.
Mr Osae also called for the modification of the guidelines on the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) to enable the assembly to have some percentage.
"There should be a constituency fund allocated to parliamentarians and the DACF allocated solely to the assemblies.”
He noted that the neglect of members through the absence of a substantive remuneration package, logistical problems and inadequate sitting allowances created a room for laxity, lack of commitment and inefficiencies.
Ms Mardey Ofoe, Executive Director, FFP, called for implementation of the 50 per cent retention for the substructures in the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, capacity building and regular sensitisation of the public on the local government systems.
"There will be no meaningful governance, if local government is weak," he added.
He said the District Assembly concept gave so much power to assembly members to be able to raise revenue to meet the development aspirations of their electoral areas and also to pay their personal emoluments.
Speaking at a workshop organised by the Foundation for Female Photojournalists, Mr Osae noted that the inability of assembly members to familiarize themselves with the guidelines of the district assemblies had caused their problems.
The workshop sponsored by Right And Voice Initiative on the theme: "Ghana must Compensate Assembly Members, a Call for Civil Society Support" was to advocate for an effective local governance system.
He said Article 250 of the constitution stated that the emolument of presiding members and other assembly members should be determined and paid out of the assembly's own resources.
Mr Osae also called for the modification of the guidelines on the District Assemblies’ Common Fund (DACF) to enable the assembly to have some percentage.
"There should be a constituency fund allocated to parliamentarians and the DACF allocated solely to the assemblies.”
He noted that the neglect of members through the absence of a substantive remuneration package, logistical problems and inadequate sitting allowances created a room for laxity, lack of commitment and inefficiencies.
Ms Mardey Ofoe, Executive Director, FFP, called for implementation of the 50 per cent retention for the substructures in the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, capacity building and regular sensitisation of the public on the local government systems.
"There will be no meaningful governance, if local government is weak," he added.
Friday, October 24, 2008
More than 2,000 people perished in road accidents last year
Accra, Ghana– Available statistics indicate that 2,043 people perished in road accidents in 2007 compared to 1,858 people who died in 2006.
The increase was due to indiscipline on the part of drivers.
"Our roads have become slaughterhouses where we are butchered in great numbers. We all know that most of these accidents could be prevented with little effort, discipline and respect for other road users," Mr Kofi Asamoah, General Secretary, Ghana Trades Union Congress(GTUC) said in Accra on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the 2008 International Road Transport Action Week to mark this year's Federation of Transport Unions (FTU) celebrations.
FTU action week, which runs from October 13-19 is on the theme: “Organizing Globally, Building Union Power, Eradicating the Carnage on our Roads, Addressing the Undue Delays at our Frontiers, Correcting the Indiscipline on our Roads, Minimizing HIV/AIDS among road Transport workers.”
Placards bearing messages such as “Drivers, respect the right of other road users”, “Fatigue Kills”, “Drivers, observe your mandatory rest stops,” and “HIV/AIDS has no known cure, do not contract it” were used to create awareness on the need to ensure road safety.
Mr Asamoah noted that between January and June 2007, 744 people were killed and 4,904 sustained various degrees of injuries from road accidents.
"A more detailed analysis of the road accidents statistics shows that 42 per cent of persons killed annually were pedestrians. Over 60 per cent are in the economically active age group of 18-55 years and 70 per cent are men.”
He said the statistics showed that speeding was the major cause of road accidents, accounting for over 50 per cent of reported cases.
A significant number of accidents (16 per cent) occurs on Fridays and Sundays while April and December also register the highest occurrences.
"A critical look at the causes of these accidents show that they were primarily due to the responsibility of drivers, impatience, gross disregard for human life, wrong parking, over speeding, drunk-driving, overloading and poor state of vehicles," Mr Asamoah added.
He therefore called on all transport unions to organise themselves well, bring on board floating drivers and standardize their working conditions to prevent reckless practices.
Mr Emmanuel Mensah, Coordinating Secretary, FTU, called on government to expedite discussions on a national transport policy to regulate activities in the sector.
He cautioned against negative attitude of drivers saying most of these negative behaviours by the bad nuts in the driving profession, often caused a huge loss in investments made by transport companies, owners and individuals.
Mildred
The increase was due to indiscipline on the part of drivers.
