Contractors who were awarded contracts to rehabilitate portions of the roads in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis have finally started work on the potholes, following the Daily Graphic’s publications on the state of the roads in the twin-city.
Their performance is rather worsening matters for road users and various commuters.
This is because the contractors have rather expanded the potholes and left them unattended to for the past three weeks.
This is causing a lot of inconvenience, making driving in the metropolis tortuous.
For instance a portion of the road that links the Takoradi Polytechnic and Sekondi/Takoradi is in a very bad shape.
Where the contractor fills the potholes the situation becomes worse when it rains.
Apart from the road infront of T-Poly, the road linking the Accra-Takoradi main road and the STMA road through the cocoa flats and other parts of the metropolis are in a very bad shape.
The Fijai-Effia-Nkwanta road which was recently completed is also developing potholes.
Some motorists told the Daily Graphic that the best thing for the contractor to do was to tackle what they could do at a time and not to go round digging every part of the metropolis when they were not ready to fill them. They also questioned the quality of the material used in filling the potholes.
“It is wrong for the contractor to have workers enlarging the potholes, when those doing the filling are nowhere to take care of them,” a motorist said.
The situation is so bad because the region has an unpredictable rainfall pattern and after a very brief downpour, the potholes are filled with water instead of the solid compacted materials.
The enlarged potholes have become manholes filled with stagnant water.
One of the dangerous portions of the road can be found at the new site, and on the road leading towards the T-poly, erosion has washed away the concrete slabs on both sides of the road.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
FIVE ARRESTED WITH PISTOLS, AMMUNITION (PAGE 3)
FIVE suspects who were found in possession of three 9-mm pistols, 273 rounds of ammunition, as well as cartons of cloths that looked like materials for the security services, have been arrested by the Western Regional Police.
The cloths were marked ‘Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’ and were in substantial quantities.
When they were arrested, the principal suspect, who claimed to be the president of an NGO called Canadian Foundation for Child Development, attempted to bribe the police with GH¢5,000 and two of the pistols.
But the police, led by ASP J. Attia, the second-in-command of the Mobile Force Unit of the Ghana Police Service, declined the bribe and matched the suspects to the Western Regional Police Command.
The suspects were identified as Kweku Addo-Ray, the supposed president of the NGO, Jennifer Pamela, Kofi Mensah, E. Agyeman Boateng and Emmanuel Kojo Ofori.
Other items found on them included black T-shirts, black caps and overalls with POLICE boldly written on them.
Briefing the press after interrogating the suspects, the W estern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, said the leader of the NGO said they were going to donate the items to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi.
“I must say that Ghana is a sovereign state and items such as the overalls embossed with the name and symbols of the police of another country cannot be accepted by us. We are still investigating the suspects and the items,” DCOP Alhassan said.
“I must also add that policing in the region and the country as a whole has taken a different turn and the issue of bribing the police is out of the question,” he added.
The cloths were marked ‘Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’ and were in substantial quantities.
When they were arrested, the principal suspect, who claimed to be the president of an NGO called Canadian Foundation for Child Development, attempted to bribe the police with GH¢5,000 and two of the pistols.
But the police, led by ASP J. Attia, the second-in-command of the Mobile Force Unit of the Ghana Police Service, declined the bribe and matched the suspects to the Western Regional Police Command.
The suspects were identified as Kweku Addo-Ray, the supposed president of the NGO, Jennifer Pamela, Kofi Mensah, E. Agyeman Boateng and Emmanuel Kojo Ofori.
Other items found on them included black T-shirts, black caps and overalls with POLICE boldly written on them.
Briefing the press after interrogating the suspects, the W estern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, said the leader of the NGO said they were going to donate the items to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi.
“I must say that Ghana is a sovereign state and items such as the overalls embossed with the name and symbols of the police of another country cannot be accepted by us. We are still investigating the suspects and the items,” DCOP Alhassan said.
“I must also add that policing in the region and the country as a whole has taken a different turn and the issue of bribing the police is out of the question,” he added.
