KEY flour milling companies in the country have expressed worry about the influx of cheap substandard imported flour from neighbouring countries through illegal means.
The manufacturers said they had taken samples of the said imported flour for laboratory analysis and that the result was below the standard of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
Some of the said brands imported flour had Ivorian trade marks which were allegedly smuggled into the country.
The Public Relations Officer of the Takoradi Flour Mills, Mr Percy Botchway told the Daily Graphic that they had submitted the results and additional samples and brand names to the FDB for their own analysis.
He said a tour of various end users of the flour in Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi and other regions of the country indicated that bakeries now mixed the cheap imported brand with those manufactured by Takoradi Flour and Irani Brothers.
“We are in Ghana trying to do everything possible to ensure that our set standards were maintained but interestingly, the market has been diluted with sub standard, he said.
“In the bid to cut cost, some bakers have actually resorted to the mixture of our products with the cheap imported ones to produce and sell it to unsuspecting members of the general public,” the PRO added.
According to Mr Botchway, if the influx was not checked, it would create problems for the local flour industry.
He expressed the hope that the sector ministry would take the necessary steps to ensure that the right thing was done to protect the interest of the local manufacturers and the health of the people.
A drive through various shops in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis has actually revealed the display of some imported flour and the dealers could not tell who the suppliers were.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
FOREIGN VESSEL ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL FISHING (BACK PAGE, FEB 16, 2010)
A FOREIGN vessel with four Chinese and 25 Ghanaians on board has been seized by the Ghana Navy for illegally fishing in restricted Ghanaian waters.
The vessel, Awo Yaa 2, was intercepted at Elmina last Friday and is currently detained at the Home Port of the Western Naval Command in Sekondi.
According to Commodore Tim Appiah of the Western Naval Command, the vessel would be handed over to the Western Regional Fisheries Commission for the next line of action.
Commodore Appiah said the command would do everything possible to ensure that foreign vessels complied with the law forbidding fishing in the restricted areas of Ghana’s waters.
He recalled that a few weeks ago, a vessel belonging to the same fishing company was arrested committing the same offence.
That case, he said, was still pending at the Fisheries Commission.
Commodore Appiah said the 30-metre contour was a reserved zone for local canoe fishermen and a “no go area” for foreign industrial vessels, which cause serious damage to small canoes.
To check the foreign vessels, the command has launched “Operation Stock Control”, which is targeted at the bigger vessels and those practising pair trawling.
The vessel, Awo Yaa 2, was intercepted at Elmina last Friday and is currently detained at the Home Port of the Western Naval Command in Sekondi.
According to Commodore Tim Appiah of the Western Naval Command, the vessel would be handed over to the Western Regional Fisheries Commission for the next line of action.
Commodore Appiah said the command would do everything possible to ensure that foreign vessels complied with the law forbidding fishing in the restricted areas of Ghana’s waters.
He recalled that a few weeks ago, a vessel belonging to the same fishing company was arrested committing the same offence.
That case, he said, was still pending at the Fisheries Commission.
Commodore Appiah said the 30-metre contour was a reserved zone for local canoe fishermen and a “no go area” for foreign industrial vessels, which cause serious damage to small canoes.
To check the foreign vessels, the command has launched “Operation Stock Control”, which is targeted at the bigger vessels and those practising pair trawling.
TWO KILLED IN TOLL BOOTH ACCIDENT (PAGE 3, FEB 15, 2010)
AN articulated truck early yesterday morning rammed into the toll booth at Beposo in the Shama District of the Western Region, killing two persons and injuring another.
The deceased were the driver of the truck, with registration number GR 2301 J, and a toll booth attendant, while another toll booth attendant sustained serious injuries.
The driver, Imoro Tanko, 52, and Thomas Opoku, 38, died instantly, while Fred Kurankyie sustained serious injuries. The dead and the injured were later conveyed to the Effia-Nkwantah Regional Hospital in Sekondi.
