FINANCIAL institutions have been urged to support the efforts of the Central Bank in educating the public on the use of financial products, such as the e-zwich to inject more dynamism in the country’s financial sector.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem in the Western Region, Ms Gifty E. Kusi, who made the call, said there was the need for all financial institutions to ensure that the use of biometrics technology (e-zwich) launched recently by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) covered every aspect of their operations.
The MP was speaking at the launch of the Tarkwa branch of Stanbic Bank Ghana.
She said aside of the BoG’s moves to make banking easy for the public, it was important for financial institutions in the country also to design products that would complement the efforts of the Central Bank.
Ms Kusi said apart from the educated few, there were many illiterate or semi-literate people in the society, so it was the duty of the financial sector to take this into consideration when designing products.
“Concerted efforts must be made to reverse the declining trends in the level of savings, as more than 75 per cent of total currency issued by the BoG is outside the banking sector,” the MP stated, adding that the situation did not augur well for the country.
She said it was not good that a large pool of funds was circulating outside the formal financial system and added that there should be more innovative products such as the e-zwich to avoid people continuing to keep their incomes under their beds and metal boxes or burying it underground.
Ms Kusi said during fire outbreaks in the various markets recently, many market women lost a chunk of their capital through the disaster and reiterated her call on financial institutions to consider the informal sector when designing products for the public.
“There are many benefits in saving money at the banks to ensure that in case of any disaster, people would not lose everything,” Ms Kusi emphasised.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
VULNERABLE NEED PROTECTION (PAGE 29)
LUNATICS and the destitute are the most vulnerable in every society and it is the duty of governments, religious and other civic groups and the society in general to give them protection.
The destitute are kept in rehabilitation centres or homes and those who have lost their memories are taken to psychiatric homes for proper care.
The absence of these centres to cater for the numerous destitute and lunatics in the twin-City of Sekondi -Takoradi has seen an increase in the number of the vulnerable in the society on the streets.
The sad aspect is that some of the lunatics walk straight to food vendors to demand food from them.
They are found at street corners with their dirty and worn out cloths and empty cans as their drinking cups and plates for food.
While some keep their surroundings clean, others litter everywhere they find themselves.
The metropolis headed by Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, is one of the best places one could be.
But at every corner one goes in the metropolis he or she finds one or two lunatics either sleeping or acting in a way that could best be described as dangerous to members of the society.
Before the kick off of the Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008, the then Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) now the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) gave a promise to keep the lunatics off the streets, but nothing has been done about it.
The lunatics and destitute use abandoned buildings or street corners in the metropolis as their places of abode. Some of them find classrooms and school compounds comfortable after school hours especially during rainy days.
The situation is getting out of hand as such something must be done to keep the lunatics and destitute off the streets since a lot of attention is currently on the twin-city which is a tourism destination.
It is unfair that as efforts are being made to develop more tourism sites, lunatics are turning themselves into negative tourist attractions .
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the STMA, Mr John Laste, said the situation had come to the notice of the assembly.
“Our plan is to relocate the vulnerable and the destitute. The assembly is seriously working around the clock to create a reception centre for them at a place near Shama,” he said.
He said one of the sad and serious aspects of the situation was whereas the assembly was ready to help it had difficulty locating their families.
“That is not to say that we cannot pick them from the street, screen them and send them to psychiatric homes, our only problem is that, when these our unfortunate brothers and sisters are sent to those homes and are cured, the final advice the doctors give is that they should be engaged in order not to relax their minds,” he said.
“But I can tell you on authority that before the Ghana 2008 tournament started we took some lunatic to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, some were cured, and the families located, but they were rejected few days later and had to go back to the streets of the metropolis,” he said.
Asked if they had been able to find out how those lunatics made their way to the metropolis, he said: “I don’t have empirical evidence to support what I will say, but the issue is that some travel by foot after they had escaped from Ankaful, this is because there are some here that we sent there but they are back in the metropolis.
“That is not to say that we have given up on them, we are still deliberating on how to keep them off the street and at our meetings they feature prominently,” Mr Laste stressed.
With the plight of the destitute, religious groups should be guided by the natural laws that speak of our duty to protect the vulnerable in the society. This duty takes precedence even over our religious practices.
It is the hope of the writer that as they wait for the help from the assembly, help would come from the religious groups in and outside the metropolis.
The destitute are kept in rehabilitation centres or homes and those who have lost their memories are taken to psychiatric homes for proper care.
The absence of these centres to cater for the numerous destitute and lunatics in the twin-City of Sekondi -Takoradi has seen an increase in the number of the vulnerable in the society on the streets.
The sad aspect is that some of the lunatics walk straight to food vendors to demand food from them.
They are found at street corners with their dirty and worn out cloths and empty cans as their drinking cups and plates for food.
While some keep their surroundings clean, others litter everywhere they find themselves.
The metropolis headed by Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, is one of the best places one could be.
But at every corner one goes in the metropolis he or she finds one or two lunatics either sleeping or acting in a way that could best be described as dangerous to members of the society.
Before the kick off of the Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008, the then Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) now the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) gave a promise to keep the lunatics off the streets, but nothing has been done about it.
The lunatics and destitute use abandoned buildings or street corners in the metropolis as their places of abode. Some of them find classrooms and school compounds comfortable after school hours especially during rainy days.
The situation is getting out of hand as such something must be done to keep the lunatics and destitute off the streets since a lot of attention is currently on the twin-city which is a tourism destination.
It is unfair that as efforts are being made to develop more tourism sites, lunatics are turning themselves into negative tourist attractions .
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the STMA, Mr John Laste, said the situation had come to the notice of the assembly.
“Our plan is to relocate the vulnerable and the destitute. The assembly is seriously working around the clock to create a reception centre for them at a place near Shama,” he said.
He said one of the sad and serious aspects of the situation was whereas the assembly was ready to help it had difficulty locating their families.
“That is not to say that we cannot pick them from the street, screen them and send them to psychiatric homes, our only problem is that, when these our unfortunate brothers and sisters are sent to those homes and are cured, the final advice the doctors give is that they should be engaged in order not to relax their minds,” he said.
“But I can tell you on authority that before the Ghana 2008 tournament started we took some lunatic to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, some were cured, and the families located, but they were rejected few days later and had to go back to the streets of the metropolis,” he said.
Asked if they had been able to find out how those lunatics made their way to the metropolis, he said: “I don’t have empirical evidence to support what I will say, but the issue is that some travel by foot after they had escaped from Ankaful, this is because there are some here that we sent there but they are back in the metropolis.
“That is not to say that we have given up on them, we are still deliberating on how to keep them off the street and at our meetings they feature prominently,” Mr Laste stressed.
With the plight of the destitute, religious groups should be guided by the natural laws that speak of our duty to protect the vulnerable in the society. This duty takes precedence even over our religious practices.
It is the hope of the writer that as they wait for the help from the assembly, help would come from the religious groups in and outside the metropolis.
ECG REPLACES OLD METERS (PAGE 29)
THE Western Regional office of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is replacing the existing meters in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis with a more advanced electro-cash prepaid meters.
This new system is not going down well with the public, since it has a means of checking waste in the system by ensuring the demand side management mechanism to place the consumers in control of their daily consumption.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Mr Adjei Larbi, the new meter would guarantee a more efficient usage of power by customers.
He explained that with the demand side management side of the new meter, it would be very difficult for anybody to cheat the system.
“Mostly, what happens with the old meter is that people try cheating the system by connecting power from the load side, thereby diverting energy that should have passed through the meter. But with the new meter, there is a censoring mechanism that once the customer tampers with the power on the load side it will cut supply to the said customer automatically,” he said.
The interesting part when operating the new meter, he said, was that apart from the officials of the ECG, no other person could touch it. “Therefore if the customer tries to cheat the system, supply will cut until he or she reports to our office for the situation to be rectified.”
Mr Larbi said there was a lot of waste in the system, and therefore, if customers were in control and decided when and how to switch their power on and off it would prolong their credit.
The PRO said the exercise would take about nine months to complete in Takoradi from where they would move to other parts of the metropolis.
He said one of the difficulties they faced in their quest to change the meters was public support.
“We have been serving them with the old meter for so long and it is just fair that when we are going to switch to a more advanced technology, we prompt our customers through various public forums, but only a few people attended those forums we organised for them,” he said.
“I must say that with that we are very disappointed because, before we organised the forums we went round, educated our customers and gathered information on when it would be appropriate for the forums to be held and we organised the forums based on the feedback we got from the field but the patronage was very poor,” he said.
He said even though patronage was low the regional office had set up customer care desks at the office for those who were having difficulties with their meters and that had so far proved to be helping greatly.
Mr Larbi urged the customers to take their time to acquaint themselves with the features on the device.
“It prompts you when you need to recharge, how much money you have left in Ghana Cedis and how many days you have, therefore, you are in total control of your own consumption.”
“On the meter, if the display shows 25 then you have a balance of GH¢2.50 and the days are estimated in hours and calculated from the customer’s average consumption over a 24-hour period using the tariff applicable at the point of consumption,” he said.
That aside, he said, the new meter would also avert the problems landlords faced with their tenants over unpaid electricity bills, “because, with the new device, there is no disconnection, no estimated bills, and tenants will not move out leaving behind unpaid bills.
“Finally, I will like to advice those whose meters have not yet been changed to settle their bills because there will be a final reading at the point of change and programmed into the system and if that amount is not settled, there is no way the vending machine will accept the customer’s smart loading card,” he advised.
This new system is not going down well with the public, since it has a means of checking waste in the system by ensuring the demand side management mechanism to place the consumers in control of their daily consumption.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Mr Adjei Larbi, the new meter would guarantee a more efficient usage of power by customers.
He explained that with the demand side management side of the new meter, it would be very difficult for anybody to cheat the system.
“Mostly, what happens with the old meter is that people try cheating the system by connecting power from the load side, thereby diverting energy that should have passed through the meter. But with the new meter, there is a censoring mechanism that once the customer tampers with the power on the load side it will cut supply to the said customer automatically,” he said.
The interesting part when operating the new meter, he said, was that apart from the officials of the ECG, no other person could touch it. “Therefore if the customer tries to cheat the system, supply will cut until he or she reports to our office for the situation to be rectified.”
Mr Larbi said there was a lot of waste in the system, and therefore, if customers were in control and decided when and how to switch their power on and off it would prolong their credit.
The PRO said the exercise would take about nine months to complete in Takoradi from where they would move to other parts of the metropolis.
He said one of the difficulties they faced in their quest to change the meters was public support.
“We have been serving them with the old meter for so long and it is just fair that when we are going to switch to a more advanced technology, we prompt our customers through various public forums, but only a few people attended those forums we organised for them,” he said.
“I must say that with that we are very disappointed because, before we organised the forums we went round, educated our customers and gathered information on when it would be appropriate for the forums to be held and we organised the forums based on the feedback we got from the field but the patronage was very poor,” he said.
He said even though patronage was low the regional office had set up customer care desks at the office for those who were having difficulties with their meters and that had so far proved to be helping greatly.
Mr Larbi urged the customers to take their time to acquaint themselves with the features on the device.
“It prompts you when you need to recharge, how much money you have left in Ghana Cedis and how many days you have, therefore, you are in total control of your own consumption.”
“On the meter, if the display shows 25 then you have a balance of GH¢2.50 and the days are estimated in hours and calculated from the customer’s average consumption over a 24-hour period using the tariff applicable at the point of consumption,” he said.
That aside, he said, the new meter would also avert the problems landlords faced with their tenants over unpaid electricity bills, “because, with the new device, there is no disconnection, no estimated bills, and tenants will not move out leaving behind unpaid bills.
