Adamus Resources Limited, operators of Nzema Golds, has assured the communities in which it operates that the company will ensure that the community benefited from its operations.
The company, which is a gold exploration entity, is likely to pour its first gold by the end of the first quarter of next year.
This came to light when the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Buah, toured the facilities in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The project comprises a Greenfield development of open-pit mining operations, a processing facility and associated infrastructure to mine and process ore from defined resources in concessions including Salman-Akanko and Anwia-Bokazo deposits.
Current estimates show that the project has a minimum life of 10 years and is capable of producing on average of 100,000 ounces of gold per year.
Mr Mark Addo, the Business Development Director of Adamus, said the company would be guided by the historical precedents of gold mining in the country to ensure the socio-industrial harmony needed for the growth of the company, the community and the country.
He said the construction work was more than 20 per cent completed and expressed the hope that the construction work would be completed by October this year.
He said that would be followed by the fixtures and fittings.
Mr Addo said to ensure that the community benefited from its operations, the company would work closely with the community.
He said the current work force of the company was about 700 and said most of them were employed from the local communities.
The business development director said their mission was not to exploit and leave the people in abject poverty but to ensure transparency, respect the cultural values of the people and be socially and environmentally responsible in their operations.
“People have invested in our operations and they look forward to results not at the expense of the people but through co-operation and sensitivity to the needs of the people,” he said.
Mr Addo said the expectations of the community were very high and that every effort would be made to meet those expectations, adding that apart from employing the people, most of them would be trained for other jobs and professions.
“Mining has many faces and it is our corporate policy that those who bid for our contracts should employ their personnel from the communities in the Nzemamanle,” he said.
The MP, who is also the Deputy Energy Minister, commended the company and urged them to live in a peaceful atmosphere to ensure the development of the area.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
MEN 'DELIVERING' BABIES UNDER NHIS (MIRROR, PAGE 34, JULY 12, 2010)
From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu,
Takoradi
Men are ‘delivering’ babies under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as clinical audit of the scheme has uncovered new ways that some people have adopted to defraud the system at accredited public and private hospitals.
Financial claims by women, who, under the Free Maternal Care (FMC), had spontaneous vaginal delivery at the accredited hospitals across the country, were fraudulently classified under caesarian delivery which attracted higher premium.
The names of those who made the claims were then submitted and the claims running into millions of Ghana cedis were paid accordingly. But the NHIS has vowed to recover each pesewa that had been lost through the bogus claims.
Mr Sylvester Mensah, Chief Executive of the scheme, who announced this, said the scheme would not relent in its efforts to clear the system of people whose focus had noticeably been to sabotage the efforts of providing affordable health care to the people of Ghana.
He explained that some of the bills submitted in the name of women, who had been delivered of babies were questionable. The auditors therefore decided to cross-check the claims and discovered the fraud.
Mr Mensah said it was shocking to realise that many of the people whose names were given as women, who had been delivered under the FMC were actually men and not women.
That aside, he said some of the ‘women’, the service providers claimed had been delivered of babies were dead many years ago and were never in the hospitals for delivery or anywhere near the maternity block.
Again, “the women, who the service providers claim were delivered through caesarian section actually had spontaneous vaginal delivery. The women raised their dresses to show that there was no cut on their bodies,” he said.
Asked how men’s names were substituted for women, he said the names were generated from the computers without even looking to see if the names could be those of men.
He said from the month of July, the scheme would no longer run individual accounts for schemes, but a consolidated account with Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and the Agricultural Development Banks (ADB) for the various schemes to operate with unique codes.
This, he said, was to avert unwarranted payments that could run the scheme down.
Mr Mensah also said the scheme would also look at disaccrediting some private members of the service providers who referred card holders to their own clinics.
He explained that some doctors referred patients to privately owned clinics thereby billing the scheme twice.
“Instead of attending to the patients with the scheme, these medical doctors who have their facilities registered under the scheme refer their patients to their facilities,” he said.
“They will be billed by the hospitals they first visited and the second facility with the same sickness making it double billing,” he said.
The chief executive said with the engagement of the clinical audits system, huge amounts unduly siphoned from the scheme had been recovered.
“Also more than 35 scheme managers and officers had been interdicted, about four of the officers are in police custody charged for fraud,” he said.
He urged officers to avoid spreading negative things about the one-time payment and work for the success of scheme.