The incident, which occurred around 3:15 a.m., destroyed the toll booth, impeding traffic on the Accra-Takoradi Highway for many hours until the police managed to clear the wreckage.
The Western Regional Commander of the MTTU, DSP Dan Dzakah, told the Daily Graphic that the driver of the truck was returning from Tarkwa where he had delivered a consignment to a mining firm.
He said information at various checkpoints at Inchaban, Assoko and Assaman indicated that the officers on duty at that time of the night had tried to stop the truck, which was said to be travelling at unacceptable speed, but the driver refused to stop.
He said another piece of information gathered by the police indicated that the driver had been told to stop over in Takoradi to rest but he was said to have ignored the advice in his quest to get back to Tema before the following day.
DSP Dzakah said before the police could send a signal to Beposo, the driver had already rammed the truck into the structure, destroying it and causing the deaths and the injuries in the process.
He said the police were yet to locate the owner of the truck.
The Deputy Western Regional Crime Officer, Mr Dan Dartey, said even after ignoring the police early on, there were many road signs about 600 metres before the toll bridge that should have alerted the driver that there was a mandatory stop ahead.
Some eyewitnesses said the driver had been driving at top speed and that before he could hear the shouts of caution from the onlookers, it was too late.
The deceased were the driver of the truck, with registration number GR 2301 J, and a toll booth attendant, while another toll booth attendant sustained serious injuries.
The driver, Imoro Tanko, 52, and Thomas Opoku, 38, died instantly, while Fred Kurankyie sustained serious injuries. The dead and the injured were later conveyed to the Effia-Nkwantah Regional Hospital in Sekondi.
The incident, which occurred around 3:15 a.m., destroyed the toll booth, impeding traffic on the Accra-Takoradi Highway for many hours until the police managed to clear the wreckage.
The Western Regional Commander of the MTTU, DSP Dan Dzakah, told the Daily Graphic that the driver of the truck was returning from Tarkwa where he had delivered a consignment to a mining firm.
He said information at various checkpoints at Inchaban, Assoko and Assaman indicated that the officers on duty at that time of the night had tried to stop the truck, which was said to be travelling at unacceptable speed, but the driver refused to stop.
He said another piece of information gathered by the police indicated that the driver had been told to stop over in Takoradi to rest but he was said to have ignored the advice in his quest to get back to Tema before the following day.
DSP Dzakah said before the police could send a signal to Beposo, the driver had already rammed the truck into the structure, destroying it and causing the deaths and the injuries in the process.
He said the police were yet to locate the owner of the truck.
The Deputy Western Regional Crime Officer, Mr Dan Dartey, said even after ignoring the police early on, there were many road signs about 600 metres before the toll bridge that should have alerted the driver that there was a mandatory stop ahead.
Some eyewitnesses said the driver had been driving at top speed and that before he could hear the shouts of caution from the onlookers, it was too late.
POASE RESIDENTS SHARE SPACE WITH FUEL TANKS (BACK PAGE, FEB 11, 2010)
Residents of Poase, a fishing community in New Takoradi, are having sleepless nights because of the fear of explosion from fuel storage tanks which have been installed in the middle of the town.
The tanks of the company is located in the area without the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the town planning department of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA).
The residents are kept awake in the night as the heavy duty trucks keep disturbing them, always in fear that if what happened at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should occur, they would be the victims.
The company has connected its pipeline to that of TOR and currently has two vessels docked at the Takoradi Port with imported petroleum to be offloaded through TOR pipelines to its facility when the current stock runs out.
The company, Cyrus Petroleum, according to the officials of the EPA, was not supposed to start operating, as there are many questions to be answered concerning its application.
The EPA explained that the company had submitted a report and its drawings and that the agency had not yet approved its request, for which reason it was illegal for it to start operations.
When the Daily Graphic got to Poase, it was seen that residential facilities were about 10 metres away from the storage facility containing fuel and marked ‘highly inflammable’.
The tanks of the company is located in the area without the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the town planning department of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA).