GWCL PIPES SOLD AS SCRAP BY THIEVES (BACK PAGE)
THIEVES have dug up and sold as scrap, the cast metal pipelines that serve as backup for the PVC pipelines that supply water to the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis and other parts of the Western Region.
The pipelines, which were installed after independence in 1957, were replaced recently by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), with much bigger plastic PVC lines to better serve consumers.
According to officials of the GWCL, the old pipelines were left intact to serve as standby in case of emergency.
At the time of going to press, thieves in various communities where the lines travel through to their collection point at Daboase to the metropolis, have cut off more than 70 per cent of the cast metal pipelines for sale.
Fortunately, personnel of the Mobile Force Unit of the Ghana Police Service at Sekondi have arrested four suspects who allegedly stole portions of the metal pipeline for sale. They are Francis Dapatem, aka Papa Adjei, 32; Daniel Morgan, 28; Akwesi S. Boateng, 24, and Mohammed Ali, 17.
The suspects were arrested after bolting with a group of others with pieces of the pipes when the police night patrol team tried to stop them. The vehicle in which they ran away was traced to Kokompe in Takoradi the following day when the four appeared to collect money for the stolen item, and they were arrested.
A source told the Daily Graphic that when officials of the GWCL in the community tried to stop the alleged thieves, they threatened the officials and followed it up with a call that they (the suspects) would continue to steal the lines until they reached the premises of the company to say bye-bye to them.
The Sekondi District Manager of the GWCL, Mr Francis Amoah, told the press after the arrest that old metal pipelines were not discarded even if no water passed through them.
“They are interconnected with the new PVC pipes with valves, therefore, after they smashed the metal, it put the new line in danger,” he pointed out.
Those arrested have been arraigned and remanded in prison custody.
The pipelines, which were installed after independence in 1957, were replaced recently by the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), with much bigger plastic PVC lines to better serve consumers.
According to officials of the GWCL, the old pipelines were left intact to serve as standby in case of emergency.
At the time of going to press, thieves in various communities where the lines travel through to their collection point at Daboase to the metropolis, have cut off more than 70 per cent of the cast metal pipelines for sale.
Fortunately, personnel of the Mobile Force Unit of the Ghana Police Service at Sekondi have arrested four suspects who allegedly stole portions of the metal pipeline for sale. They are Francis Dapatem, aka Papa Adjei, 32; Daniel Morgan, 28; Akwesi S. Boateng, 24, and Mohammed Ali, 17.
The suspects were arrested after bolting with a group of others with pieces of the pipes when the police night patrol team tried to stop them. The vehicle in which they ran away was traced to Kokompe in Takoradi the following day when the four appeared to collect money for the stolen item, and they were arrested.
A source told the Daily Graphic that when officials of the GWCL in the community tried to stop the alleged thieves, they threatened the officials and followed it up with a call that they (the suspects) would continue to steal the lines until they reached the premises of the company to say bye-bye to them.
The Sekondi District Manager of the GWCL, Mr Francis Amoah, told the press after the arrest that old metal pipelines were not discarded even if no water passed through them.
“They are interconnected with the new PVC pipes with valves, therefore, after they smashed the metal, it put the new line in danger,” he pointed out.
Those arrested have been arraigned and remanded in prison custody.
Monday, July 14, 2008
MAN ARRESTED FOR SALE OF GRC PROPERTY (PAGE 49)
THE police in Takoradi have arrested a man whose name was given only as Amoah, suspected to be a member of a group engaged in the illegal sale of property belonging to the Ghana Railway Company (GRC).
The group is said to have engaged in the falsification of the company’s letterheads to write letters to a scrap dealer in Accra, instructing him to transfer $200,000 into an account it described as that of the company.
The letters were signed by two signatories, R. Armah and K.B. Hackman, ostensibly on behalf of the interim chairman of the management committee of the railway workers union, but the union chairman has denied knowledge of the said letter.