Takoradi
Men are ‘delivering’ babies under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as clinical audit of the scheme has uncovered new ways that some people have adopted to defraud the system at accredited public and private hospitals.
Financial claims by women, who, under the Free Maternal Care (FMC), had spontaneous vaginal delivery at the accredited hospitals across the country, were fraudulently classified under caesarian delivery which attracted higher premium.
The names of those who made the claims were then submitted and the claims running into millions of Ghana cedis were paid accordingly. But the NHIS has vowed to recover each pesewa that had been lost through the bogus claims.
Mr Sylvester Mensah, Chief Executive of the scheme, who announced this, said the scheme would not relent in its efforts to clear the system of people whose focus had noticeably been to sabotage the efforts of providing affordable health care to the people of Ghana.
He explained that some of the bills submitted in the name of women, who had been delivered of babies were questionable. The auditors therefore decided to cross-check the claims and discovered the fraud.
Mr Mensah said it was shocking to realise that many of the people whose names were given as women, who had been delivered under the FMC were actually men and not women.
That aside, he said some of the ‘women’, the service providers claimed had been delivered of babies were dead many years ago and were never in the hospitals for delivery or anywhere near the maternity block.
Again, “the women, who the service providers claim were delivered through caesarian section actually had spontaneous vaginal delivery. The women raised their dresses to show that there was no cut on their bodies,” he said.
Asked how men’s names were substituted for women, he said the names were generated from the computers without even looking to see if the names could be those of men.
He said from the month of July, the scheme would no longer run individual accounts for schemes, but a consolidated account with Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and the Agricultural Development Banks (ADB) for the various schemes to operate with unique codes.
This, he said, was to avert unwarranted payments that could run the scheme down.
Mr Mensah also said the scheme would also look at disaccrediting some private members of the service providers who referred card holders to their own clinics.
He explained that some doctors referred patients to privately owned clinics thereby billing the scheme twice.
“Instead of attending to the patients with the scheme, these medical doctors who have their facilities registered under the scheme refer their patients to their facilities,” he said.
“They will be billed by the hospitals they first visited and the second facility with the same sickness making it double billing,” he said.
The chief executive said with the engagement of the clinical audits system, huge amounts unduly siphoned from the scheme had been recovered.
“Also more than 35 scheme managers and officers had been interdicted, about four of the officers are in police custody charged for fraud,” he said.
He urged officers to avoid spreading negative things about the one-time payment and work for the success of scheme.
IS THE INCREASE IN UTILITY TARRIFS JUSTIFIED?...Vkews from Sekondi-Takoradi (PAGE 31, MIRROR, JUNE 12, 2010)
In actual fact, I am not against the increase; my difficulty is the over-politicisation of the increment which has clouded the real debate.
The days when we enjoyed free things are over and if we continue paying less for utility service charges in the name of poor working conditions then we will end up doing nothing for this country.
Because of the politicisation of the increment it seems consumers want to oppose anything that comes from the government.
If we continue saying that the economy is bad and that things should be as they are, how will the central government generate revenue to fix the economical problems?
We all know that both the Ghana Water Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana cannot look for funds from the Ghana Stock Exchange. The inability of government to attract private investors into these sectors is largely due to the fact that consumers are not paying for the real cost of what they use.
The government buys power from the producers at a very high rate and sells it at low prices. How can the utility companies, therefore, sustain their operation if the government continues to absorb the excess cost?
The best thing I recommend to my compatriots is that they should learn to control the usage of utilities such as water and electricity. They should switch off all gadgets when necessary and only put on lights when it is absolutely necessary.
That aside the ECG and Ghana Water should also find a way of eliminating the waste in the system.
Personally, I have no problem with the adjustments but the responsibility on the part of users as well as producers is very critical and we have to look at it dispassionately, devoid of politics.
I don’t have a problem with the 89 per cent increase in electricity and 36 per cent in water. What I am advocating for is a corresponding increase in the salaries of workers.
The service providers should also work on eliminating the waste in the system to ensure that when we are talking about real cost it would be minus waste.
I am a pensioner and sympathise with the ordinary man on the street who has difficulty in paying his bills. If workers are paid good salaries and the waste in the system is eliminated, nobody would complain about the increases.
Many people work in the private sector, and most of these private sector companies do not even pay the minimum wage. Therefore, how do we expect such people to survive?