The residents are kept awake in the night as the heavy duty trucks keep disturbing them, always in fear that if what happened at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) should occur, they would be the victims.
The company has connected its pipeline to that of TOR and currently has two vessels docked at the Takoradi Port with imported petroleum to be offloaded through TOR pipelines to its facility when the current stock runs out.
The company, Cyrus Petroleum, according to the officials of the EPA, was not supposed to start operating, as there are many questions to be answered concerning its application.
The EPA explained that the company had submitted a report and its drawings and that the agency had not yet approved its request, for which reason it was illegal for it to start operations.
When the Daily Graphic got to Poase, it was seen that residential facilities were about 10 metres away from the storage facility containing fuel and marked ‘highly inflammable’.
Friday, February 26, 2010
SEAWELD HOUSES THE HOMELESS (PAGE 18, FEB 6, 2010)
Seaweld Engineering, an oil service company in Sekondi/Takoradi, has channelled its corporate social responsibility towards the underprivileged in the metropolis.
The company has built a home for the homeless with facilities that would not push them back to the streets. The home has electricity, water supply, toilets and a bath house and fitted with a sound system, television set and other items that are needed to create a perfect environment for the inmates.
Members of the home are mostly mentally challenged and the destitute who have been cured, and their children have been sponsored by the company to go back to school.
A pregnant woman who was picked on the street and happily settled in the home gave birth a few days after she arrived in the house. To make the inmates feel at home, the company is providing a three square meal for them.
The company has also employed the services of a caretaker and a psychiatric nurse who see to the health needs of the inmates.
The Operations Manager of Seaweld Engineering, Mr Alfred Fafali Adagbedu, said it was the focus of the company to ensure that its support for society was directed at the disadvantaged who really needed help.
Asked what motivated them to resettle the destitute, he said it was sad to see them, some of who were pregnant, in the open with their children.
“We were left with no option but to settle them to make them feel part of society, initially they were settled in a tent, but later we had a place to build the three-room apartment for them to feel at home.”
Mr Adagbedu expressed the hope that the home would one day develop into a good health facility for public good.
He said there were many of the destitute on the street who would contribute to the development of the country, if they had the support and better environment.
Mr Adagbedu said the company would not put any cost to what it gave to society but would ensure that society became the winner in the country’s oil find.
He said there were other areas that the company would work to ensure that they created and shared with the communities in which they operated.
“We all look up to the government for every basic thing, but if we could invest little of what we gain from society back into it the world would be better than this.”
He said the building was on one side of the land and the rest was being used for farming by some of the inmates to keep them busy.
The company has built a home for the homeless with facilities that would not push them back to the streets. The home has electricity, water supply, toilets and a bath house and fitted with a sound system, television set and other items that are needed to create a perfect environment for the inmates.
Members of the home are mostly mentally challenged and the destitute who have been cured, and their children have been sponsored by the company to go back to school.
A pregnant woman who was picked on the street and happily settled in the home gave birth a few days after she arrived in the house. To make the inmates feel at home, the company is providing a three square meal for them.
The company has also employed the services of a caretaker and a psychiatric nurse who see to the health needs of the inmates.
The Operations Manager of Seaweld Engineering, Mr Alfred Fafali Adagbedu, said it was the focus of the company to ensure that its support for society was directed at the disadvantaged who really needed help.
Asked what motivated them to resettle the destitute, he said it was sad to see them, some of who were pregnant, in the open with their children.
“We were left with no option but to settle them to make them feel part of society, initially they were settled in a tent, but later we had a place to build the three-room apartment for them to feel at home.”
Mr Adagbedu expressed the hope that the home would one day develop into a good health facility for public good.
He said there were many of the destitute on the street who would contribute to the development of the country, if they had the support and better environment.
Mr Adagbedu said the company would not put any cost to what it gave to society but would ensure that society became the winner in the country’s oil find.
He said there were other areas that the company would work to ensure that they created and shared with the communities in which they operated.