“Finally, I will like to advice those whose meters have not yet been changed to settle their bills because there will be a final reading at the point of change and programmed into the system and if that amount is not settled, there is no way the vending machine will accept the customer’s smart loading card,” he advised.
DVLA DESCENDS ON DRIVING SCHOOLS (PAGE 29)
THE Western Regional Office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Division (DVLA) is preparing to clamp down on all driving schools operating in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis which have not regularised their operations.
According to the officials, none of the schools have registered with the DVLA as required by law.
The Regional Manager, Reverend Oduro Twum, said even the manner in which motorists drive in the metropolis was evident that everything was wrong with the system.
He said under normal circumstances, driving schools were supposed to provide the perfect platform for new learners to be abreast of all regulations to avert the chaos on the roads but rather the opposite prevailed.
“We don’t want to be harsh on the schools, therefore, we invite them and caution them to regularise their operation and ensure that the right things are done,” he said.
Driving schools play very important roles in the education of the public on what pertains on the roads. You will be driving in the metropolis especially at roundabouts, and a vehicle outside the roundabout will enter it with speed and expect that the one in the roundabout stopped for him or her,” he said.
That aside, he said, on the dual carriage roads “it is interesting to see both commercial and private vehicles driving slowly in the speed lane and one is sometimes forced to overtake them in the wrong lane.”
The regional DVLA boss said sometimes owners of the driving schools came to the authority’s offices to ask for learners which under normal circumstances, was not proper.
A proper driving school should have vehicles with dual pedal system, at least two trained instructors, spacious classroom for more than 30 learners, registered with DVLA, enough learning materials, engine parts and their identifiable location,” he said.
“We insist that they should register with us so that we can visit them from time to time and bring them to order when they are going wrong and also to have access to them when we have training programmes for them.”
He, therefore, used the opportunity to advise the public to patronise the services of certified driving schools to ensure that they did not only get their money’s worth but also became responsible and defensive drivers.
According to the officials, none of the schools have registered with the DVLA as required by law.
The Regional Manager, Reverend Oduro Twum, said even the manner in which motorists drive in the metropolis was evident that everything was wrong with the system.
He said under normal circumstances, driving schools were supposed to provide the perfect platform for new learners to be abreast of all regulations to avert the chaos on the roads but rather the opposite prevailed.
“We don’t want to be harsh on the schools, therefore, we invite them and caution them to regularise their operation and ensure that the right things are done,” he said.
Driving schools play very important roles in the education of the public on what pertains on the roads. You will be driving in the metropolis especially at roundabouts, and a vehicle outside the roundabout will enter it with speed and expect that the one in the roundabout stopped for him or her,” he said.
That aside, he said, on the dual carriage roads “it is interesting to see both commercial and private vehicles driving slowly in the speed lane and one is sometimes forced to overtake them in the wrong lane.”
The regional DVLA boss said sometimes owners of the driving schools came to the authority’s offices to ask for learners which under normal circumstances, was not proper.
A proper driving school should have vehicles with dual pedal system, at least two trained instructors, spacious classroom for more than 30 learners, registered with DVLA, enough learning materials, engine parts and their identifiable location,” he said.
“We insist that they should register with us so that we can visit them from time to time and bring them to order when they are going wrong and also to have access to them when we have training programmes for them.”
He, therefore, used the opportunity to advise the public to patronise the services of certified driving schools to ensure that they did not only get their money’s worth but also became responsible and defensive drivers.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
SHAMA NPP SUPPORTERS PROTEST AGAINST MP (PAGE 17)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Shama
Supporters of the New Patriotic Party in the Shama Constituency yesterday took to the streets of Shama, the newly created district in the Western Region, to protest against what they called the imposition of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Madam Angelina Baiden-Amissah, on them.
This followed the disqualification of one of the candidates, Mr Samuel Erickson Abaka, whom the constituents preferred. The demonstrators marched through Shama, Abuasi and other communities in the district for more than four hours.
Mr Abaka presented himself for vetting but was disqualified on the ground of presenting fake membership card to the vetting committee.
They accused the incumbent of bulldozing her way to the top, disregarding the constituency executive to the extent of campaigning long before she was vetted or endorsed by the constituency executive.
The supporters said if the party failed to reverse the proclamation of the incumbent MP, they would encourage Mr Abaka to go solo and if he refused that, they would help vote the opposition to power come December 2008.
In a petition presented to the national executive of the party by the leader of the demonstrators, Mr S.K. Arthur Fosu, through the District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Amoah, said, “We the undersigned are all NPP polling station Chairmen and Executive members of the Shama Constituency and we have been told about the secret and unconstitutional acclamation of the incumbent as a candidate for the constituency”.
The DCE, appealing to them to be calm, promised to take the issue up to the highest level of the party and communicate the outcome to them shortly.
Mr Arthur Fosu told the Daily Graphic later that party officials did not show them any respect and that he did not understand why the constituency executive members were treated with such contempt.
“We are on the ground and we know who the people are looking for and the era of imposing candidates on constituents are over and even then, it is done with after-effects in mind,” he said.
However, Lawyer Abaka’s camp said they were not aware of what was happening at Shama and that they should not be linked to it.
They said the people of the constituency were defending what was right for them.
When contacted, the Regional Chairman, Nana Owusu-Ankomah, said it was a fact that Mr Abaka was disqualified when he failed to meet the requirement.
“He presented a fake membership card, which was signed by Nana Ohene Ntow at the time when he (Nana Ohene Ntow) was not the General Secretary of the party,” he said.
Nana Owusu-Ankomah said the vetting committee explained to Mr Abaka that his action was fraudulent and constituted criminal offence and that even his standing in the constituency was questionable.
“As far as the party is Concerned, vetting leading to the selection of the candidate for the Shama constituency is over, and Madam Baiden-Amissah has been selected to partner Nana Akuffo-Addo, the presidential candidate for the NPP, to retain the party in power come December 2008,” he said.
He, however, called on the members to follow the necessary channels to ensure that the image of the party was not tarnished.
Supporters of the New Patriotic Party in the Shama Constituency yesterday took to the streets of Shama, the newly created district in the Western Region, to protest against what they called the imposition of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Madam Angelina Baiden-Amissah, on them.
This followed the disqualification of one of the candidates, Mr Samuel Erickson Abaka, whom the constituents preferred. The demonstrators marched through Shama, Abuasi and other communities in the district for more than four hours.
Mr Abaka presented himself for vetting but was disqualified on the ground of presenting fake membership card to the vetting committee.
They accused the incumbent of bulldozing her way to the top, disregarding the constituency executive to the extent of campaigning long before she was vetted or endorsed by the constituency executive.
The supporters said if the party failed to reverse the proclamation of the incumbent MP, they would encourage Mr Abaka to go solo and if he refused that, they would help vote the opposition to power come December 2008.
In a petition presented to the national executive of the party by the leader of the demonstrators, Mr S.K. Arthur Fosu, through the District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Amoah, said, “We the undersigned are all NPP polling station Chairmen and Executive members of the Shama Constituency and we have been told about the secret and unconstitutional acclamation of the incumbent as a candidate for the constituency”.
The DCE, appealing to them to be calm, promised to take the issue up to the highest level of the party and communicate the outcome to them shortly.
Mr Arthur Fosu told the Daily Graphic later that party officials did not show them any respect and that he did not understand why the constituency executive members were treated with such contempt.
“We are on the ground and we know who the people are looking for and the era of imposing candidates on constituents are over and even then, it is done with after-effects in mind,” he said.
However, Lawyer Abaka’s camp said they were not aware of what was happening at Shama and that they should not be linked to it.
They said the people of the constituency were defending what was right for them.
When contacted, the Regional Chairman, Nana Owusu-Ankomah, said it was a fact that Mr Abaka was disqualified when he failed to meet the requirement.
“He presented a fake membership card, which was signed by Nana Ohene Ntow at the time when he (Nana Ohene Ntow) was not the General Secretary of the party,” he said.
Nana Owusu-Ankomah said the vetting committee explained to Mr Abaka that his action was fraudulent and constituted criminal offence and that even his standing in the constituency was questionable.
“As far as the party is Concerned, vetting leading to the selection of the candidate for the Shama constituency is over, and Madam Baiden-Amissah has been selected to partner Nana Akuffo-Addo, the presidential candidate for the NPP, to retain the party in power come December 2008,” he said.
He, however, called on the members to follow the necessary channels to ensure that the image of the party was not tarnished.
TWO EX-CONVICTS CAUGHT STEALING SHEEP (BACK PAGE)
Picture & Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Two ex-convicts who just came out of jail for stealing 200 cattle in the Nzema East District are back in police grip for another stealing offence.
They were arrested in the early hours of yesterday with four stolen sheep in a taxicab en-route to the Esiama market.
The suspects — Francis Kwame, 39, and Kwamena Issa, 24 — told the police that they stole the sheep after their attempt to rob the stores of Adamus Resources, a new mining company in the district, had failed.
They said they were unable to rob the company due to the high security measures in place, so they decided to move to the nearby communities to steal some animals to sell.
They managed to get four sheep and on their way to the Esiama market, the police, acting on a tip-off, intercepted and arrested them.
When contacted, the acting District Police Commander for Axim, DSP Peter Ndekugrie, said the two contacted a taxi driver to help them execute “a moving business” in the early hours of yesterday.
He said the said taxi driver, who happens to be a friend of the police, approached them for advice.
“We then went to plead with the owner of the taxicab to allow his driver to undertake the contract under police protection,” he said.
He said the arrangement went on as scheduled and at about 10 p.m. the police officers in plain clothes followed the taxi to Adamus Resources.
DSP Ndekugrie, who is also the Mobile Force Commander, said after the foiled attempt at Adamus Resources, Issa and Kwame took the taxi driver to Axim, where they got down and returned with four sheep.
He said the police, who were then tracking the taxi, gave them a chase and upon realising danger, Issa and Kwame started throwing the animals out of the moving vehicle.
The unit commander said the police team managed to overtake them and arrested them. He commended the taxi driver and asked others to learn from him.
Two ex-convicts who just came out of jail for stealing 200 cattle in the Nzema East District are back in police grip for another stealing offence.
They were arrested in the early hours of yesterday with four stolen sheep in a taxicab en-route to the Esiama market.
The suspects — Francis Kwame, 39, and Kwamena Issa, 24 — told the police that they stole the sheep after their attempt to rob the stores of Adamus Resources, a new mining company in the district, had failed.
They said they were unable to rob the company due to the high security measures in place, so they decided to move to the nearby communities to steal some animals to sell.
They managed to get four sheep and on their way to the Esiama market, the police, acting on a tip-off, intercepted and arrested them.
When contacted, the acting District Police Commander for Axim, DSP Peter Ndekugrie, said the two contacted a taxi driver to help them execute “a moving business” in the early hours of yesterday.
He said the said taxi driver, who happens to be a friend of the police, approached them for advice.
“We then went to plead with the owner of the taxicab to allow his driver to undertake the contract under police protection,” he said.
He said the arrangement went on as scheduled and at about 10 p.m. the police officers in plain clothes followed the taxi to Adamus Resources.
DSP Ndekugrie, who is also the Mobile Force Commander, said after the foiled attempt at Adamus Resources, Issa and Kwame took the taxi driver to Axim, where they got down and returned with four sheep.
He said the police, who were then tracking the taxi, gave them a chase and upon realising danger, Issa and Kwame started throwing the animals out of the moving vehicle.
The unit commander said the police team managed to overtake them and arrested them. He commended the taxi driver and asked others to learn from him.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
PUBLIC INTRUSION THWARTS RESCUE MISSIONS IN SEKONDI/TAKORADI (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
RESCUE service providers in the Western Region, especially in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area (STMA), have expressed dissatisfaction at the intrusion of the public in their operations.