The sad aspect of the situation is that, when the increment was announced, instead of people talking about the issue in a non-partisan manner to ensure that we all contribute to the debate, it was coloured with politics.
One other interesting thing is that when the debate on the increase in tariffs was ongoing we were comparing it to countries in the West African sub-region and saying that we in Ghana were paying less.
But the facts are that the income levels and taxes in those countries are different from ours, therefore, the best thing to do is to work on removing the waste in the system.
In Takoradi, where I live, streetlights are on throughout the day when they should be off. The system is just bad. Ghana Water Company and the ECG/VRA first have to ensure that things are put right before going to the consumer to ask for more.
It is only natural that when people become appreciative of an act or work done, they will be willing to give more. However, when they are not sure of the sustainability of the service delivery and are asked to pay more money, they will naturally resist.
The increase in utility charges should be withdrawn. The service providers should straighten their system before the increment takes effect. I am a mechanic and I use electricity a lot.
My colleagues and I are not ready to pay. I think the percentage increase should be reduced and the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission ( PURC) must get the utility companies to put their act right to eliminate waste.
The problems they had to deal with is not about increment, meaning that if they had been able to prevent 50 per cent of the waste in their line of operation, this increment would not have been necessary.
Sometimes one reports to work, but there is no light and one therefore has to wait endlessly, meanwhile one has to eat, pay school fees, water bills and address other social needs.
The best thing the government can do is to rather task the utility companies to ensure that there is no waste in the system.
I am not a salaried worker and it is difficult for me to get money to pay for what I use at my workplace and home. Therefore, if I decide to charge more who would come to my shop to seek my services?
They should rather suspend the increment because we are not ready now. Life has become rough and tough for some of us.
If income levels are good and service deliveries efficient, nobody will complain; we will all embrace it without complaining.
Our salaries are meagre with no substantial increment and I don’t understand why we are being asked to pay more. Life has become very unbearable for some of us.
I have school fees to pay, my family to feed, and the extended family system we practise in Ghana also requires that one extends a helping hand to the deprived in one's family.
For three years, I have not seen any increase in my income, but when there is a general increase in any utility tariff, it affects me a lot.
It is sad and very unfair that there are people who do not have money to even pay for three-square meals a day but we want to increase tariffs without considering the social discomfort that this will cause them.
If income levels are good, business is booming and commerce and industry moving with the corresponding increase in trading we would not have a problem with the increases.
As it is, we are operating at a loss. That aside, many people do not have jobs and if higher tariffs are forced down our throats, many may not survive.
We all agree that the government is doing its best to ensure that social services are there for people to access, but the fact is that the waste is too much.
If anything, the tariff increment should be shelved for the meantime, because our economic situation is not good enough.
We are operating at a loss; the increment in utility tariffs would as a matter of fact throw those of us in the hospitality industry out of business since we cannot pass on the new cost to our customers.
I have to buy water to ensure that my guests are comfortable or have access to water as and when they need it.
When the light goes off, I have to make sure I fuel the generator to supply the whole facility with power to ensure that I do not create any discomfort for the guests lodging at my facility.
Therefore, if we have to pay extra cost for the service that is already not reliable then some of us would have to fold up.
The best thing to do at the moment is to suspend the adjustments. We in the hospitality industry cannot pay the extra cost because it is difficult to look for additional money to buy extra water and diesel to power our plants.
We are not saying there should not be an upward adjustment of tariffs, but all other factors should be taken into consideration. We pay huge taxes and our overhead cost is so high, while many of our services are provided on credit.
It takes quite sometime for us to recoup the money we spend on the services we provide.
The new tariff would have a negative rippling effect on the employees of the facility and that is not good enough for the development agenda of the government and the private sector.
The service companies should look for more funds to improve their efficiency level to ensure regular services to the customers before we talk about payment.
The upward adjustment in utility tariffs is not justifiable. Nothing is moving. What is going to happen with the increment is that prices of goods and services will go up since people are going to factor it into the unit price of goods and services.
Therefore, the consumers of other services would be the next victims. I was surprised when a taxi driver told me I had to pay more because prices of water and electricity have been increased and they have to work hard to ensure that they meet the challenges that the increment would bring.
The utility service providers’ claim that they want consumers to pay the right prices to enable them give better services is untrue.
The service providers should just get back and purge themselves of the waste they are generating.
The increment is too high and something has to be done urgently else some of us would be thrown out of business in no time.
