RAYBOW HOTEL HOLDS AWARDS CEREMONY (PAGE 29)

Players in the hospitality industry have been advised to upgrade their skills regularly in order to render acceptable service to their clients.
The Senior Principal Officer of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), Western Region, Mr Michael Kpimgbi, gave the advice at an end-of-year get-together and awards ceremony of the Raybow International Hotel in Takoradi.
He said the metropolis was an important port of call for visitors to the region and pointed out that to enable the hotels to attract customers there was the need for them to render good services.
Mr Kpimgbi said management of these hotels also had to look at the needs of their internal public, which include their staff, in order to address their concerns to enhance service delivery.
He said operators in the industry should not only focus on making profit but also see to the comfort of both their external and internal publics.
He said customers had become very sophisticated, and they would not just come to a facility without asking questions when they found that services rendered did not merit their expectation.
“I must commend the management of the hotel for taking time off its busy business schedules to appreciate the work of its hardworking staff,” he said.
The Managing Director of Raybow International Hotel, Egya Kweku Nsiah, said the hotel would do everything possible to ensure that every visitor to the hotel leaves the facility with a smile on his or her face.

TRADERS TAKE OVER PAYMENTS AT TAKORADI MARKET CIRCLE (PAGE 29)

The congestion around the Takoradi Central Market popularly known as Market Circle demands urgent attention from the city authorities to create the needed environment for business.
Traders have taken over the pavements from the Collins Avenue towards the Market Circle and the pedestrian walkway, while some have adopted a strategy of displaying their merchandise on trucks, which are positioned on one side of the road around the market.
Sources at the Western Regional Office of the Road Safety Commission said there had been an increase in pedestrian knockdown in that area due to congestion.
Some shop owners have described the situation as very unfortunate; saying it has become very difficult for customers to have easy access to goods on display at the shops under the round pavilion and on the opposite side of the market.
Customers of financial institutions are also seriously feeling the effects as those who go to transact business at branches of banks around the Market Circle have to struggle to get to the halls of their respective banks.
Those with vehicles have to drive round to get a place to park.
Residents say the activities of these hawkers, especially those selling foodstuff around the Market Circle, close to open drains and gutters need to be checked by the Environmental Health Unit of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly.
The situation around the Market Circle improved after an earlier decongestive exercise carried out by the assembly, but that could not be sustained.
The traders are oblivious of the fact that the physical structure of the market circle is very weak and there is the need for a complete rehabilitation of the structure to avert a disaster.
In December, 2007, the assembly indicated its intention to pull down the market and construct a modern market complex.
When the Daily Graphic visited the assembly in January 2008 to find out the extent of implementation of the project, a source indicated that the designs were not ready and gave the assurance that after the Ghana 2008 football tournament there would be visible signs of the commencement of work.
A year after there is still no sign but the Public Relations Officer of the assembly, Mr John Laste, said the project had not been abandoned.
The modern market complex, he said, was viable and there were investors and local financial institutions that had expressed interest in supporting it, saying that “the consultants are supposed to make presentations to that effect after the design is accepted and approved”.
He said the Sekondi Market would also be covered and indicated that the current activities of traders around the Market Circle would be addressed.

WORLD BANK TO SUPPORT ASSEMBLY BUILD LANDFILL SITE (PAGE 29)

THE World Bank is to support the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) with funds to complete a multi-purpose landfill site at Sofokrom.
The landfill site, which is being constructed under the Second Urban Environmental and Sanitation Project, is to improve waste collection and management in the metropolis.
The waste will be recycled to generate biogas for the production of electricity and fertiliser for agriculture.
Apart from the generation of electricity, the assembly will also generate income from the collection and dumping of refuse at the site.
According to engineers working on the project, the power that would be generated could supply a whole community, and this would augment the country’s energy supply.
the Co-ordinator of the project, Mr Simon Addo-Larbi, told the daily graphic that due to the increase in urban population, there was the need to attach importance to sanitation.
He said there had been a problem at the bidding stage and that had affected the early completion of the project.
The co-ordinator said the initial cost of the project was estimated at about $1m but said that had more than doubled due to the non-unavailability of raw materials.
He explained that during the initial biding, the contractors knew they were going to get their materials for the construction of the landfill site from the region or other parts of the metropolis.
“But they realised that they had to transport materials such as chipping from other regions to the project site for the commencement of work,” he said.
Mr Addo-Larbi said at the moment the assembly had made another submission to the World Bank for the resumption of work on the project, which came to a standstill after earth works.
The co-ordinator said the completion of the project would help the assembly to better assess the quantity of waste generated and collected in the metropolis.
He said the site had been designed with opened cells with perforated pipes to ensure the systematic treatment of the waste.
In a related development waste contractors in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis have stressed the need for proper waste management to ensure a healthy environment.
They indicated that the problem of a proper waste dumping site must be solved immediately to promote good health.
When contacted, sources at the metropolitan assembly indicated that dirty streets stretching from the STMA Road to Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital, Paa Grant and to Nkrumah roundabouts towards Kwesimintsim Traffic Light were to be cleaned by the assembly’s environmental workers.
The Public Relations Manager of the STMA, Mr John Laste, attributed the problem to the negative attitude of the residents to waste disposal.
According to the Regional Operations Supervisor of Zoomlion, Mr Felix Boankrah, seeing filth all over in the metropolis was not the best and that the company had come up with measures to deal with the problem by operating on shift basis.
“It is sad that in this modern day people still keep their domestic waste in poly there bags instead of making use of bins that are designed for such purposes,” he added.
Mr Boankrah said Zoomlion had the modern equipment to handle the waste problem and advised the public to make use of the litter bins provided by the company, and warned that those who would fail to ensure good sanitary practices would be reported to the environmental health units of the assembly for appropriate action.