They complained about the obstruction of roads by onlookers during emergency situations, such as fire outbreaks and vehicular accidents.
Those who suffer most from this public intrusion are the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ambulance Service and the police.
It is a fact that during fire outbreaks, road traffic and other domestic accidents adrenalin run high; everybody wants to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Normally, every country has emergency telephone lines to get in touch with rescue service providers in the event of fire outbreaks, accidents and other emergencies.
In Ghana, for instance, the emergency line for the Ghana Police Service is 191; the Ghana Fire and Rescue Service, 192, and 193 for the Ambulance Service.
If a distressed caller dials 191 to announce a road accident or fire outbreak, the police are supposed to move in to secure the crime scene to ensure that nobody tampers with the evidence and for the fire and ambulance services to do their work without any obstruction.
But during fire outbreaks or road traffic or even domestic accidents in the metropolis and other parts of the country, members of the public besiege the crime scene, making it difficult for the rescuers to conduct thorough investigations.
A typical example was when fire broke out on the Liberation Road in Takoradi on Monday. The crowd blocked the access route to where the fire was raging, making it difficult for the fire service personnel to move their vehicles freely.
At a point, some people stood on the hoses that were to supply water from the tenders to the source of the fire. This did not only frustrate the efforts of the fire fighters but also delayed the fire fighting and rescue operations.
The same could be said of similar fire outbreaks at the Takoradi Central Market more than a year ago and also recently at the Apremdu markets, Kumasi, Accra, among other places and towns.
During such situations, fire fighters at a point away had to plead with the people to move from the hoses to allow for the free flow of water to fight the fires. It was clear during last Monday’s fire outbreak on the Liberation Road that even though the police, the fire and ambulance services were up to the task, there was no co-ordination among them.
The police were at the scene, combat ready with AK47 riffles and positioned themselves far away from the fire scene. One expected the police to be able to control the crowd by any means necessary to ensure that nobody trespassed the restricted area to either distort evidence or frustrate the rescue operations.
There should be effective co-ordination between the fire, police and the ambulance services. The first thing the police should do is to secure the scene of the disaster as a first step for other rescue service providers and investigators to move in.
But interestingly, the police officers distance themselves from the scene of the accident or fire.
Fire fighters have to be shouting “give way, give way, and give way” in order to clear the intruding public to enable them do their work.
It is worrying to say that, the story at the scene on the liberation road pertains in every part of the country. It is important to remind the police that despite the fact that they are under resourced, it is their responsibility to block the roads to allow for free movement in emergency situations.
The fact is that if the basic containment is wrong, the rescue mission will not achieve any meaningful results.
To the experts, it was the duty of the police to prevent the general public, be it the residents, owners of properties engulfed in fire, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, even at a point, news men from the scene, since they tend to hamper the operations.
In situations like that they said, tact and courtesy must be deployed to keep them safe and away from harm or obstructing fire operations. It was rather sad to see the chief operations officer of the fire service in Takoradi,Mr Joseph Tameklo, acting as the commander of his squad and at the same time controlling the crowd.
He told the Daily Graphic after about 45 minutes of fighting fire that it was important to keep fire areas clear for fire fighting purposes since the equipment such as emergency, service and fire-fighting vehicles must have enough room to park, operate within, turn around, and even lay hoses for fire-fighting operations, among others.
Mr Tameklo said that was also to protect the equipment of the fire service and keep all ‘non-firefighters’ away.
Interestingly while the raging fire was being controlled media practitioners were calling the officers, who were busy to grant them interviews, when it was clear that the circumstance would not permit them to do so.
It is, therefore, very important that these essential units in the social life of the country work together to ensure that there is harmony in their service delivery so that during situations such as happened at the Liberation Road and other parts of the country the situation would be brought under control.
RESCUE service providers in the Western Region, especially in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area (STMA), have expressed dissatisfaction at the intrusion of the public in their operations.
They complained about the obstruction of roads by onlookers during emergency situations, such as fire outbreaks and vehicular accidents.
Those who suffer most from this public intrusion are the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ambulance Service and the police.
It is a fact that during fire outbreaks, road traffic and other domestic accidents adrenalin run high; everybody wants to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Normally, every country has emergency telephone lines to get in touch with rescue service providers in the event of fire outbreaks, accidents and other emergencies.
In Ghana, for instance, the emergency line for the Ghana Police Service is 191; the Ghana Fire and Rescue Service, 192, and 193 for the Ambulance Service.
If a distressed caller dials 191 to announce a road accident or fire outbreak, the police are supposed to move in to secure the crime scene to ensure that nobody tampers with the evidence and for the fire and ambulance services to do their work without any obstruction.
But during fire outbreaks or road traffic or even domestic accidents in the metropolis and other parts of the country, members of the public besiege the crime scene, making it difficult for the rescuers to conduct thorough investigations.
A typical example was when fire broke out on the Liberation Road in Takoradi on Monday. The crowd blocked the access route to where the fire was raging, making it difficult for the fire service personnel to move their vehicles freely.
At a point, some people stood on the hoses that were to supply water from the tenders to the source of the fire. This did not only frustrate the efforts of the fire fighters but also delayed the fire fighting and rescue operations.
The same could be said of similar fire outbreaks at the Takoradi Central Market more than a year ago and also recently at the Apremdu markets, Kumasi, Accra, among other places and towns.
During such situations, fire fighters at a point away had to plead with the people to move from the hoses to allow for the free flow of water to fight the fires. It was clear during last Monday’s fire outbreak on the Liberation Road that even though the police, the fire and ambulance services were up to the task, there was no co-ordination among them.
The police were at the scene, combat ready with AK47 riffles and positioned themselves far away from the fire scene. One expected the police to be able to control the crowd by any means necessary to ensure that nobody trespassed the restricted area to either distort evidence or frustrate the rescue operations.
There should be effective co-ordination between the fire, police and the ambulance services. The first thing the police should do is to secure the scene of the disaster as a first step for other rescue service providers and investigators to move in.
But interestingly, the police officers distance themselves from the scene of the accident or fire.
Fire fighters have to be shouting “give way, give way, and give way” in order to clear the intruding public to enable them do their work.
It is worrying to say that, the story at the scene on the liberation road pertains in every part of the country. It is important to remind the police that despite the fact that they are under resourced, it is their responsibility to block the roads to allow for free movement in emergency situations.
The fact is that if the basic containment is wrong, the rescue mission will not achieve any meaningful results.
To the experts, it was the duty of the police to prevent the general public, be it the residents, owners of properties engulfed in fire, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, even at a point, news men from the scene, since they tend to hamper the operations.
In situations like that they said, tact and courtesy must be deployed to keep them safe and away from harm or obstructing fire operations. It was rather sad to see the chief operations officer of the fire service in Takoradi,Mr Joseph Tameklo, acting as the commander of his squad and at the same time controlling the crowd.
He told the Daily Graphic after about 45 minutes of fighting fire that it was important to keep fire areas clear for fire fighting purposes since the equipment such as emergency, service and fire-fighting vehicles must have enough room to park, operate within, turn around, and even lay hoses for fire-fighting operations, among others.
Mr Tameklo said that was also to protect the equipment of the fire service and keep all ‘non-firefighters’ away.
Interestingly while the raging fire was being controlled media practitioners were calling the officers, who were busy to grant them interviews, when it was clear that the circumstance would not permit them to do so.
It is, therefore, very important that these essential units in the social life of the country work together to ensure that there is harmony in their service delivery so that during situations such as happened at the Liberation Road and other parts of the country the situation would be brought under control.
Monday, May 26, 2008
17 ARRESTED FOR POLLUTING RIVER PRA (BACK PAGE)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
SEVENTEEN people who allegedly engaged in illegal gold winning activities in the Pra River at Atwenboanda in the Mpohor-Wassa East District of the Western Region have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, whose ages range between 18 and 50, were said to be using cyanide and mercury in their quest to extract gold, thus polluting the river.
They are among a number of people whose activities have been described by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) as dangerous to the lives of thousands of people in the Shama and Mpohor-Wassa East and West districts, as well as the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis
One of their leaders, Alfred Ameglah, was among those arrested.
Equipment used for their activities, including unlicensed guns, were seized and the police are looking for three other leaders, whose names were only given as Godwin, Innocent and Kodze.
According to the Western Regional Police Commander, Mr M.A. Alhassan, the police and other members of the REGSEC moved in because the lives of the citizens were under a serious threat, adding that there was the need to take proactive measures instead of waiting for harm to be visited on the consumers.
He said 16 of those arrested confessed that they were recruited from various parts of the Volta Region by their leaders, including Ameglah, to engage in the illegal mining.
Mr Alhassan said the suspects would be arraigned for mining illegally and posing danger to the lives of people along the river.
He said arrangements were being made with the Western Naval Command to help remove ‘rigs’ mounted by the suspects on the river.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer of the GWCL in charge of the Western Region, Mr Sampson Ampah, said the illegal miners allegedly took permission from some chiefs with accompanying monetary rewards, before they were allowed to operate.
He said the water diversion walls constructed by the company in the middle of the river to redirect water flow to collection points had also been damaged by the illegal miners.
SEVENTEEN people who allegedly engaged in illegal gold winning activities in the Pra River at Atwenboanda in the Mpohor-Wassa East District of the Western Region have been arrested by the police.
The suspects, whose ages range between 18 and 50, were said to be using cyanide and mercury in their quest to extract gold, thus polluting the river.
They are among a number of people whose activities have been described by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) as dangerous to the lives of thousands of people in the Shama and Mpohor-Wassa East and West districts, as well as the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis
One of their leaders, Alfred Ameglah, was among those arrested.
Equipment used for their activities, including unlicensed guns, were seized and the police are looking for three other leaders, whose names were only given as Godwin, Innocent and Kodze.
According to the Western Regional Police Commander, Mr M.A. Alhassan, the police and other members of the REGSEC moved in because the lives of the citizens were under a serious threat, adding that there was the need to take proactive measures instead of waiting for harm to be visited on the consumers.
He said 16 of those arrested confessed that they were recruited from various parts of the Volta Region by their leaders, including Ameglah, to engage in the illegal mining.
Mr Alhassan said the suspects would be arraigned for mining illegally and posing danger to the lives of people along the river.
He said arrangements were being made with the Western Naval Command to help remove ‘rigs’ mounted by the suspects on the river.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer of the GWCL in charge of the Western Region, Mr Sampson Ampah, said the illegal miners allegedly took permission from some chiefs with accompanying monetary rewards, before they were allowed to operate.
He said the water diversion walls constructed by the company in the middle of the river to redirect water flow to collection points had also been damaged by the illegal miners.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
BRENYA & SONS BOOK DEPOT GUTTED BY FIRS (PAGE 55)
Story; Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
A One-storey building housing the wholesale outlet of Brenya & Sons Book and Stationery Depot in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis in the Western Region caught fire last Monday night, destroying book stocks estimated to cost thousands of Ghana Cedis.
The belongings of occupants of the first floor of the building were also destroyed by the fire.
The fire was believed to have been caused as a result of power fluctuations in the area.
It took firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service, the Air Force and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority about 45 minutes to control it.
The caretaker of the depot, who was called to the scene, after helplessly watching the fire destroy stocks of books that had been delivered to the warehouse just three days earlier, collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
Due to the many exposed bare cables in the building, the firemen could not immediately spray water on the burning building and so called the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to cut off power supply to the area.
The fire fighters, led by the Chief Operations Officer of the regional fire station, Mr Joseph Tamakloe, was able to rescue the residents on the top floor.
He said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.
An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that whilst on the top floor, she saw smoke coming out of the ground floor and in no time flames developed.