I am a service provider and the situation is very bad. Electricity is taking a chunk of my income and I am running at a loss.
We have other taxes as well as workers salaries to pay, therefore, the increase in electricity and water tariffs will push our businesses out of gear.
We are not against the increase but if the services they provide improve, we would not hesitate to pay the new rate. But that does not mean we should pre-finance it. I run a bar, if the light goes off, I have to buy petrol to power my generator.
Our drinks have to be chilled and the music we play enables people to relax after a hard day’s work.
Are we going to charge people extra for just a bottle of drink?
That notwithstanding if water is not flowing, we have to buy it. Therefore if I have to go through all these things and I am not getting the required service then it is disturbing.
I have workers and I cannot let them down. We create, share and pay taxes to government. But if our business operations are grinding to a halt then we have to sit up.
I must be honest with you that I am not happy with the increment. For the sake of my job, it is important that the PURC suspends the increase and urge the utility companies to clean their system.
The days when we enjoyed free things are over and if we continue paying less for utility service charges in the name of poor working conditions then we will end up doing nothing for this country.
Because of the politicisation of the increment it seems consumers want to oppose anything that comes from the government.
If we continue saying that the economy is bad and that things should be as they are, how will the central government generate revenue to fix the economical problems?
We all know that both the Ghana Water Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana cannot look for funds from the Ghana Stock Exchange. The inability of government to attract private investors into these sectors is largely due to the fact that consumers are not paying for the real cost of what they use.
The government buys power from the producers at a very high rate and sells it at low prices. How can the utility companies, therefore, sustain their operation if the government continues to absorb the excess cost?
The best thing I recommend to my compatriots is that they should learn to control the usage of utilities such as water and electricity. They should switch off all gadgets when necessary and only put on lights when it is absolutely necessary.
That aside the ECG and Ghana Water should also find a way of eliminating the waste in the system.
Personally, I have no problem with the adjustments but the responsibility on the part of users as well as producers is very critical and we have to look at it dispassionately, devoid of politics.
I don’t have a problem with the 89 per cent increase in electricity and 36 per cent in water. What I am advocating for is a corresponding increase in the salaries of workers.
The service providers should also work on eliminating the waste in the system to ensure that when we are talking about real cost it would be minus waste.
I am a pensioner and sympathise with the ordinary man on the street who has difficulty in paying his bills. If workers are paid good salaries and the waste in the system is eliminated, nobody would complain about the increases.
Many people work in the private sector, and most of these private sector companies do not even pay the minimum wage. Therefore, how do we expect such people to survive?
The sad aspect of the situation is that, when the increment was announced, instead of people talking about the issue in a non-partisan manner to ensure that we all contribute to the debate, it was coloured with politics.
One other interesting thing is that when the debate on the increase in tariffs was ongoing we were comparing it to countries in the West African sub-region and saying that we in Ghana were paying less.
But the facts are that the income levels and taxes in those countries are different from ours, therefore, the best thing to do is to work on removing the waste in the system.
In Takoradi, where I live, streetlights are on throughout the day when they should be off. The system is just bad. Ghana Water Company and the ECG/VRA first have to ensure that things are put right before going to the consumer to ask for more.
It is only natural that when people become appreciative of an act or work done, they will be willing to give more. However, when they are not sure of the sustainability of the service delivery and are asked to pay more money, they will naturally resist.
The increase in utility charges should be withdrawn. The service providers should straighten their system before the increment takes effect. I am a mechanic and I use electricity a lot.
My colleagues and I are not ready to pay. I think the percentage increase should be reduced and the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission ( PURC) must get the utility companies to put their act right to eliminate waste.
The problems they had to deal with is not about increment, meaning that if they had been able to prevent 50 per cent of the waste in their line of operation, this increment would not have been necessary.
Sometimes one reports to work, but there is no light and one therefore has to wait endlessly, meanwhile one has to eat, pay school fees, water bills and address other social needs.
The best thing the government can do is to rather task the utility companies to ensure that there is no waste in the system.
I am not a salaried worker and it is difficult for me to get money to pay for what I use at my workplace and home. Therefore, if I decide to charge more who would come to my shop to seek my services?
They should rather suspend the increment because we are not ready now. Life has become rough and tough for some of us.
If income levels are good and service deliveries efficient, nobody will complain; we will all embrace it without complaining.