Another letter which was signed on behalf of the chairman of the company’s scrap committee, was intercepted by the Ministry of Harbours and Railways, which has directed that any plan of harvesting scraps at the company’s installations should be suspended immediately.
Amoah was arrested while in possession of metals described as serviceable vans of the company, which had been cut into pieces for sale as scrap.
When contacted, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Rufus Quaye, expressed shock and displeasure at the new turn of events in the company.
“No worker has the right to sell scrap or to determine that any disposable item of the company is scrap. We have a scrap committee that deals with that. You cannot buy scrap from the workers without approval from the scrap committee and not even I, the managing director, have the right to call scrap dealers to sell any component of the company’s property to them,” he said.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the local representative of the scrap buying company, Mr K. Amewu, he confirmed the receipt of the letter by his company and said the agreement was that the company would garner the lines that were not in use and replace them with new ones, as well as buy the old coaches and replace them with new ones.
“But as I talk to you, we have been informed that the authors of the letter requesting the transfer of the $200,000 to the railway account are not the right signatories,” he said.
Asked if he had transferred any amount into the account, he said not yet, following the timely intervention by the ministry informing it that the signatures were fake.
The group is said to have engaged in the falsification of the company’s letterheads to write letters to a scrap dealer in Accra, instructing him to transfer $200,000 into an account it described as that of the company.
The letters were signed by two signatories, R. Armah and K.B. Hackman, ostensibly on behalf of the interim chairman of the management committee of the railway workers union, but the union chairman has denied knowledge of the said letter.
Another letter which was signed on behalf of the chairman of the company’s scrap committee, was intercepted by the Ministry of Harbours and Railways, which has directed that any plan of harvesting scraps at the company’s installations should be suspended immediately.
Amoah was arrested while in possession of metals described as serviceable vans of the company, which had been cut into pieces for sale as scrap.
When contacted, the Managing Director of the company, Mr Rufus Quaye, expressed shock and displeasure at the new turn of events in the company.
“No worker has the right to sell scrap or to determine that any disposable item of the company is scrap. We have a scrap committee that deals with that. You cannot buy scrap from the workers without approval from the scrap committee and not even I, the managing director, have the right to call scrap dealers to sell any component of the company’s property to them,” he said.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the local representative of the scrap buying company, Mr K. Amewu, he confirmed the receipt of the letter by his company and said the agreement was that the company would garner the lines that were not in use and replace them with new ones, as well as buy the old coaches and replace them with new ones.
“But as I talk to you, we have been informed that the authors of the letter requesting the transfer of the $200,000 to the railway account are not the right signatories,” he said.
Asked if he had transferred any amount into the account, he said not yet, following the timely intervention by the ministry informing it that the signatures were fake.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
RAPE AT HOSPITAL...Court remands 31-year-old nurse (LEAD STORY)
A 31-year-old male nurse at the Volta River Authority (VRA) Hospital at Aboadze, near Sekondi, has been arrested for allegedly drugging and raping an 18-year-old student patient who was on admission at the hospital.
The suspect, Justice A. Cadigah, was said to have injected the victim with a sleep-inducing drug before embarking on the sexual act.
After the injection, the victim was said to have become weak and Cadigah reportedly took advantage of that to have sex with her on an isolated bed in the ward.
Fearing that the girl might get pregnant after the act, Cadigah is said to have visited her at school after her discharge and attempted to offer her medicine to avert any possible pregnancy.
The victim told the police that she had a serious stomach upset about 9.00 p.m. on July 4, 2008 and her father took her to the hospital where Cadigah was the nurse on night duty.
“He told my father that I should be admitted so that he could take a closer look at the situation. I was vomiting and he gave me an injection. After that I became weak and he asked me to go and wash myself in the bathroom,” she told the police.
She further stated that while in the bathroom, the nurse joined her there and started fondling her breasts but she protested and he later helped her to her bed.
“He then came to my bed and slept on me. I was so weak and could only tell him to stop. He left and came back later,” she said.