She said fortunately, a fire service officer who had then closed from work chanced upon the fire and immediately called firemen at his office, who arrived promptly.
A One-storey building housing the wholesale outlet of Brenya & Sons Book and Stationery Depot in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis in the Western Region caught fire last Monday night, destroying book stocks estimated to cost thousands of Ghana Cedis.
The belongings of occupants of the first floor of the building were also destroyed by the fire.
The fire was believed to have been caused as a result of power fluctuations in the area.
It took firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service, the Air Force and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority about 45 minutes to control it.
The caretaker of the depot, who was called to the scene, after helplessly watching the fire destroy stocks of books that had been delivered to the warehouse just three days earlier, collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
Due to the many exposed bare cables in the building, the firemen could not immediately spray water on the burning building and so called the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to cut off power supply to the area.
The fire fighters, led by the Chief Operations Officer of the regional fire station, Mr Joseph Tamakloe, was able to rescue the residents on the top floor.
He said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.
An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that whilst on the top floor, she saw smoke coming out of the ground floor and in no time flames developed.
She said fortunately, a fire service officer who had then closed from work chanced upon the fire and immediately called firemen at his office, who arrived promptly.
WATER RETAILERS UNDERMIND AQUA VITENS OPERATIONS (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Activities of some water retailers and washing bay operators in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis are undermining the efforts of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, who are acting for and on behalf of the Ghana Water Company to improve the company’s services of their customers in the metropolis.
Some washing bay operators cut the service lines to legitimate customers and divert the water to their storage facilities.
At Sekondi, a woman who retails water in huge reservoirs was arrested for diverting a line to enable her to fill her reservoirs without the water passing through the meter, thereby avoiding paying any bill on the water so drawn into her reservoirs.
The act, which she normally does in the evening, was uncovered when she forgot to reconnect the line to the meter after the diversion before the arrival of the Loss Control team of the company at her place.
At Kojokrom, also in the metropolis, a customer was also arrested for diversion.
The Regional Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Sampson Ampah, said such activities were seriously having effect on their work, as well as their quest to make their services available to customers.
“We have just arrested four young men who have cut the service line of some customers at Esikafoamba Ntem in Takoradi for destroying the company’s service line and using it for their car-washing business,” he said.
Mr Ampah said the customers on the said service line always complained to the officials of the company and so a Loss Control team was dispatched to the area to investigate.
“Upon investigations, it came out that these four young men had channelled the water, using huge containers to store it for their business, thereby depriving the customers of our services,” the PRO said.
To curb the situation, he said even though they had a loss control team that was doing great work, information from the public about these activities of some unscrupulous members of the public, who always want to find a way of cheating the system, would go a long way to help salvage the situation.
About the intermittent cut in their supply, Mr Ampah said that could be attributed to power outages.
He explained that when the machines were running and the power went off, the pressure reduces and when power was restored, the process would have to start all over again and that took time.
To arrest the situation, the public relations officer assured the consumers that Aqua Vitens was in serious talks with the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to help provide them with privilege service such that even when there was a power outage, the machines could still pump water.
He, therefore, used the opportunity to appeal to the unscrupulous members of society to ensure that service lines to customers were left to those who had legally applied for their services.
“Our Loss Control Unit are out there and would make sure that everything possible is done to ensure that the activities of those who want to cheat the system are halted,” he cautioned.
Activities of some water retailers and washing bay operators in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis are undermining the efforts of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, who are acting for and on behalf of the Ghana Water Company to improve the company’s services of their customers in the metropolis.
Some washing bay operators cut the service lines to legitimate customers and divert the water to their storage facilities.
At Sekondi, a woman who retails water in huge reservoirs was arrested for diverting a line to enable her to fill her reservoirs without the water passing through the meter, thereby avoiding paying any bill on the water so drawn into her reservoirs.
The act, which she normally does in the evening, was uncovered when she forgot to reconnect the line to the meter after the diversion before the arrival of the Loss Control team of the company at her place.
At Kojokrom, also in the metropolis, a customer was also arrested for diversion.
The Regional Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Sampson Ampah, said such activities were seriously having effect on their work, as well as their quest to make their services available to customers.
“We have just arrested four young men who have cut the service line of some customers at Esikafoamba Ntem in Takoradi for destroying the company’s service line and using it for their car-washing business,” he said.
Mr Ampah said the customers on the said service line always complained to the officials of the company and so a Loss Control team was dispatched to the area to investigate.
“Upon investigations, it came out that these four young men had channelled the water, using huge containers to store it for their business, thereby depriving the customers of our services,” the PRO said.
To curb the situation, he said even though they had a loss control team that was doing great work, information from the public about these activities of some unscrupulous members of the public, who always want to find a way of cheating the system, would go a long way to help salvage the situation.
About the intermittent cut in their supply, Mr Ampah said that could be attributed to power outages.
He explained that when the machines were running and the power went off, the pressure reduces and when power was restored, the process would have to start all over again and that took time.
To arrest the situation, the public relations officer assured the consumers that Aqua Vitens was in serious talks with the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to help provide them with privilege service such that even when there was a power outage, the machines could still pump water.
He, therefore, used the opportunity to appeal to the unscrupulous members of society to ensure that service lines to customers were left to those who had legally applied for their services.
“Our Loss Control Unit are out there and would make sure that everything possible is done to ensure that the activities of those who want to cheat the system are halted,” he cautioned.
DUMPING OF REFUSE RESUMES ALONG BEACHES (PAGE 29)
STORY: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Prior to the Ghana 2008 football tournament, dumping of human waste in one of the communities close to the venue of the tournament became an issue and the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly promised to relocate the site to a more acceptable place to avert embarrassment.
The authorities managed to do just that for sometime, but at the moment dumping of human waste at parts of the beaches of Essipon and Enyensia has resumed in earnest.
The drivers of sewerage tankers, mainly from private waste management companies, the police and the prisons services, continue to use these places as dumping sites. The dumping produces a very bad stench that greets any visitor who enters the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis through Essipon.
Aside that, it also sends this bad odour to the Essipon and Enyensia communities, depending on the direction of the wind on the day of dumping. The residents have complained many times but nothing has been done to stop the dumping.
Due to the existence of the Bosomtwe Sam Fishing Harbour and the home port of the Western Naval Command in Sekondi, the shores of Enyensia and Essipon are relatively calm and so in the afternoons, children from the Enyensia community go to swim in the portion of the sea there.
And depending on the direction of the tide during the dumping of the waste, it is carried together with some particles to where these children swim.
The artisanal fishermen along the shore say they would not complain any longer because nothing had been done about their previous numerous complaints.
“We hope and pray that one day it would be moved from there to make us free from the air pollution,” they said.
Also, some people in the Enyensia community, especially children, ignore the place of convenience in their community and still defecate at the beach.
Asked why they prefer the beach to the toilet, some say they love the “free range” where they enjoy the sea breeze while they respond to the call of nature and this practice could be said to be a mark of communities along the coast.
When the Assembly was contacted as to why they could not stop the dumping of sewage in the Essipon and Enyensia communities months after the tournament, it said a site acquired about 10 years ago at Essipon for the dumping of sewage had unfortunately been resold to some residents.
According to the Public Affairs Directorate of the Assembly, the problem would soon be solved when the Waste Management project site at Sofokrom was completed.
Prior to the Ghana 2008 football tournament, dumping of human waste in one of the communities close to the venue of the tournament became an issue and the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly promised to relocate the site to a more acceptable place to avert embarrassment.
The authorities managed to do just that for sometime, but at the moment dumping of human waste at parts of the beaches of Essipon and Enyensia has resumed in earnest.
The drivers of sewerage tankers, mainly from private waste management companies, the police and the prisons services, continue to use these places as dumping sites. The dumping produces a very bad stench that greets any visitor who enters the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis through Essipon.
Aside that, it also sends this bad odour to the Essipon and Enyensia communities, depending on the direction of the wind on the day of dumping. The residents have complained many times but nothing has been done to stop the dumping.
Due to the existence of the Bosomtwe Sam Fishing Harbour and the home port of the Western Naval Command in Sekondi, the shores of Enyensia and Essipon are relatively calm and so in the afternoons, children from the Enyensia community go to swim in the portion of the sea there.
And depending on the direction of the tide during the dumping of the waste, it is carried together with some particles to where these children swim.
The artisanal fishermen along the shore say they would not complain any longer because nothing had been done about their previous numerous complaints.
“We hope and pray that one day it would be moved from there to make us free from the air pollution,” they said.
Also, some people in the Enyensia community, especially children, ignore the place of convenience in their community and still defecate at the beach.
Asked why they prefer the beach to the toilet, some say they love the “free range” where they enjoy the sea breeze while they respond to the call of nature and this practice could be said to be a mark of communities along the coast.
When the Assembly was contacted as to why they could not stop the dumping of sewage in the Essipon and Enyensia communities months after the tournament, it said a site acquired about 10 years ago at Essipon for the dumping of sewage had unfortunately been resold to some residents.
According to the Public Affairs Directorate of the Assembly, the problem would soon be solved when the Waste Management project site at Sofokrom was completed.
TAKORADI TRADERS RETURN TO THE STREETS (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Traders who were asked to leave the shoulders of the roads in the vicinity of the Takoradi Central Market for the Apremdo market have returned, resulting in congestion and obstruction of free flow of traffic around the market.
The move by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly was to decongest the central business district but the return of the traders, who did not find the market at Apremdo attractive, is undermining the efforts of the assembly.
Those who have agreed to do business at the Apremdo market have to battle with thieves because they neither have storage facilities nor security to protect their properties.
The sheds at the market are also in a bad shape and some of the market women have to use their own money to repair the roof while they claim they continue to pay their daily tolls to the Assembly.
The Public Affairs Manager of the Metropolitan Assembly, Mr John Laste, said the traders at the market had not been neglected except that the development of the Apremdo Market had been factored into that of the Central market at Takoradi.
“The Golden Jubilee Market project is going to cover Takoradi Central Market and the activities of the traders at Takoradi cannot be put on hold. We at the assembly have to find a way to ensure that they are still in business,” he said.
“Therefore, we have identified Apremdo Market as one of the strategic places to relocate the traders, so the contractor will first have to rehabilitate the market at Apremdo to contain the flow from Takoradi Central Market to pave the way for commencement of work on the new market in Takoradi.
He said there were serious meetings going on, and that the consultant had done the first presentation and the local investors were ready with the funds to support the project.
He said it was a fact that the traders at the Apremdo market were trading under very bad conditions, “but I can assure you we have to ensure that the rehabilitation works are done at once but not what will make life comfortable for the traders just in the interim.”
Mr Laste said the Sekondi market would also benefit form the works.
Traders who were asked to leave the shoulders of the roads in the vicinity of the Takoradi Central Market for the Apremdo market have returned, resulting in congestion and obstruction of free flow of traffic around the market.
The move by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly was to decongest the central business district but the return of the traders, who did not find the market at Apremdo attractive, is undermining the efforts of the assembly.
Those who have agreed to do business at the Apremdo market have to battle with thieves because they neither have storage facilities nor security to protect their properties.
The sheds at the market are also in a bad shape and some of the market women have to use their own money to repair the roof while they claim they continue to pay their daily tolls to the Assembly.
The Public Affairs Manager of the Metropolitan Assembly, Mr John Laste, said the traders at the market had not been neglected except that the development of the Apremdo Market had been factored into that of the Central market at Takoradi.
“The Golden Jubilee Market project is going to cover Takoradi Central Market and the activities of the traders at Takoradi cannot be put on hold. We at the assembly have to find a way to ensure that they are still in business,” he said.