Our salaries are meagre with no substantial increment and I don’t understand why we are being asked to pay more. Life has become very unbearable for some of us.
I have school fees to pay, my family to feed, and the extended family system we practise in Ghana also requires that one extends a helping hand to the deprived in one's family.
For three years, I have not seen any increase in my income, but when there is a general increase in any utility tariff, it affects me a lot.
It is sad and very unfair that there are people who do not have money to even pay for three-square meals a day but we want to increase tariffs without considering the social discomfort that this will cause them.
If income levels are good, business is booming and commerce and industry moving with the corresponding increase in trading we would not have a problem with the increases.
As it is, we are operating at a loss. That aside, many people do not have jobs and if higher tariffs are forced down our throats, many may not survive.
We all agree that the government is doing its best to ensure that social services are there for people to access, but the fact is that the waste is too much.
If anything, the tariff increment should be shelved for the meantime, because our economic situation is not good enough.
We are operating at a loss; the increment in utility tariffs would as a matter of fact throw those of us in the hospitality industry out of business since we cannot pass on the new cost to our customers.
I have to buy water to ensure that my guests are comfortable or have access to water as and when they need it.
When the light goes off, I have to make sure I fuel the generator to supply the whole facility with power to ensure that I do not create any discomfort for the guests lodging at my facility.
Therefore, if we have to pay extra cost for the service that is already not reliable then some of us would have to fold up.
The best thing to do at the moment is to suspend the adjustments. We in the hospitality industry cannot pay the extra cost because it is difficult to look for additional money to buy extra water and diesel to power our plants.
We are not saying there should not be an upward adjustment of tariffs, but all other factors should be taken into consideration. We pay huge taxes and our overhead cost is so high, while many of our services are provided on credit.
It takes quite sometime for us to recoup the money we spend on the services we provide.
The new tariff would have a negative rippling effect on the employees of the facility and that is not good enough for the development agenda of the government and the private sector.
The service companies should look for more funds to improve their efficiency level to ensure regular services to the customers before we talk about payment.
The upward adjustment in utility tariffs is not justifiable. Nothing is moving. What is going to happen with the increment is that prices of goods and services will go up since people are going to factor it into the unit price of goods and services.
Therefore, the consumers of other services would be the next victims. I was surprised when a taxi driver told me I had to pay more because prices of water and electricity have been increased and they have to work hard to ensure that they meet the challenges that the increment would bring.
The utility service providers’ claim that they want consumers to pay the right prices to enable them give better services is untrue.
The service providers should just get back and purge themselves of the waste they are generating.
The increment is too high and something has to be done urgently else some of us would be thrown out of business in no time.
I am a service provider and the situation is very bad. Electricity is taking a chunk of my income and I am running at a loss.
We have other taxes as well as workers salaries to pay, therefore, the increase in electricity and water tariffs will push our businesses out of gear.
We are not against the increase but if the services they provide improve, we would not hesitate to pay the new rate. But that does not mean we should pre-finance it. I run a bar, if the light goes off, I have to buy petrol to power my generator.
Our drinks have to be chilled and the music we play enables people to relax after a hard day’s work.
Are we going to charge people extra for just a bottle of drink?
That notwithstanding if water is not flowing, we have to buy it. Therefore if I have to go through all these things and I am not getting the required service then it is disturbing.
I have workers and I cannot let them down. We create, share and pay taxes to government. But if our business operations are grinding to a halt then we have to sit up.
I must be honest with you that I am not happy with the increment. For the sake of my job, it is important that the PURC suspends the increase and urge the utility companies to clean their system.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
TWIN-CITY CHOKED WITH FILTH, VEHICULAR TRAFFIC (PAGE 23, JUNE 2, 2010)
The Twin-City of Sekondi/Takoradi has been engulfed by filth and very heavy vehicular and human traffic.
Many of the street corners in the metropolis, pavements and bus stops have been turned into rubbish dumps and commercial vehicles are forced to use part of the streets as terminals.
Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the Sekondi -Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly owes the waste collectors.
Apart from this, the assembly’s own waste departments are not equipped to handle the worsening situation.
Mud and sand from the recent floods in the metropolis settled at one of the busy bus stops on the Sekondi/Takoradi High Street, therefore, “trotros” and taxicabs plying the road have to use part of the street as a parking lot.
Even though some residents cleared the choked gutters, the waste had been left on the shoulders of the street and this eventually ends up in the gutters again.