“We all look up to the government for every basic thing, but if we could invest little of what we gain from society back into it the world would be better than this.”
He said the building was on one side of the land and the rest was being used for farming by some of the inmates to keep them busy.
EU SUPPORTS COMMUNITY WATER PROJECT (PAGE 22, FEB 6, 2010)
THE European Union (EU) has presented 27 motorbikes worth GH¢137,000 to all the 17 districts in the Western Region.
The gesture, which is under the EU Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project, is to facilitate effective monitoring and management of the project in the beneficiary communities.
Ten districts under the project would receive two bikes each, while the other seven receive one each to facilitate their work.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, commended the EU for its commitment to the government’s poverty reduction strategy.
He said water was the basic necessity of life, which people should not be denied, so it was incumbent upon the government to strife for the provision of potable water for the citizenry, and also welcome support in that direction.
“The government is aware that the very survival of the people to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country hinges on the availability of potable water for all,” he said.
The minister said the challenge of national development and the government’s desire to meet the Millennium Development Goal of 85 per cent water coverage to the people by 2015 was being pursued seriously.
Mr Aidoo said the project, which started in the late 1990s to provide 27 communities in 10 beneficiary districts with potable water, was on course, with support from the government and the EU.
He said the purpose of the project was to improve access to safe water and sanitation in a sustainable manner to more than 157,000 people who live in rural communities.
Mr Aidoo said water supply to the people in those communities, where a chunk of the country’s food is produced to feed those in the cities, was very important.
He assured the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the EU of support of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The Regional Director of CWSA, Mr Kwesi Brown, said the presentation of the bikes was part of the capacity building to ensure that water and sanitation was improved.
The EU Team Leader for Western and Central regions, Mr Joseph De-Bats, called for co-operation from all stakeholders to ensure that people in the beneficiary communities got potable water.
The gesture, which is under the EU Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project, is to facilitate effective monitoring and management of the project in the beneficiary communities.
Ten districts under the project would receive two bikes each, while the other seven receive one each to facilitate their work.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, commended the EU for its commitment to the government’s poverty reduction strategy.
He said water was the basic necessity of life, which people should not be denied, so it was incumbent upon the government to strife for the provision of potable water for the citizenry, and also welcome support in that direction.
“The government is aware that the very survival of the people to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country hinges on the availability of potable water for all,” he said.
The minister said the challenge of national development and the government’s desire to meet the Millennium Development Goal of 85 per cent water coverage to the people by 2015 was being pursued seriously.
Mr Aidoo said the project, which started in the late 1990s to provide 27 communities in 10 beneficiary districts with potable water, was on course, with support from the government and the EU.
He said the purpose of the project was to improve access to safe water and sanitation in a sustainable manner to more than 157,000 people who live in rural communities.
Mr Aidoo said water supply to the people in those communities, where a chunk of the country’s food is produced to feed those in the cities, was very important.
He assured the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the EU of support of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC).
The Regional Director of CWSA, Mr Kwesi Brown, said the presentation of the bikes was part of the capacity building to ensure that water and sanitation was improved.
The EU Team Leader for Western and Central regions, Mr Joseph De-Bats, called for co-operation from all stakeholders to ensure that people in the beneficiary communities got potable water.
WISE BEAT CHELSEA 2-1 (BACK PAGE, FEB 4, 2010)
Sekondi Eleven Wise yesterday beat Bechem Chelsea 2-1 at the Sekondi Sports Stadium, Essipon amidst jubilations by their teeming supporters.
Striker William Owusu put the homesters ahead on the 47th minute.
Chelsea pulled the equaliser on the 82nd minute by substitute Ibrahim Isaka but substitute Prince Appiah restored the homesters’ lead.
Striker William Owusu put the homesters ahead on the 47th minute.
Chelsea pulled the equaliser on the 82nd minute by substitute Ibrahim Isaka but substitute Prince Appiah restored the homesters’ lead.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)