"Our roads have become slaughterhouses where we are butchered in great numbers. We all know that most of these accidents could be prevented with little effort, discipline and respect for other road users," Mr Kofi Asamoah, General Secretary, Ghana Trades Union Congress(GTUC) said in Accra on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the 2008 International Road Transport Action Week to mark this year's Federation of Transport Unions (FTU) celebrations.
FTU action week, which runs from October 13-19 is on the theme: “Organizing Globally, Building Union Power, Eradicating the Carnage on our Roads, Addressing the Undue Delays at our Frontiers, Correcting the Indiscipline on our Roads, Minimizing HIV/AIDS among road Transport workers.”
Placards bearing messages such as “Drivers, respect the right of other road users”, “Fatigue Kills”, “Drivers, observe your mandatory rest stops,” and “HIV/AIDS has no known cure, do not contract it” were used to create awareness on the need to ensure road safety.
Mr Asamoah noted that between January and June 2007, 744 people were killed and 4,904 sustained various degrees of injuries from road accidents.
"A more detailed analysis of the road accidents statistics shows that 42 per cent of persons killed annually were pedestrians. Over 60 per cent are in the economically active age group of 18-55 years and 70 per cent are men.”
He said the statistics showed that speeding was the major cause of road accidents, accounting for over 50 per cent of reported cases.
A significant number of accidents (16 per cent) occurs on Fridays and Sundays while April and December also register the highest occurrences.
"A critical look at the causes of these accidents show that they were primarily due to the responsibility of drivers, impatience, gross disregard for human life, wrong parking, over speeding, drunk-driving, overloading and poor state of vehicles," Mr Asamoah added.
He therefore called on all transport unions to organise themselves well, bring on board floating drivers and standardize their working conditions to prevent reckless practices.
Mr Emmanuel Mensah, Coordinating Secretary, FTU, called on government to expedite discussions on a national transport policy to regulate activities in the sector.
He cautioned against negative attitude of drivers saying most of these negative behaviours by the bad nuts in the driving profession, often caused a huge loss in investments made by transport companies, owners and individuals.
Mildred
Ghana to have a petroleum Institute
Ghana to have a Petroleum Institute
Accra, Ghana- Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Energy on Friday identified unskilled labour and the absence of a credible certification for assessing the existing manpower as a major challenge to the petroleum industry.
“It is therefore encouraging that we have all met here to deliberate on the issue and to formally announce the propose Petroleum Technology Institute, Ghana (PTIG) as a credible institution to address this most critical challenge”, he added.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong was speaking at the forum organised to sensitise the public on the need for Ghana to own a school in that direction. It was under the theme: Building the Knowledge gap Between Education and the Petroleum Industry.
The propose school to kick-off by 2010 in the Western Region would be a centre of excellence in integrated oil and gas engineering and sustainable energy studies and serve as a natural manpower and adaptive research and technology development resource centre in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
He said government was committed to ensuring that the policy on local content development and utilization was duly pursued to ensure that Ghanaians were adequately trained to acquire relevant competencies.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong said the task of human capital development was a challenged for all stakeholders in the economy, “I therefore urge you to adopt an integrated private-public partnership approach in training and development for the oil and gas industry.
The PTIG is a brainchild of a Nigerian business group in Consultation with the Ghana National Petroleum Council and the ministry of Energy.
When it becomes fully operational, the PTIG would offer postgraduate programmes in petroleum and Well Engineering, Pipeline, Sub-sea and Riser engineering, renewable Energy, Information and Refinery Technology.
Osahene Katakyei Busumakura 111, Takoradi Omanhene said the region was poised to support the project to make it a reality.
mildred
Accra, Ghana- Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Minister of Energy on Friday identified unskilled labour and the absence of a credible certification for assessing the existing manpower as a major challenge to the petroleum industry.
“It is therefore encouraging that we have all met here to deliberate on the issue and to formally announce the propose Petroleum Technology Institute, Ghana (PTIG) as a credible institution to address this most critical challenge”, he added.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong was speaking at the forum organised to sensitise the public on the need for Ghana to own a school in that direction. It was under the theme: Building the Knowledge gap Between Education and the Petroleum Industry.
The propose school to kick-off by 2010 in the Western Region would be a centre of excellence in integrated oil and gas engineering and sustainable energy studies and serve as a natural manpower and adaptive research and technology development resource centre in Ghana and West Africa as a whole.