WISE, LIBERTY DRAW (BACK PAGE, JAN 12)

Sekondi Eleven Wise yesterday drew 2-2 with visiting Dansoman Liberty Professionals at the Sekondi Stadium at Essipon.
Wise shot ahead as early as the seventh minute through Winfred Dormon and Eric Owusu increased the tally for the homesters in the 39th minute.
Liberty Professionals raised their game and deservedly redeemed a goal in the 69th minute through Mawuli Tuglo and just when all looked like a win for Wise, Yaw Antwi snatched the equaliser for Liberty in the 88th minute.

WISE, LIBERTY DRAW (BACK PAGE)

SEKONDI XI-Wise yesterday drew 2-2 with visiting Dansoman Liberty Professionals at the Sekondi Sports Stadium at Essipon in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area (STMA)in the Western Region.
Wise shot ahead as early as the seventh minutes through Winfred Dormon and Eric Owusu increased the tally for the homesters in the 39th minute.
Liberty Professionals raised their game and deservedly redeemed a goal in the 69th minute through Mawuli Tuglo inthe number 46 and just as all looked like a win for the Sekondi Eleven Wise (the Western Show Boys), Yaw Antwi snatched the equalizer for Liberty in the 88th minute.

MTTU WORRIED OVER HIGH RATE OF ACCIDENTS (PAGE 18, JAN 10)

THE Regional National Road Safety Commission, the MTTU of the Ghana Police Service and other players in the transport industry have expressed concern about the increasing rate of road accidents in the metropolis and other parts of the Western Region.
In the year 2008, the region recorded a total of 673 accidents involving 904 vehicles, which claimed about 155 lives.
A total of 209 lives were lost as a result of 1,135 reported accidents between 2006 and 2007.
They attributed the problems to impatient driving, lack of maintenance, as well as the desire by commercial drivers to make excessive takings and so disregard road safety regulations.
According to the Regional Director of National Road Safety Commission, Mr Bismark Boakye, due to the investor interest in the region, vehicular traffic had increased and there was the need for drivers to adopt defensive driving approach.
He said many of the accidents could have been be avoided if the drivers had respect for road safety regulations.
“Because the drivers and their vehicle owners are highly profit-oriented, it is difficult for them to update themselves and keep their vehicles in good shape,“ he said.
As a result, he said the country continued to lose valuable human resource needed to steer the affairs of the country.
“I wonder why the owners could not sacrifice a day’s takings to rest and maintain their vehicles,” he asked.
Taking a critical look at the figures, he said the accidents normally occurred during festive occasions, when drivers, in their desire to maximise takings, tried to make as many trips as possible in a day.
“We are dealing with machines that are yearly updated by the manufacturers. Therefore, once we have adopted these technologies, there is the need to constantly maintain them,” he said.
He said every vehicle had the stipulated load to carry, but the drivers and their masters had devised ways of beating the system at the expense of innocent passengers.
Mr Boakye said in the first quarter of every year, reported cases were low and that the first quarter of 2008 recorded only 87 accidents involving 120 vehicles and 13 deaths.
“In the second quarter ending June 30, 2008, the figure jumped from 87 to 216 cases involving 210 vehicles with 55 deaths,” he said.
He said also that in the same quarter, more than 208 people sustained various degrees of injury.
The regional director indicated due to the busy nature of the run-up to the elections, which started from September 30, 2008 and the Christmas festivities, a total of 419 accidents, involving 574 vehicles by end of December 31, 2008, occurred.
This, he said, claimed a total of 87 lives and other fatalities, as well as serious degrees of injury.
Mr Boakye said there was also an increase in the number of pedestrians knocked down in the metropolis.
This he attributed to the lackadaisical attitude of pedestrians, especially around the Takoradi Central Market.
Mr Boakye said although the pedestrians needed to be alert, they could be blamed much because the bigger picture was that the city authorities had failed to keep hawkers off the shoulders of the road.
This, he said, did not augur well for a city trying to assume world class status.
“If the people themselves did not see the need to keep off the streets and always confront city authorities, then we are in a serious trouble,” he said.
He, therefore, reminded Ghanaians that much as metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies had a role to play to keep their localities less congested, it was incumbent on members of the public to ensure that they played their part by respecting laid-down rules.