“Therefore, we have identified Apremdo Market as one of the strategic places to relocate the traders, so the contractor will first have to rehabilitate the market at Apremdo to contain the flow from Takoradi Central Market to pave the way for commencement of work on the new market in Takoradi.
He said there were serious meetings going on, and that the consultant had done the first presentation and the local investors were ready with the funds to support the project.
He said it was a fact that the traders at the Apremdo market were trading under very bad conditions, “but I can assure you we have to ensure that the rehabilitation works are done at once but not what will make life comfortable for the traders just in the interim.”
Mr Laste said the Sekondi market would also benefit form the works.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
PROVIDE ZEBRA CROSSING SIGNS ON SEKONDI-TAKORADI ROADS (PAGE 30)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Motorists in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis have to grapple with faded zebra crossings at designated places.
A zebra crossing mainly comprises white and black stripes (like the colours of the zebra, hence the term zebra crossing) on the road, parallel to the flow of the traffic.
Due to the faded zebra crossings in the twin-city, drivers find it difficult to stop for pedestrians to cross the road, especially at night, because it is not visible enough for them to identify it at a distance.
While driving through the metropolis, one would find that most of the markings are not visible and other road signs as well are not in place.
On the way to Essipon, there is a fishing village called Enyensia, sandwiched by Essikado and Essipon, where, due to the good nature of the road, drivers speed ignoring the plight of the people in the community.
The Essipon Highway passes through the town to Sekondi, separating the beach from the rest of the town, and as a fishing community, residents daily cross the highway to and from the beach and this is dangerous, particularly for women and children.
There is only one zebra crossing there and this has faded, and from all indications, the people of this community badly need speed ramps and a visible zebra crossing.
The absence of the ramps and the zebra crossing, according to residents, compels them to wait for a long time, sometimes for more than 15 minutes, just to cross the road because of speeding vehicles whose drivers would not stop for them to cross even at the zebra crossing.
During the rounds by the news team, they stopped to ask some schoolchildren why they left the zebra crossing to cross at the undesignated places and they said, “When we stand at the crossing, the drivers don’t stop for us.”
Besides the faded zebra crossing, other road signs were virtually non-existent in the town and the situation is no different from other parts of the metropolis.
Motorists in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis have to grapple with faded zebra crossings at designated places.
A zebra crossing mainly comprises white and black stripes (like the colours of the zebra, hence the term zebra crossing) on the road, parallel to the flow of the traffic.
Due to the faded zebra crossings in the twin-city, drivers find it difficult to stop for pedestrians to cross the road, especially at night, because it is not visible enough for them to identify it at a distance.
While driving through the metropolis, one would find that most of the markings are not visible and other road signs as well are not in place.
On the way to Essipon, there is a fishing village called Enyensia, sandwiched by Essikado and Essipon, where, due to the good nature of the road, drivers speed ignoring the plight of the people in the community.
The Essipon Highway passes through the town to Sekondi, separating the beach from the rest of the town, and as a fishing community, residents daily cross the highway to and from the beach and this is dangerous, particularly for women and children.
There is only one zebra crossing there and this has faded, and from all indications, the people of this community badly need speed ramps and a visible zebra crossing.
The absence of the ramps and the zebra crossing, according to residents, compels them to wait for a long time, sometimes for more than 15 minutes, just to cross the road because of speeding vehicles whose drivers would not stop for them to cross even at the zebra crossing.
During the rounds by the news team, they stopped to ask some schoolchildren why they left the zebra crossing to cross at the undesignated places and they said, “When we stand at the crossing, the drivers don’t stop for us.”
Besides the faded zebra crossing, other road signs were virtually non-existent in the town and the situation is no different from other parts of the metropolis.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
MELODY FM HONOURS MOTHERS (PAGE 21)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
To honour responsible motherhood and to ensure that attention was drawn to the important role mothers play in the lives of their children, Melody 91.1 FM, a Takoradi-based radio station held a mothers day contest, in collaboration with the International Commercial Bank (ICB), to reward women.
In the contest, members of the general public were asked to write unforgettable memories about their mothers and how those memories had influenced their lives.
About 2,000 entries were received, out of which Madam Mary Arthur, a trader at the Takoradi Central Market, emerged the winner through the touching memories chronicled by her son, Felix Nana Amonoo of the Ghana Fire Service in Takoradi.
Madam Arthur received a double-door fridge-deep freezer and a GHC50 ICB bank account and Madam Elizabeth Mensah, the second place winner, took home a DVD player and a GHC50 ICB account.
The Events & Marketing Manager of Melody FM, Mr Albert Johnson, said mothers play a very important part in the upbringing of children and the move was to encourage responsible motherhood.
“If we encourage responsible motherhood, society will be better than it is now. The contest did not only focus on the entries as we also took the opportunity to educate the public on why mothers and women in general should be accorded maximum respect.”
He said the other three winners would spend a night at a guest house with full royal treatment. He thanked all the donors of the programme for their support.
To honour responsible motherhood and to ensure that attention was drawn to the important role mothers play in the lives of their children, Melody 91.1 FM, a Takoradi-based radio station held a mothers day contest, in collaboration with the International Commercial Bank (ICB), to reward women.
In the contest, members of the general public were asked to write unforgettable memories about their mothers and how those memories had influenced their lives.
About 2,000 entries were received, out of which Madam Mary Arthur, a trader at the Takoradi Central Market, emerged the winner through the touching memories chronicled by her son, Felix Nana Amonoo of the Ghana Fire Service in Takoradi.
Madam Arthur received a double-door fridge-deep freezer and a GHC50 ICB bank account and Madam Elizabeth Mensah, the second place winner, took home a DVD player and a GHC50 ICB account.
The Events & Marketing Manager of Melody FM, Mr Albert Johnson, said mothers play a very important part in the upbringing of children and the move was to encourage responsible motherhood.
“If we encourage responsible motherhood, society will be better than it is now. The contest did not only focus on the entries as we also took the opportunity to educate the public on why mothers and women in general should be accorded maximum respect.”
He said the other three winners would spend a night at a guest house with full royal treatment. He thanked all the donors of the programme for their support.
PROPAGATE NATIONAL ISSUES DEVOID OF POLITICS ...Asamoah Boateng advises information officers (PAGE 23)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, has urged the staff of the Information Services Department to ensure that government policies and national issues are propagated devoid of partisan politics.
He said as fellow compatriots, they were at liberty to engage in politics, which is their right.
“But it is dangerous if your work is clouded in party politics. You do your work as employees of the state and we the politicians will handle the political aspects at our levels,” he stressed.
Addressing officials of the department and some District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives (MMCEs) in Sekondi, the minister reminded them that they were first and foremost employees of the state and not the government.
He explained that governments were in transition and that the state was established and permanent and came before government.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng said the introduction of partisanship politics into workplaces would negatively affect important national issues that needed to go down well with the people, since the policies would be politicised, and would, therefore, not meet their intended purpose.
“It is, therefore, very important that you sell the good policies of whatever government in power to the people to ensure that the people are abreast of government policies and at the same time become the channel through which the government and other development agents could gather feedback to improve their performances,” he said.
“Politics is part of your work, you have to play it cautiously to ensure that good government polices are not coloured in a partisan manner,” the minister stressed.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng said his ministry was doing everything possible to ensure that the necessary working tools were made available to ensure that they did not encounter any difficulties in the discharge of their duties, adding, “the problems of fuel, maintenance and other logistics should not be your problem”.
He urged the MMDCEs to work closely with the information officers to ensure that the set targets were achieved.
The minister later interacted with the media practitioners and urged them to be circumspect in their reportage to ensure that undue tension was not created in the countryside.
“I am not to tell you what to do but your position as the forth estate can change the country for the better,” he emphasised.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah, also reminded them that communication was a two-way system, so as they reach out to the people, they should ensure that they came back with feedback.
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, has urged the staff of the Information Services Department to ensure that government policies and national issues are propagated devoid of partisan politics.
He said as fellow compatriots, they were at liberty to engage in politics, which is their right.
“But it is dangerous if your work is clouded in party politics. You do your work as employees of the state and we the politicians will handle the political aspects at our levels,” he stressed.
Addressing officials of the department and some District, Municipal and Metropolitan Chief Executives (MMCEs) in Sekondi, the minister reminded them that they were first and foremost employees of the state and not the government.
He explained that governments were in transition and that the state was established and permanent and came before government.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng said the introduction of partisanship politics into workplaces would negatively affect important national issues that needed to go down well with the people, since the policies would be politicised, and would, therefore, not meet their intended purpose.
“It is, therefore, very important that you sell the good policies of whatever government in power to the people to ensure that the people are abreast of government policies and at the same time become the channel through which the government and other development agents could gather feedback to improve their performances,” he said.
“Politics is part of your work, you have to play it cautiously to ensure that good government polices are not coloured in a partisan manner,” the minister stressed.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng said his ministry was doing everything possible to ensure that the necessary working tools were made available to ensure that they did not encounter any difficulties in the discharge of their duties, adding, “the problems of fuel, maintenance and other logistics should not be your problem”.
He urged the MMDCEs to work closely with the information officers to ensure that the set targets were achieved.
The minister later interacted with the media practitioners and urged them to be circumspect in their reportage to ensure that undue tension was not created in the countryside.
“I am not to tell you what to do but your position as the forth estate can change the country for the better,” he emphasised.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah, also reminded them that communication was a two-way system, so as they reach out to the people, they should ensure that they came back with feedback.
'SUSU' SCAM inn T'DI ...Operatiors bolt with GH¢80,000 (LEAD STORY)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takaroadi
OPERATORS of a loan and ‘susu’ company in Takoradi are reported to have bolted with GH¢80,000 being contributions made by more than 2,000 customers.
The company, Great Financial Services, was said to have promised its customers that they could secure various sums of money as loans if they continuously saved with it for a year.
Officials of the company are said to be nowhere to be found and the customers — mainly market women, students and artisans, as well as their apprentices — find themselves in limbo as to how to retrieve their investments, with the accruing interest.
The police are currently looking for one Mr Justice Kirasi, a Kumasi-based businessman, who is said to be the owner of the business.
Meanwhile, the regional agent of the company, Nana Badu Asare, has been arrested by the police.
After Nana Asare’s arrest, the contributors besieged the premises of the Takoradi Central Police Station to demand a refund of their monies.
But the agent, who is said to have been depositing the daily contributions into an account that can only be accessed by the owner of the business, could not help the anxious customers.
To ascertain the amount collected from the contributors, the police are currently taking their particulars and the amount they contributed as recorded in their passbooks.
One of the victims, Madam Martha Abban, a trader, said she decided to join the susu scheme because the company promised her good interest rate and access to loans.
“But as I talk to you now, I cannot access the GH¢70 I contributed with its accrued interest nor the loan, only to be told that the whole thing is becoming a scam and now I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Another trader, Madam Helena Mensah, said, “I am short of words, I don’t know what to do, I have contributed GH¢80 and now I cannot get my money, as well as the loan they promised.”
The Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, who confirmed the story, said at the moment about GH¢35,000 had been accrued from various sums of monies recorded in the passbooks of the almost 700 customers who had so far reported to the Takoradi Central Police Station.
She urged members of the public who had information about Justice Kirasi, the said owner of the company, to report to the nearest police station. Nana Asare has been granted bail while investigations continue.
OPERATORS of a loan and ‘susu’ company in Takoradi are reported to have bolted with GH¢80,000 being contributions made by more than 2,000 customers.
The company, Great Financial Services, was said to have promised its customers that they could secure various sums of money as loans if they continuously saved with it for a year.
Officials of the company are said to be nowhere to be found and the customers — mainly market women, students and artisans, as well as their apprentices — find themselves in limbo as to how to retrieve their investments, with the accruing interest.