“That time he forcibly had sex with me and then left me in the bed. The next day, he came to ask if I loved him and gave me a number to call him anytime. I was so embarrassed and shy to tell my father about it. My mother had also travelled out of town,” she said.
She said she told her friend about her ordeal after her discharge from the hospital and the friend advised her to report the issue to her mother’s friend, which she did.
The victim said after informing her, her mother’s friend took her to her father.
“We then called the number the nurse had given me and I told him, in the presence of my father, that I was in pain because of the act and that it was likely I could get pregnant,” the girl said.
She said Cadigah then promised her medicine to ease the pain and asked her to meet him at her school.
Her father then proceeded to the police station in Sekondi to report the matter to the police.
At the appointed time, the nurse drove to the school and in the process of giving the victim the medication, he was arrested.
Cadigah was yesterday remanded by the Sekondi Circuit to enable the police to conduct further investigations.
The suspect, Justice A. Cadigah, was said to have injected the victim with a sleep-inducing drug before embarking on the sexual act.
After the injection, the victim was said to have become weak and Cadigah reportedly took advantage of that to have sex with her on an isolated bed in the ward.
Fearing that the girl might get pregnant after the act, Cadigah is said to have visited her at school after her discharge and attempted to offer her medicine to avert any possible pregnancy.
The victim told the police that she had a serious stomach upset about 9.00 p.m. on July 4, 2008 and her father took her to the hospital where Cadigah was the nurse on night duty.
“He told my father that I should be admitted so that he could take a closer look at the situation. I was vomiting and he gave me an injection. After that I became weak and he asked me to go and wash myself in the bathroom,” she told the police.
She further stated that while in the bathroom, the nurse joined her there and started fondling her breasts but she protested and he later helped her to her bed.
“He then came to my bed and slept on me. I was so weak and could only tell him to stop. He left and came back later,” she said.
“That time he forcibly had sex with me and then left me in the bed. The next day, he came to ask if I loved him and gave me a number to call him anytime. I was so embarrassed and shy to tell my father about it. My mother had also travelled out of town,” she said.
She said she told her friend about her ordeal after her discharge from the hospital and the friend advised her to report the issue to her mother’s friend, which she did.
The victim said after informing her, her mother’s friend took her to her father.
“We then called the number the nurse had given me and I told him, in the presence of my father, that I was in pain because of the act and that it was likely I could get pregnant,” the girl said.
She said Cadigah then promised her medicine to ease the pain and asked her to meet him at her school.
Her father then proceeded to the police station in Sekondi to report the matter to the police.
At the appointed time, the nurse drove to the school and in the process of giving the victim the medication, he was arrested.
Cadigah was yesterday remanded by the Sekondi Circuit to enable the police to conduct further investigations.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
REPORT CHEATING CEPS OFFICERS (PAGE 29)
Members of the general public who deal with the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and suspect they are not being treated fairly have been advised to report to the Internal Affairs Unit of the service.
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Administration and Human Resource, Mr Paul Adubofour, said feedback was very important to the provision of better service to the public.
He said officials of the unit were tasked to receive complaints from members of the public who in one way or the other had been offended or felt cheated by an official of the service.
“You should not feel intimidated, report them to the unit and the issue will be investigated and if found liable, the said officer would be dealt with in accordance with the service regulations,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner cautioned that much as customers were at liberty to lodge a complaint against an officer, they should be able to provide enough evidence when the complainant was invited to testify or give evidence if necessary.
“They have their name tags on their shirts to help you to get their names and hold on to them. You must also provide other evidence which will ensure that together we are able to shape the service to the expectation of all Ghanaians,” he added.
Mr Adubofour said the move was critical to CEPS to ensure the establishment of good rapport between the service and the business community.
Mr Adubofour said the move would enhance the professional and ethical conduct of the customs officers at all entry points and to achieve that there was the need to demand that standards were set for officers and enforced.