He said government was committed to ensuring that the policy on local content development and utilization was duly pursued to ensure that Ghanaians were adequately trained to acquire relevant competencies.
Mr Owusu-Adjapong said the task of human capital development was a challenged for all stakeholders in the economy, “I therefore urge you to adopt an integrated private-public partnership approach in training and development for the oil and gas industry.
The PTIG is a brainchild of a Nigerian business group in Consultation with the Ghana National Petroleum Council and the ministry of Energy.
When it becomes fully operational, the PTIG would offer postgraduate programmes in petroleum and Well Engineering, Pipeline, Sub-sea and Riser engineering, renewable Energy, Information and Refinery Technology.
Osahene Katakyei Busumakura 111, Takoradi Omanhene said the region was poised to support the project to make it a reality.
mildred
Weija Treatment to be shutdown
Accra, Ghana - The Ghana Water Company, is to shutdown the Weija Treatment Plant tomorrow Tuesday October 14, for a day to undertake industrial works to facilitate increase water supply.
The 24-hour shutdown would mark the final shutdown of the plant in the recent times to also enable engineers at the dam site to connect newly constructed filters to existing ones.
Mr Roland Sandher, Project Engineer, Ballast Construction, contractors of the East-West Interconnection and Weija Water Treatment Plant Extension, said two new filters had been constructed to complement the already existing ones.
He said the project, expected to be completed by the end of the year, would provide an additional 15 million gallons of water production a day. This would increase daily production of water at the plant from 40 million gallons of water a day to 55 million gallons.
Mr Sandler said the capacity of the dam had been increased to mitigate the impact of water shortage that had hit some parts of Accra over the years.
Mildred
The 24-hour shutdown would mark the final shutdown of the plant in the recent times to also enable engineers at the dam site to connect newly constructed filters to existing ones.
Mr Roland Sandher, Project Engineer, Ballast Construction, contractors of the East-West Interconnection and Weija Water Treatment Plant Extension, said two new filters had been constructed to complement the already existing ones.
He said the project, expected to be completed by the end of the year, would provide an additional 15 million gallons of water production a day. This would increase daily production of water at the plant from 40 million gallons of water a day to 55 million gallons.
Mr Sandler said the capacity of the dam had been increased to mitigate the impact of water shortage that had hit some parts of Accra over the years.
Mildred
Civil Servants attend workshop on records management
Accra, Ghana- Mr Joe Issachar, Head of the Civil Service, on Monday called for constant upgrading of knowledge and skills by the personnel of the Service in order to meet national and global demands.
He said promotion of professional standards was required in all sectors of the Service to ensure improved productivity.
Mr Issachar made the call at the opening of a two-week Records Management workshop organised by his office with sponsorship from the Commonwealth Secretariat for middle level civil servants.
About 50 participants from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies are expected to be trained on record types and Cycle; classification systems, physical protection and security and record centre procedures.
He noted that records management formed an important component of the service's day-to-day activities saying "it is the records that you keep which help the politician to make policies and other developmental decisions".
Mr Issachar said the Service would computerize all data and therefore charged the participants to utilize the knowledge that would be acquired.
Mr Alex Kwaning, a representative of Commonwealth Secretariat, said though efficient record management was critical to the country's development, it had been relegated to the background.
He said the secretariat would continue to train practitioners, especially in electronic records management, as a management tool needed for specific duties in the service.
Mildred
20 Oct. 08
He said promotion of professional standards was required in all sectors of the Service to ensure improved productivity.
Mr Issachar made the call at the opening of a two-week Records Management workshop organised by his office with sponsorship from the Commonwealth Secretariat for middle level civil servants.
About 50 participants from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies are expected to be trained on record types and Cycle; classification systems, physical protection and security and record centre procedures.
He noted that records management formed an important component of the service's day-to-day activities saying "it is the records that you keep which help the politician to make policies and other developmental decisions".
Mr Issachar said the Service would computerize all data and therefore charged the participants to utilize the knowledge that would be acquired.
Mr Alex Kwaning, a representative of Commonwealth Secretariat, said though efficient record management was critical to the country's development, it had been relegated to the background.
He said the secretariat would continue to train practitioners, especially in electronic records management, as a management tool needed for specific duties in the service.
Mildred
20 Oct. 08
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