The police are currently looking for one Mr Justice Kirasi, a Kumasi-based businessman, who is said to be the owner of the business.
Meanwhile, the regional agent of the company, Nana Badu Asare, has been arrested by the police.
After Nana Asare’s arrest, the contributors besieged the premises of the Takoradi Central Police Station to demand a refund of their monies.
But the agent, who is said to have been depositing the daily contributions into an account that can only be accessed by the owner of the business, could not help the anxious customers.
To ascertain the amount collected from the contributors, the police are currently taking their particulars and the amount they contributed as recorded in their passbooks.
One of the victims, Madam Martha Abban, a trader, said she decided to join the susu scheme because the company promised her good interest rate and access to loans.
“But as I talk to you now, I cannot access the GH¢70 I contributed with its accrued interest nor the loan, only to be told that the whole thing is becoming a scam and now I don’t know what to do,” she said.
Another trader, Madam Helena Mensah, said, “I am short of words, I don’t know what to do, I have contributed GH¢80 and now I cannot get my money, as well as the loan they promised.”
The Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, who confirmed the story, said at the moment about GH¢35,000 had been accrued from various sums of monies recorded in the passbooks of the almost 700 customers who had so far reported to the Takoradi Central Police Station.
She urged members of the public who had information about Justice Kirasi, the said owner of the company, to report to the nearest police station. Nana Asare has been granted bail while investigations continue.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
CRUDE ABORTION ON THE RISE...Medical staff firghtened about figures (MIRROR LEAD STORY)
From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu,
Sekondi
Doctors and pharmacists at government and private heath facilities across the Western Region have expressed serious concern over the rate at which teenage girls aged between 10 and 19 are engaging in criminal abortion with the help of chemical sellers and quack abortion experts.
After going through such abortions unsuccessfully and at a point when enough harm has been done to their organs, the girls are then rushed to the hospitals.
The figures on criminal abortion for the first and second quarters of the year which are yet to be compiled have forced doctors to sound the warning that the reports from the 13 districts of the region are frightening.
According to available data at the Western Regional Health Directorate, Sekondi, as at the end of December 31, 2007 more than 14,139 teenagers aged between 10 and 19 got pregnant, out of which 2,280 attempted abortion and ended up at various health facilities with complications.
Sekondi-Takoradi, Nzema East, Ahanta West, Jomoro, Wassa West, Sefwi Wiawso, among others, accounted for the bulk of the cases of unsuccessful abortion by the teenagers.
Some were seriously affected by the concoctions and the overdose of the various drugs they took, including cycotec, a prescription drug-induced-ulcer medication introduced in the 1980s that could cause pregnant women to miscarry.
The unintended side effect of the drug has transformed the pill into an increasingly popular abortion medicine. Meanwhile, it should not be sold over the counter but it has found its way into chemical shops and individual retailers in the region.
According to a pharmacist, the kind of sickness the pill could cure is not here in Ghana and blamed the Pharmacy Council for not doing its work to find out what the drug was being used for to warrant its importation in such huge quantities.
What is more worrying to the health professionals are the ages of the girls involved and the fact that many of them are sent to the hospitals with incomplete abortion complications.
In the process of trying to save them, some lose their lives or have the pregnancy evacuated in a manner or process that could affect their chances of bearing children in the future.
The teenagers, who are mostly not aware of the implications of their actions, are mainly junior high school (JHS) students.
According to the doctors, if nothing was done immediately to arrest the situation, more lives would be lost.
The Western Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Sylvester Anemana, expressed worry about the situation and said the only solution at present was to strengthen education at the Adolescent Health Department of the directorate.
At the Obstetrics & Gynaecological Department of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi, Dr Sulley Ali Gabass said the situation had reached a stage where, if civil society organisations did not move in to educate the teenage girls on the effects of their actions on their lives, the nation and the drive towards girl-child education, would face a bleak future.
Sekondi
Doctors and pharmacists at government and private heath facilities across the Western Region have expressed serious concern over the rate at which teenage girls aged between 10 and 19 are engaging in criminal abortion with the help of chemical sellers and quack abortion experts.
After going through such abortions unsuccessfully and at a point when enough harm has been done to their organs, the girls are then rushed to the hospitals.
The figures on criminal abortion for the first and second quarters of the year which are yet to be compiled have forced doctors to sound the warning that the reports from the 13 districts of the region are frightening.
According to available data at the Western Regional Health Directorate, Sekondi, as at the end of December 31, 2007 more than 14,139 teenagers aged between 10 and 19 got pregnant, out of which 2,280 attempted abortion and ended up at various health facilities with complications.
Sekondi-Takoradi, Nzema East, Ahanta West, Jomoro, Wassa West, Sefwi Wiawso, among others, accounted for the bulk of the cases of unsuccessful abortion by the teenagers.
Some were seriously affected by the concoctions and the overdose of the various drugs they took, including cycotec, a prescription drug-induced-ulcer medication introduced in the 1980s that could cause pregnant women to miscarry.
The unintended side effect of the drug has transformed the pill into an increasingly popular abortion medicine. Meanwhile, it should not be sold over the counter but it has found its way into chemical shops and individual retailers in the region.
According to a pharmacist, the kind of sickness the pill could cure is not here in Ghana and blamed the Pharmacy Council for not doing its work to find out what the drug was being used for to warrant its importation in such huge quantities.
What is more worrying to the health professionals are the ages of the girls involved and the fact that many of them are sent to the hospitals with incomplete abortion complications.
In the process of trying to save them, some lose their lives or have the pregnancy evacuated in a manner or process that could affect their chances of bearing children in the future.
The teenagers, who are mostly not aware of the implications of their actions, are mainly junior high school (JHS) students.
According to the doctors, if nothing was done immediately to arrest the situation, more lives would be lost.
The Western Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Sylvester Anemana, expressed worry about the situation and said the only solution at present was to strengthen education at the Adolescent Health Department of the directorate.
At the Obstetrics & Gynaecological Department of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi, Dr Sulley Ali Gabass said the situation had reached a stage where, if civil society organisations did not move in to educate the teenage girls on the effects of their actions on their lives, the nation and the drive towards girl-child education, would face a bleak future.
Friday, May 9, 2008
VAT SERVICE WAGES WAR ON DEFAULTING COMPANIES (PAGE 21)
Story:Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
THE Western Regional Office of the VAT Service has embarked on distress action to recover GH¢250,000 owed it by 19 companies in the region.
Speaking to the press, the acting regional head of the service, Mrs Agnes A. Adu-Boateng, said it took the action because the companies had failed to adhere to numerous reminders sent to them.
She said the failure by the companies to settle their indebtedness had contributed to the service’s inability to meet its revenue target from January to April 2008.
“Under Section 34 of the VAT Act 1998 (Act 546 as amended ) and its LI 1646, the Commissioner of the VAT Service, acting through his assigns, is empowered to undertake an exercise called ‘distract for liability in recovery of overdue debts from our clients’,” she said.
Mrs Adu-Boateng stated that the VAT Service considered its clients as very important when it came to tax collection from members of the public, explaining that the service was not interested in locking up the premises of companies to compel them to pay the taxes.
“However, when the debt is overdue, we have no option but to evoke the law to ensure that the right thing is done,” Mrs Adu-Boateng stated.
She said there was enough time for the clients to file their returns and pay what they collected from their customers for the state.
She said the 19 companies in the region whose premises had been locked up had 14 days to settle their debts, failure of which the service would auction their property and use the proceeds to settle the debts.
Mrs Adu-Boateng said nine of the defaulting companies were located in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis, with the remaining 10 in Tarkwa and its environs.
“Even though we appreciate the efforts of our clients, they should make right declarations, effect payment at the end of the month and submit their returns within the stipulated time to avoid penalty,” she advised.
Asked if the distress action taken against the companies had yielded any positive results, she said, “We have been able to recover GH¢130,000 out of the GH¢132,000 they owed the service.”
THE Western Regional Office of the VAT Service has embarked on distress action to recover GH¢250,000 owed it by 19 companies in the region.
Speaking to the press, the acting regional head of the service, Mrs Agnes A. Adu-Boateng, said it took the action because the companies had failed to adhere to numerous reminders sent to them.
She said the failure by the companies to settle their indebtedness had contributed to the service’s inability to meet its revenue target from January to April 2008.
“Under Section 34 of the VAT Act 1998 (Act 546 as amended ) and its LI 1646, the Commissioner of the VAT Service, acting through his assigns, is empowered to undertake an exercise called ‘distract for liability in recovery of overdue debts from our clients’,” she said.
Mrs Adu-Boateng stated that the VAT Service considered its clients as very important when it came to tax collection from members of the public, explaining that the service was not interested in locking up the premises of companies to compel them to pay the taxes.
“However, when the debt is overdue, we have no option but to evoke the law to ensure that the right thing is done,” Mrs Adu-Boateng stated.
She said there was enough time for the clients to file their returns and pay what they collected from their customers for the state.
She said the 19 companies in the region whose premises had been locked up had 14 days to settle their debts, failure of which the service would auction their property and use the proceeds to settle the debts.
Mrs Adu-Boateng said nine of the defaulting companies were located in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis, with the remaining 10 in Tarkwa and its environs.
“Even though we appreciate the efforts of our clients, they should make right declarations, effect payment at the end of the month and submit their returns within the stipulated time to avoid penalty,” she advised.
Asked if the distress action taken against the companies had yielded any positive results, she said, “We have been able to recover GH¢130,000 out of the GH¢132,000 they owed the service.”
Monday, May 5, 2008
APOWA ORPHNAGE ENDURES REGULAR RAIDS (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
THIEVES have turned their attention to Orphan Cry Ghana, an orphanage at Apowa in the Western Region, to rob them whenever they receive donations.
They break into the storeroom of the orphanage to steal whatever has been donated for the upkeep of the children, whose ages range from two-months to 18 years.
According to the Mother of the home, Rev. Mrs Mary Armah Young, when kind-hearted members of the public and organisations make donations to them, in the night thieves break into their store and make away with the items, mostly rice, toiletries and sometimes cash.
She said this when the Association of Seventh Day Pentecostal made a donation of food and cash to the home as part of their service to mankind.
“To be honest with you, we have had support from other local and international organisations, especially from the US, but thieves come and make away with the items meant for the children,” she said.
Asked what accounted for that, she said, “Since the people who come here are well dressed and drive in good vehicles, the thieves think they have brought us the whole world and then they also come and take their share,” she said.
"We take these children, we feed them, bathe them, wash their clothes and give them whatever we can provide for them and treat them as our own children. Therefore, it is sad that the little they have would be taken away from them".
Rev. Mrs Young said it would interest the public to know that sometimes the thieves come with vehicles because the items they normally took away from them were in substantial quantities. “But what I ask myself is, has it come to that? Should children whose survival depends on society have their store ransacked by thieves? That is unheard of but we will pray for them,” she said.
She, therefore, appealed to public-spirited people to help construct a wall round the compound to protect the children and the property of the orphanage.
The leader of the Seventh-Day Pentecostal, Elder Ebenezer Yeboah Bekoe, said the best form of worship was to support the vulnerable in society and that they would do everything possible to ensure that life is made a little bearable for the venerable in society.
THIEVES have turned their attention to Orphan Cry Ghana, an orphanage at Apowa in the Western Region, to rob them whenever they receive donations.
They break into the storeroom of the orphanage to steal whatever has been donated for the upkeep of the children, whose ages range from two-months to 18 years.
According to the Mother of the home, Rev. Mrs Mary Armah Young, when kind-hearted members of the public and organisations make donations to them, in the night thieves break into their store and make away with the items, mostly rice, toiletries and sometimes cash.