“The creation of an internal affairs unit was based on the United States Customs Model to receive complaints from members of the public for investigation.”
He expressed the hope that members of the general public would do their best by patiently lodging their complaints with the unit to ensure that together the system was shaped for the benefit of all.
The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Administration and Human Resource, Mr Paul Adubofour, said feedback was very important to the provision of better service to the public.
He said officials of the unit were tasked to receive complaints from members of the public who in one way or the other had been offended or felt cheated by an official of the service.
“You should not feel intimidated, report them to the unit and the issue will be investigated and if found liable, the said officer would be dealt with in accordance with the service regulations,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner cautioned that much as customers were at liberty to lodge a complaint against an officer, they should be able to provide enough evidence when the complainant was invited to testify or give evidence if necessary.
“They have their name tags on their shirts to help you to get their names and hold on to them. You must also provide other evidence which will ensure that together we are able to shape the service to the expectation of all Ghanaians,” he added.
Mr Adubofour said the move was critical to CEPS to ensure the establishment of good rapport between the service and the business community.
Mr Adubofour said the move would enhance the professional and ethical conduct of the customs officers at all entry points and to achieve that there was the need to demand that standards were set for officers and enforced.
“The creation of an internal affairs unit was based on the United States Customs Model to receive complaints from members of the public for investigation.”
He expressed the hope that members of the general public would do their best by patiently lodging their complaints with the unit to ensure that together the system was shaped for the benefit of all.
STMA WAGES WAR ON TAX EVADERS (PAGE 29)
The Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) has launched a war on tax evaders in the metropolis.
The assembly has started prosecuting landlords in the metropolis who are reluctant to pay their property rates.
The first batch of 20 landlords arraigned before the Sekondi Magistrate’s court were fined and ordered to pay up.
The landlords owe as much as GH¢520,000 in property rates and the first batch ought to pay about GH¢20,000. The Assembly is processing the others for court.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Mr John Laste, non-payment of property and basic rate, business operating fees and other levies denied the assembly its needed revenue.
“We have a lot of development projects to finance and people need to pay their rates and levies promptly to enable the Assembly to undertake them,” he said.
“We at the Assembly are forced by circumstances beyond our control to resort to the courts to compel landlords and other business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies,” the PRO stressed.
He said they had sent a lot of reminders to the landlords and business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies but they simply ignored them.
“If these taxes are not collected, it is common knowledge that the Assembly’s development programmes would be thrown overboard because of lack of funding.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public, especially the property owners, to pay.
“The Assembly set March 31 every year as the deadline for business operators to honour their tax obligations but when the time was due we did not act immediately but sent reminders to them but they tacitly refused to honour their tax obligations to the Assembly, compelling the Assembly to apply the law,” Mr Laste said
The assembly has started prosecuting landlords in the metropolis who are reluctant to pay their property rates.
The first batch of 20 landlords arraigned before the Sekondi Magistrate’s court were fined and ordered to pay up.
The landlords owe as much as GH¢520,000 in property rates and the first batch ought to pay about GH¢20,000. The Assembly is processing the others for court.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, Mr John Laste, non-payment of property and basic rate, business operating fees and other levies denied the assembly its needed revenue.
“We have a lot of development projects to finance and people need to pay their rates and levies promptly to enable the Assembly to undertake them,” he said.
“We at the Assembly are forced by circumstances beyond our control to resort to the courts to compel landlords and other business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies,” the PRO stressed.
He said they had sent a lot of reminders to the landlords and business operators to pay their rates, fees and levies but they simply ignored them.
“If these taxes are not collected, it is common knowledge that the Assembly’s development programmes would be thrown overboard because of lack of funding.
He, therefore, appealed to the general public, especially the property owners, to pay.
“The Assembly set March 31 every year as the deadline for business operators to honour their tax obligations but when the time was due we did not act immediately but sent reminders to them but they tacitly refused to honour their tax obligations to the Assembly, compelling the Assembly to apply the law,” Mr Laste said
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