The city authorities have actually lost control of the situation and in many parts of the city rubbish has piled up and is emitting a very bad odour which is a threat to the health of residents.
Residents of New Site in the Twin-City who were interviewed said when the sun shines after it has rained they find it very difficult to eat or breathe due to the stench.
That aside, many of the well-designed pedestrian walkways on the shoulders of the street have been turned into rubbish dumps and pedestrians are forced to share the streets with the vehicles, which is dangerous.
Besides, the number of vehicles in the metropolis has increased and there is little or no parking space for them. As a result visitors to the central business district have to park on the street corners and walk long distances to transact business.
To control the traffic situation, the metropolitan assembly has been clamping vehicles that park on the shoulders of the street.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the assembly to find out why it has been clamping the vehicles when it had not provided enough parking lots for the visitors to the metropolis, the writer was told that the clamping was to raise more revenue for the assembly, and not only to deter people from parking there.
One of the officers who clamps the vehicles said if there was no space for them to park, the vehicle owners should not come into the metropolis with their vehicles.
Shop owners also said their sales are declining because shoppers or visitors to their shops complain of lack of parking spaces for vehicles.
“They harass our customers too much. For example if a customer is coming to buy goods worth GH¢10 and he or she will have his or her vehicle tyres clamped and asked to pay GH¢40.00 before the vehicle is released, they will not come”, one of the shop owners said.
Many of the street corners in the metropolis, pavements and bus stops have been turned into rubbish dumps and commercial vehicles are forced to use part of the streets as terminals.
Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the Sekondi -Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly owes the waste collectors.
Apart from this, the assembly’s own waste departments are not equipped to handle the worsening situation.
Mud and sand from the recent floods in the metropolis settled at one of the busy bus stops on the Sekondi/Takoradi High Street, therefore, “trotros” and taxicabs plying the road have to use part of the street as a parking lot.
Even though some residents cleared the choked gutters, the waste had been left on the shoulders of the street and this eventually ends up in the gutters again.
The city authorities have actually lost control of the situation and in many parts of the city rubbish has piled up and is emitting a very bad odour which is a threat to the health of residents.
Residents of New Site in the Twin-City who were interviewed said when the sun shines after it has rained they find it very difficult to eat or breathe due to the stench.
That aside, many of the well-designed pedestrian walkways on the shoulders of the street have been turned into rubbish dumps and pedestrians are forced to share the streets with the vehicles, which is dangerous.
Besides, the number of vehicles in the metropolis has increased and there is little or no parking space for them. As a result visitors to the central business district have to park on the street corners and walk long distances to transact business.
To control the traffic situation, the metropolitan assembly has been clamping vehicles that park on the shoulders of the street.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the assembly to find out why it has been clamping the vehicles when it had not provided enough parking lots for the visitors to the metropolis, the writer was told that the clamping was to raise more revenue for the assembly, and not only to deter people from parking there.
One of the officers who clamps the vehicles said if there was no space for them to park, the vehicle owners should not come into the metropolis with their vehicles.
Shop owners also said their sales are declining because shoppers or visitors to their shops complain of lack of parking spaces for vehicles.
“They harass our customers too much. For example if a customer is coming to buy goods worth GH¢10 and he or she will have his or her vehicle tyres clamped and asked to pay GH¢40.00 before the vehicle is released, they will not come”, one of the shop owners said.
ADAMUS RESOURCES TO CONSTRUCT NEW ROAD (SPREAD, JUNE 2, 2010)
Adamus Resources Limited, a gold mining company, is to construct a road from its operational site to link the main Elubo-Takoradi highway.
The company and its sub-contractors are to employ labour from the communities of their operations.
At the fourth public hearing on the operations of the company in the Salman community, its management gave an assurance that it would not use the existing access roads in the communities because of the possible effects the heavy equipment would have on the roads.
The new road, it said, would also ensure that traffic congestion and road accidents were reduced to the barest minimum.
The Business Development Director of the company, Mr Mark Addo, said the design for the road had been done and precautions taken to reduce the environmental impact of the road construction.
“The area has many rivers and streams passing through its rich forests and we will use enough culverts to ensure that we do not divert the free flow of these water bodies,” he said.
He said even though the company had held a series of public hearings organised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it was important to notify the community to be aware of the new developments.