She said this when the Association of Seventh Day Pentecostal made a donation of food and cash to the home as part of their service to mankind.
“To be honest with you, we have had support from other local and international organisations, especially from the US, but thieves come and make away with the items meant for the children,” she said.
Asked what accounted for that, she said, “Since the people who come here are well dressed and drive in good vehicles, the thieves think they have brought us the whole world and then they also come and take their share,” she said.
"We take these children, we feed them, bathe them, wash their clothes and give them whatever we can provide for them and treat them as our own children. Therefore, it is sad that the little they have would be taken away from them".
Rev. Mrs Young said it would interest the public to know that sometimes the thieves come with vehicles because the items they normally took away from them were in substantial quantities. “But what I ask myself is, has it come to that? Should children whose survival depends on society have their store ransacked by thieves? That is unheard of but we will pray for them,” she said.
She, therefore, appealed to public-spirited people to help construct a wall round the compound to protect the children and the property of the orphanage.
The leader of the Seventh-Day Pentecostal, Elder Ebenezer Yeboah Bekoe, said the best form of worship was to support the vulnerable in society and that they would do everything possible to ensure that life is made a little bearable for the venerable in society.
CONFERENCE TO HELP WOMEN HELD IN TWIN-CITY (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
A roundtable conference to help women to improve upon their business ideas has been held in the twin-city of Sekondi-Takoradi.
The objectives of the conference were to equip the women with the skills to improve on their businesses and to give them the ability to create and retain wealth to ensure that they are not overtaken by avoidable occurrences that they might face in their daily business activities.
It was also to equip the women, especially the professional women, with skills on quality service delivery, as well as how to maximise profit.
The conference was organised by the Cultural Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Accra in collaboration with the Western Regional office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on the theme: “Business Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs and Professional Women – Investing in Women and Girls.”
Dr Yvette E. Taylor-Hachoose, a lawyer and a businesswoman from the US, took the participants through the ways of staying ahead in their fields of endeavours, the way to create wealth through positive attitudes to overcome obstacles that might pose a challenge to them in their quest to serve their clients and to maintain their market positions in the high competitive free marketplace, where the consumer is faced with many to choose from.
She asked the women not to just rush into doing business but should research and draw plans that could be subjected to change at any point in time to ensure that they were not limited to countless opportunities.
The lawyer said the contemporary business environment was full of dynamism and one must be prepared to adjust accordingly, instead of being glued to the same old ways of doing business.
She urged the women to be resolute and compassionate, build the integrity of their businesses and also lead a life that would ensure balance in their daily activities, as well as focus on their set goals and how to achieve them.
It came out during discussions that wealth transfer procedure and interstate succession were similar to what pertained in the United States. The women were urged to see the need to protect assets, be at peace with oneself, create legacy and save for investment.
They were also taken through some legal issues bordering on business transaction.
The women were selected from both the formal and informal sectors in the metropolis, and they included proprietresses , state attorneys, businesswomen, private medical practitioners, female heads of institutions and women in the media.
In her remarks, the Western Regional Director of CHRAJ, Nana Yamboah Amoah Sakyi, said it was important that women were given the help to enable them to take bold decisions that would advance their cause.
She said sometimes they knew what to do but did not know how to go about it.
She urged them to take their time to outline their programmes and to ensure that what they were venturing into was economically viable.
A roundtable conference to help women to improve upon their business ideas has been held in the twin-city of Sekondi-Takoradi.
The objectives of the conference were to equip the women with the skills to improve on their businesses and to give them the ability to create and retain wealth to ensure that they are not overtaken by avoidable occurrences that they might face in their daily business activities.
It was also to equip the women, especially the professional women, with skills on quality service delivery, as well as how to maximise profit.
The conference was organised by the Cultural Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Accra in collaboration with the Western Regional office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on the theme: “Business Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs and Professional Women – Investing in Women and Girls.”
Dr Yvette E. Taylor-Hachoose, a lawyer and a businesswoman from the US, took the participants through the ways of staying ahead in their fields of endeavours, the way to create wealth through positive attitudes to overcome obstacles that might pose a challenge to them in their quest to serve their clients and to maintain their market positions in the high competitive free marketplace, where the consumer is faced with many to choose from.
She asked the women not to just rush into doing business but should research and draw plans that could be subjected to change at any point in time to ensure that they were not limited to countless opportunities.
The lawyer said the contemporary business environment was full of dynamism and one must be prepared to adjust accordingly, instead of being glued to the same old ways of doing business.
She urged the women to be resolute and compassionate, build the integrity of their businesses and also lead a life that would ensure balance in their daily activities, as well as focus on their set goals and how to achieve them.
It came out during discussions that wealth transfer procedure and interstate succession were similar to what pertained in the United States. The women were urged to see the need to protect assets, be at peace with oneself, create legacy and save for investment.
They were also taken through some legal issues bordering on business transaction.
The women were selected from both the formal and informal sectors in the metropolis, and they included proprietresses , state attorneys, businesswomen, private medical practitioners, female heads of institutions and women in the media.
In her remarks, the Western Regional Director of CHRAJ, Nana Yamboah Amoah Sakyi, said it was important that women were given the help to enable them to take bold decisions that would advance their cause.
She said sometimes they knew what to do but did not know how to go about it.
She urged them to take their time to outline their programmes and to ensure that what they were venturing into was economically viable.
STMA MUST CONTROL THE ERECTION OF BILLBOARDS (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
ADVERTISING one’s business is said to be an action of calling the attention of the public to patronise an item or a service.
However, the quest by many businesses to advertise their location and to get people to hear and see them has for sometime now become a hazard in some parts of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.
Signboards are sited indiscriminately in the metropolis. Safety standards are completely ignored, which are recipes for disasters.
The sad part is that when these disasters strike and the victims are not prominent members of society, little attention is paid to them and such is the situation at Essikado Junction, just after the Railways Park near the Golden Gate of the Western Regional Administration.
At that particular spot, there have been countless numbers of accidents. To avert fatalities, the signboards in that sharp curve should be removed and the giant tree there, whose branches have spread all over the place, should have its branches pruned.
There are signboards belonging to a financial institution and timber companies sited at this junction, which block the view of the motoring public.
Drivers of vehicles travelling from Enyansia to Essipon have no problem with their view and so face no danger until they have to negotiate the curve in order to get to Essikado.
The issue is that siting of billboards in the metropolis must be subjected to vigorous checks before permit is issued to the various agencies to erect them. The rains are here again, the situation last year was terrible and one expected the authorities to do something for a change for the better, but as things stand now billboards are likely to be pulled down by rainstorm as usual.
However, in the face of all these dangers, as soon as the rains are over, the whole problem becomes a thing of the past. The problem of rainstorm pulling down billboards has become an annual ritual in the metropolises of Sekondi-Takoradi, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Cape Coast.
Are we waiting until a fatality of a prominent member of society or his relative happens before the problem would be solved?
It is the hope of this writer that those who have their signpost at the Essikado Junction, just after the Railways Park near the Golden Gate in Sekondi, would reposition them to ensure clear view for motorists and to save the lives of poor pedestrians.
Also, if it is the duty of the Assembly or the Department of Parks and Garden, then they should, as a matter of urgency, put a stop to the countless accidents at that junction by instituting appropriate measures.
ADVERTISING one’s business is said to be an action of calling the attention of the public to patronise an item or a service.
However, the quest by many businesses to advertise their location and to get people to hear and see them has for sometime now become a hazard in some parts of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.
Signboards are sited indiscriminately in the metropolis. Safety standards are completely ignored, which are recipes for disasters.
The sad part is that when these disasters strike and the victims are not prominent members of society, little attention is paid to them and such is the situation at Essikado Junction, just after the Railways Park near the Golden Gate of the Western Regional Administration.
At that particular spot, there have been countless numbers of accidents. To avert fatalities, the signboards in that sharp curve should be removed and the giant tree there, whose branches have spread all over the place, should have its branches pruned.
There are signboards belonging to a financial institution and timber companies sited at this junction, which block the view of the motoring public.
Drivers of vehicles travelling from Enyansia to Essipon have no problem with their view and so face no danger until they have to negotiate the curve in order to get to Essikado.
The issue is that siting of billboards in the metropolis must be subjected to vigorous checks before permit is issued to the various agencies to erect them. The rains are here again, the situation last year was terrible and one expected the authorities to do something for a change for the better, but as things stand now billboards are likely to be pulled down by rainstorm as usual.
However, in the face of all these dangers, as soon as the rains are over, the whole problem becomes a thing of the past. The problem of rainstorm pulling down billboards has become an annual ritual in the metropolises of Sekondi-Takoradi, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Cape Coast.
Are we waiting until a fatality of a prominent member of society or his relative happens before the problem would be solved?
It is the hope of this writer that those who have their signpost at the Essikado Junction, just after the Railways Park near the Golden Gate in Sekondi, would reposition them to ensure clear view for motorists and to save the lives of poor pedestrians.
Also, if it is the duty of the Assembly or the Department of Parks and Garden, then they should, as a matter of urgency, put a stop to the countless accidents at that junction by instituting appropriate measures.
PAPA OWUSU ANKOMAN GETS NPP NOD FOR THIRD TIME (PAGE 16)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
THE incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah, has been re-elected for the third time to lead the party in the next general elections.
The slot was contested by the incumbent and two others, Mr Gad Cobbina and Mr Kweku Amoah, both legal practitioners.
Before voting, Mr Kweku Amoah stepped down, threw his weight behind Mr Cobbina and urged his supporters to vote for Mr Cobbina to unseat the incumbent, but in the end, Papa had 45 out of the 63 votes cast while the Messrs Cobbina-Amoah alliance had 18 votes.
The incumbent called on the party faithful to defend the track record of the party and make Ghanaians aware of them.
He said the pending elections were going to be issues-based, which would lead to victory for the NPP and enable it to transform the country after the strong foundation it had laid.
The NPP, he said, had achieved enough to warrant a third term without fear or difficulty.
The whole of Sekondi was awash with NPP colours and portraits of the incumbent MP, after the announcement of his victory.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at his residence after the election, Papa Ankomah assured the constituents that he would do his best but added that they also had a role to play in ensuring that the party emerged victorious in the December elections.
“The current president has laid the strong foundation for the country; we have all the building blocks in place, and what we have to do next is to ensure that we strongly defend our track record so that come January 7, 2009, the Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo-led government will lead the complete transformation of the country”, he said.
“What we need now is an industrial revolution, a complete transformation of the country and more jobs for the people. I want to urge you the constituents and supporters not to listen to the detractors that there has not been any development in Sekondi. I can assure you that if you look around we have more, compared to others,” the MP added.
Papa Owusu-Ankoma, whose talk was constantly interrupted by the shouting of his nickname, “Home Boy, Home Boy”, reminded the constituents that as an MP, he had three constituencies to serve: the nation, the constituency and the party.
“I am aware of this and I can assure you that you will not be neglected; I have never neglected you and will do everything to continue to serve you even more.”
He said apart from numerous development projects in the constituency, he managed to improve the lot of the constituency in areas such as job creation, education, social infrastructure and lobbying for the construction of the Essipon-Sekondi highway and added that “there will be more as long as I remain the Member of Parliament for this constituency. Fear not, I am with you all”.
THE incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah, has been re-elected for the third time to lead the party in the next general elections.
The slot was contested by the incumbent and two others, Mr Gad Cobbina and Mr Kweku Amoah, both legal practitioners.
Before voting, Mr Kweku Amoah stepped down, threw his weight behind Mr Cobbina and urged his supporters to vote for Mr Cobbina to unseat the incumbent, but in the end, Papa had 45 out of the 63 votes cast while the Messrs Cobbina-Amoah alliance had 18 votes.