GHANA 2008 VEHICLE ABANDONED AT POLICE STATION (BACK PAGE, JANUARY 10)

ONE of the brand new VW Passat saloon cars used for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana has been abandoned in the open at the Takoradi Central Police Station for nearly a year after the competition.
According to a source at the Takoradi Central Police Station, the local organising committee in charge of the region had been informed about the car, which was found slightly damaged after an accident, but no one had turned up to retrieve it.
The police say they are currently not clear about whom to turn to, now that the organising committees had been dissolved.
The vehicle has, therefore, been left at the mercy of the weather at the bushy and open garage of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Takoradi Central Police.
It has its right front fender mangled and the left side completely peeled off, exposing the front left tyre and the airbag. However, it is intact at the rear, with minor scratches on the door.
When contacted, a former employee at the administrative office of the LOC in Sekondi, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the vehicle had been detailed to accompany a bus to pick officials and players of the Namibian national team to play the Ivorian side at Essipon. But on its way to the airport, it had an accident in front of the offices of the InterCity/STC Coaches Company.
Asked why no action was taken, he said they received a notice from the police to come for the vehicle but since the LOC had been dissolved there was little he could do about it.
“I have informed the officer in charge of transport and he said he would have to inform the Castle, but for almost a year now there is nothing going on and the vehicle is still there at the mercy of the weather,” he added.
Asked again if the vehicle had been insured, he said he could not tell.

REMOVE THIS BILLBOARD ON FLIGHTWAY (PAGE 29, JANUARY 5)

Aviation experts and the Air Force Command have expressed concern about the threat of a tall billboard at West Tanokrom, which is located next to the Jubilee Park in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.
According to the experts, the said billboard is on a flight path and far above the required height of buildings permissible in the flight path, thus posing danger to flight safety.
The concern was raised as a result of the increase in air traffic on the Accra-Takoradi route due to the oil discovery in the region.
The command has not yet been successful at getting the advertiser and the advertising agency in charge of the erected billboard to pull the structure down to avert any calamity.
When the Daily Graphic visited the area, it found out that the said billboard was taller than any other building on the flight path.
Much as corporate bodies and individuals are at liberty to legitimately undertake economic activities to earn some income under the Constitution of Ghana, there is the need to ensure that such activities are carried out with circumspection.
Under Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution (Article 24, Clause (1) , “Every person has the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions, and shall receive equal pay for equal work without distinction of any kind”.
The economic activities of one party should not in any way pose a threat to other members of the society.
It is interesting that the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has a whole outfit in charge of billboards and all other forms of outdoor advertisement, but it beats one’s imagination as to why the advertising agency was allowed to erect the said billboard on the flight path without due regard to safety regulations.
In the event of any disaster, not only will the aircraft be damaged but lives and property in the area as well may be lost.
There are many instances in which billboards have been pulled down by a slight rainstorm and up to date STMA’s department in charge of advertisements has not taken the initiative to find out whether those the Assembly has granted permits to erect billboards have done so in accordance with the Assembly’s regulations.
In Clause (4) of the same Article 24 of the Constitution, it is stated that “Restrictions shall not be placed on the exercise of the right conferred by Clause (3) of this article, except restrictions prescribed by law and reasonably necessary in the interest of national security or public order or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
It is, therefore, important that the Assembly and other regulatory organisations move in to ensure that the rights of other members of the public were not trampled upon as a result of the negligence of other members of the society.
Flight experts have expressed the need for a bigger airport for Takoradi but noted that that is an expensive venture for the country at the moment.
Therefore, the location of the Ghana Air Force, which has maintained the Takoradi Airport till now is very strategic and commendable.
They are of the view that there are many structures which could affect flight safety when the aircraft is moving below a certain height above the ground.
To them, the best thing to do at the moment is to ensure that people who are putting up structures on the flight path are advised to keep within a certain space limit to avoid obstruction of flights.
The experts again say there are other objects or structures that could adversely affect flights, including construction cranes near an airport, newly constructed buildings, and new towers and have therefore advised those with the intention to build houses in areas around the Takoradi Airport to seek advice.
It is the hope of this reporter that the authorities would not wait for a disaster to occur before the necessary precautions are taken.
When contacted, the Takoradi Air Force Commander, Air Commodore Michael Samson-Oje, said the height of the said billboard was not permissible on the flight path.
He, therefore, urged the agency responsible to either relocate it or reduce its height.
When contacted, the head of Public Relations at the STMA said they were very mindful of the need to ensure the safety of the people.
“The department in charge of that would move immediately to ensure that the right thing is done,” he said.