Mr Addo said social and industrial harmony was very important to its operations and it would always consult the people to ensure that they were part of decision-making at all levels.
The people commended Adamus for working closely with them and employing the youth from Nzemaland.
The company and its sub-contractors are to employ labour from the communities of their operations.
At the fourth public hearing on the operations of the company in the Salman community, its management gave an assurance that it would not use the existing access roads in the communities because of the possible effects the heavy equipment would have on the roads.
The new road, it said, would also ensure that traffic congestion and road accidents were reduced to the barest minimum.
The Business Development Director of the company, Mr Mark Addo, said the design for the road had been done and precautions taken to reduce the environmental impact of the road construction.
“The area has many rivers and streams passing through its rich forests and we will use enough culverts to ensure that we do not divert the free flow of these water bodies,” he said.
He said even though the company had held a series of public hearings organised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it was important to notify the community to be aware of the new developments.
Mr Addo said social and industrial harmony was very important to its operations and it would always consult the people to ensure that they were part of decision-making at all levels.
The people commended Adamus for working closely with them and employing the youth from Nzemaland.
COURT ADJOURNS LIMESTONE CASE (PAGE 51, JUNE 2, 2010
THE legal battle involving two investors and an Accra-based lawyer over a multi-million dollar limestone extracting project at Nawuley in the Jomoro District of the Western Region was yesterday adjourned to June 8, 2010.
The lawyers for the Accra-based lawyer, Mr J.E. Jainie, who is against the project asked the court for sometime to enable them to study the motion opposing the injunction filed by the counsel for the two companies leading to the adjournment.
Mr Janie, who is also an elder of one of the seven stool families at Nawuley is seeking an injunction to halt the project estimated at $120 million in the Nawuley community,
The premises of the Sekondi High Court was besieged by chiefs, opinion leaders and youth from the Nawuley community to lend their support for the two embattled investors, Ghacem Limited and Multiwall Paper Sacks Limited.
The adjournment, however, did not go down well with the sympathisers, who arrived in Sekondi at about 6 a.m. in four buses.
The lawyers for the Accra-based lawyer, Mr J.E. Jainie, who is against the project asked the court for sometime to enable them to study the motion opposing the injunction filed by the counsel for the two companies leading to the adjournment.
Mr Janie, who is also an elder of one of the seven stool families at Nawuley is seeking an injunction to halt the project estimated at $120 million in the Nawuley community,
The premises of the Sekondi High Court was besieged by chiefs, opinion leaders and youth from the Nawuley community to lend their support for the two embattled investors, Ghacem Limited and Multiwall Paper Sacks Limited.
The adjournment, however, did not go down well with the sympathisers, who arrived in Sekondi at about 6 a.m. in four buses.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
NCA TO INSPECT TELECOM FACILITIES (SPREAD, JUNE 1, 2010)
THE National Communications Authority (NCA) is to embark on a nation-wide inspection of facilities belonging to service providers in the telecommunication industry.
This is to ensure that inferior structures, especially masts, put up by the service providers are decommissioned to secure the safety of the communities where those structures are sited.
The move has become necessary following the collapse of a telecommunication mast at Mpintsim in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis last week that caused massive disruption of power in 13 communities.
Officials of the NCA made this known to the Daily Graphic after visiting the site of the collapsed mast yesterday.
It was detected during the visit that the steel used in the construction of the mast was of inferior quality.
The NCA officials said the owners of the facility, who failed to maintain the 10-year-old structure, leading to its collapse, would be sanctioned.
According to them, as part of a new measure, every communication or Internet service provider would have to obtain a structural licence which would ensure that the right company was contracted, as well as the right materials obtained, before structures such as masts could be mounted.
This is to ensure that inferior structures, especially masts, put up by the service providers are decommissioned to secure the safety of the communities where those structures are sited.
The move has become necessary following the collapse of a telecommunication mast at Mpintsim in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis last week that caused massive disruption of power in 13 communities.
Officials of the NCA made this known to the Daily Graphic after visiting the site of the collapsed mast yesterday.
It was detected during the visit that the steel used in the construction of the mast was of inferior quality.
The NCA officials said the owners of the facility, who failed to maintain the 10-year-old structure, leading to its collapse, would be sanctioned.
According to them, as part of a new measure, every communication or Internet service provider would have to obtain a structural licence which would ensure that the right company was contracted, as well as the right materials obtained, before structures such as masts could be mounted.
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