The incumbent called on the party faithful to defend the track record of the party and make Ghanaians aware of them.
He said the pending elections were going to be issues-based, which would lead to victory for the NPP and enable it to transform the country after the strong foundation it had laid.
The NPP, he said, had achieved enough to warrant a third term without fear or difficulty.
The whole of Sekondi was awash with NPP colours and portraits of the incumbent MP, after the announcement of his victory.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at his residence after the election, Papa Ankomah assured the constituents that he would do his best but added that they also had a role to play in ensuring that the party emerged victorious in the December elections.
“The current president has laid the strong foundation for the country; we have all the building blocks in place, and what we have to do next is to ensure that we strongly defend our track record so that come January 7, 2009, the Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo-led government will lead the complete transformation of the country”, he said.
“What we need now is an industrial revolution, a complete transformation of the country and more jobs for the people. I want to urge you the constituents and supporters not to listen to the detractors that there has not been any development in Sekondi. I can assure you that if you look around we have more, compared to others,” the MP added.
Papa Owusu-Ankoma, whose talk was constantly interrupted by the shouting of his nickname, “Home Boy, Home Boy”, reminded the constituents that as an MP, he had three constituencies to serve: the nation, the constituency and the party.
“I am aware of this and I can assure you that you will not be neglected; I have never neglected you and will do everything to continue to serve you even more.”
He said apart from numerous development projects in the constituency, he managed to improve the lot of the constituency in areas such as job creation, education, social infrastructure and lobbying for the construction of the Essipon-Sekondi highway and added that “there will be more as long as I remain the Member of Parliament for this constituency. Fear not, I am with you all”.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
VANGUARD READY TO PAY CLAIMS (BACK PAGE)
STORY: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
VANGUARD Assurance, an insurance firm, has expressed its preparedness to process claims for the payment of compensation to the families of seven children who were injured by a grader belonging to a contractor at Nkotompo, near Sekondi last October.
The company, which provided insurance cover for the equipment, has therefore asked families of the affected children to initiate the process for their claims.
The families threatened to go to court since they claimed the contractor had neglected them after an initial visit.
One of the seven children, Ruth Amoasi, 7, had her left leg amputated after doctors at the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital tried in vain to prevent the amputation.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Claims Manager of Vanguard Assurance, Mr Enim Addai, said it was not too late for the families of the affected children to have their claims processed, since they had three years from the day of the accident to put in their claims.
“What we expect from them is a complete or the interim medical report with passport size photographs endorsed by the doctor as well as a police report”, he explained.
Mr Addai said if those involved were children who could not defend themselves, their parents would be required to swear affidavits that they were the true parents of the children and were acting on their behalf.
Meanwhile, Ruth Amoasi has made a remarkable recovery after she was taken to Nsawam for the fixing of artificial limbs and can now walk without assistance.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, little Ruth said she wanted to be a medical doctor because she had been impressed with the relief the doctors had brought her.
“I want to be like Dr Tawiah Siame, who took very good care of me so that one day I can also take care of people,” she said.
VANGUARD Assurance, an insurance firm, has expressed its preparedness to process claims for the payment of compensation to the families of seven children who were injured by a grader belonging to a contractor at Nkotompo, near Sekondi last October.
The company, which provided insurance cover for the equipment, has therefore asked families of the affected children to initiate the process for their claims.
The families threatened to go to court since they claimed the contractor had neglected them after an initial visit.
One of the seven children, Ruth Amoasi, 7, had her left leg amputated after doctors at the Effia-Nkwanta Hospital tried in vain to prevent the amputation.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Claims Manager of Vanguard Assurance, Mr Enim Addai, said it was not too late for the families of the affected children to have their claims processed, since they had three years from the day of the accident to put in their claims.
“What we expect from them is a complete or the interim medical report with passport size photographs endorsed by the doctor as well as a police report”, he explained.
Mr Addai said if those involved were children who could not defend themselves, their parents would be required to swear affidavits that they were the true parents of the children and were acting on their behalf.
Meanwhile, Ruth Amoasi has made a remarkable recovery after she was taken to Nsawam for the fixing of artificial limbs and can now walk without assistance.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, little Ruth said she wanted to be a medical doctor because she had been impressed with the relief the doctors had brought her.
“I want to be like Dr Tawiah Siame, who took very good care of me so that one day I can also take care of people,” she said.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
POLICE MUST CHECK SPEEDING (PAGE 21)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
THE absence of the police from the road has given the motoring public the undue freedom to speed and act unsafely on the road, especially roads in the Greater Accra, Western and Central regions.
It would rather be prudent to ensure effective highway patrols to curtail the level of freedom being enjoyed by the motoring public, especially the commercial vehicle drivers.
The speed and wrong overtaking if not checked, would send innocent passengers into their graves earlier than the case should be.
In the Twin-City of Sekondi Takoradi for instance, police checks during the day before the directive that took the police off the road, helped a great deal in reducing the level of lawlessness on the roads in the metropolis and averting fatalities.
The police constituted a form of restraint which controlled the impatience and carelessness of drivers.
The police, for instance, stopped some drivers and made them to wear their seatbelts before they could continue their journeys.
The directive to take them off the road could be very good,but there is the need to take a second look at it.
In the advance countries, there are mechanisms to monitor the highways but once we do not have the technology we should resource the police to ensure effective patrols.
There should be enough or regular patrols in the metropolises while the yellow-uniformed or community police are at the traffic interceptions to direct traffic. This is because many of the motoring public do not have the slightest respect for the community police.
In the twin-city, for instance, drivers, especially the taxi drivers just get into the roads and also stop anywhere to pick passengers. Hitherto, they were afraid to do so because they could be arrested by the police.
It is a pity to find at roundabouts that those who are supposed to give way to others rather dangerously refuse to do so, which sometimes results in fatalities.
To rid the city of such unfortunate situations, the Western Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service (MTTU), has embarked on motor check operations in line with the police administration’s directive for nation-wide checks.
The checks are being conducted by a team of police with the assistance from Vehicle Examination and Licensing Division (VELD) and the regional road safety commission. Following these checks, 36 drivers in Sekondi-Takoradi were arrested and prosecuted for various offences.
Out of the 36, 21 were convicted and fined various sums ranging from GH¢300 to GH¢600, three others were cautioned by the police while bench warrants have been issued for the arrest of the remaining 12.
Some of the things of interest which the team checked concerned worn-out tyres and other badly damaged vehicle accessories and the culprits directed to change them.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer, Ms Olivia Adiku, the regional command has started receiving complaints from a section of the general public, especially those plying the Accra-Takoradi routes and these concerned excessive speeding by both private and commercial drivers.
She said the police service wished to inform the motoring public that the absence of the police from the road did not warrant lawlessness and flouting of traffic regulations.
Ms Adiku asked the drivers not to take the traffic laws for granted by compromising the safety standards, thereby endangering the lives of the innocent travelling public.
“For the safety and sanity on the road, we implore members of the general public and passengers of commercial vehicles to report the behaviour of dangerous drivers to any police station for the police to deal with them appropriately,” she added.
THE absence of the police from the road has given the motoring public the undue freedom to speed and act unsafely on the road, especially roads in the Greater Accra, Western and Central regions.
It would rather be prudent to ensure effective highway patrols to curtail the level of freedom being enjoyed by the motoring public, especially the commercial vehicle drivers.
The speed and wrong overtaking if not checked, would send innocent passengers into their graves earlier than the case should be.
In the Twin-City of Sekondi Takoradi for instance, police checks during the day before the directive that took the police off the road, helped a great deal in reducing the level of lawlessness on the roads in the metropolis and averting fatalities.
The police constituted a form of restraint which controlled the impatience and carelessness of drivers.
The police, for instance, stopped some drivers and made them to wear their seatbelts before they could continue their journeys.
The directive to take them off the road could be very good,but there is the need to take a second look at it.
In the advance countries, there are mechanisms to monitor the highways but once we do not have the technology we should resource the police to ensure effective patrols.
There should be enough or regular patrols in the metropolises while the yellow-uniformed or community police are at the traffic interceptions to direct traffic. This is because many of the motoring public do not have the slightest respect for the community police.
In the twin-city, for instance, drivers, especially the taxi drivers just get into the roads and also stop anywhere to pick passengers. Hitherto, they were afraid to do so because they could be arrested by the police.
It is a pity to find at roundabouts that those who are supposed to give way to others rather dangerously refuse to do so, which sometimes results in fatalities.
To rid the city of such unfortunate situations, the Western Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service (MTTU), has embarked on motor check operations in line with the police administration’s directive for nation-wide checks.
The checks are being conducted by a team of police with the assistance from Vehicle Examination and Licensing Division (VELD) and the regional road safety commission. Following these checks, 36 drivers in Sekondi-Takoradi were arrested and prosecuted for various offences.
Out of the 36, 21 were convicted and fined various sums ranging from GH¢300 to GH¢600, three others were cautioned by the police while bench warrants have been issued for the arrest of the remaining 12.
Some of the things of interest which the team checked concerned worn-out tyres and other badly damaged vehicle accessories and the culprits directed to change them.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer, Ms Olivia Adiku, the regional command has started receiving complaints from a section of the general public, especially those plying the Accra-Takoradi routes and these concerned excessive speeding by both private and commercial drivers.
She said the police service wished to inform the motoring public that the absence of the police from the road did not warrant lawlessness and flouting of traffic regulations.
Ms Adiku asked the drivers not to take the traffic laws for granted by compromising the safety standards, thereby endangering the lives of the innocent travelling public.
“For the safety and sanity on the road, we implore members of the general public and passengers of commercial vehicles to report the behaviour of dangerous drivers to any police station for the police to deal with them appropriately,” she added.
3 CEPS OFFICIALS DIE IN ACCIDENT (BACK PAGE)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Agon
THREE officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) died last Tuesday when the official Toyota Hilux vehicle in which they were travelling was involved in an accident.
The three were travelling from Jomoro to Accra when their vehicle veered off its lane and rammed into two taxis at Agonafie in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region and landed in a valley.
The deceased are the driver of the vehicle, Emmanuel Kottey, Patrick Dogbey (also known as Kportor), the head of the Jomoro Collection Point; and Kuduano Bobio, also an official.
According to CEPS sources, Mr Dogbey was due for retirement in September this year and was expected to be the guest at a send-off party planned for tomorrow, Friday, May 2, 2008.
An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that the CEPS vehicle somersaulted several times after hitting the two taxis and finally landed in a valley at about 12:30 p.m.
The occupants of the taxis sustained various degrees of injury.
The Western Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, confirmed the incident and said the police were still investigating to establish the actual cause of the accident.
The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Nana Hima Dekyei Government Hospital at Dixcove.
THREE officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) died last Tuesday when the official Toyota Hilux vehicle in which they were travelling was involved in an accident.
The three were travelling from Jomoro to Accra when their vehicle veered off its lane and rammed into two taxis at Agonafie in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region and landed in a valley.
The deceased are the driver of the vehicle, Emmanuel Kottey, Patrick Dogbey (also known as Kportor), the head of the Jomoro Collection Point; and Kuduano Bobio, also an official.
According to CEPS sources, Mr Dogbey was due for retirement in September this year and was expected to be the guest at a send-off party planned for tomorrow, Friday, May 2, 2008.
An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that the CEPS vehicle somersaulted several times after hitting the two taxis and finally landed in a valley at about 12:30 p.m.
The occupants of the taxis sustained various degrees of injury.
The Western Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, confirmed the incident and said the police were still investigating to establish the actual cause of the accident.
The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Nana Hima Dekyei Government Hospital at Dixcove.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)