T-POLY TO TRAIN AIRCRAFT TECHNICIANS (PAGE 11, JUNE 30, 2010)

THE Takoradi Polytechnic will from next year collaborate with two training institutions in the United States of America to mount new courses to train aircraft maintenance technicians .
Other new courses to be introduced will also cover the oil and gas sector to ensure that the school is well positioned to provide the needed skilled labour for the emerging industry in the country.
The two institutions are Maintenance Training Institute and Afrimetric Engineering Inc in Cincinnati and Ohio respectively .
The Rector of the Takoradi Polytechnic, Prof. Daniel A. Nyarko, who made this known at the school’s congregation in Takoradi, said the school would also be counting on the rich expertise of the Ghana Air Force to enrich the knowledge of the students who would be pursing programmes in that area.
In the areas of oil and gas, the rector said plans were well advanced to introduce the related courses aimed at training technicians for the industry.
He said the polytechnic was in the process of being accredited by the City and Guild as well as Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport both in the United Kingdom.
Prof. Nyarko said with the accreditation, Takoradi Polytechnic would be in the position to run specific technician courses to be certified by these organisations.
He said some of the technical areas that would be covered include specialised training in the field of welding, fabrication, logistics, transport, and warehousing among others which were in high demand by the oil industry.
Prof. Nyarko said in order to satisfy the demand on the country to supply the needed labour for the emerging oil industry, the polytechnic was well positioned to carefully design programmes that would satisfy this needs.
He said this year the polytechnic had also received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board to run new Bachelor of Technology programmes which would lead to the award of B-Tech Degrees in procurement and civil engineering.
The B-Tech programme he said was being run in collaboration with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDDA) and public procurement authority.
To support the expansion drive of the school to accommodate its dreams, he said the school had received tremendous support from the government through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) for its infrastructural development.
Prof. Nyarko said the long-awaited school of applied arts complex is almost completed and expressed the hope that it would be ready for use by students during the 2010/2011 academic year.
He said other GETFund projects completed during the year under review included the network of internal roads that were tarred to give the institution a deserved face-lift, while ultra modern multimedia and library projects had been completed and handed over to the school for use come the next academic year.
The rector said all these facilities aimed at improving educational delivery when fully operational would position Takoradi Polytechnic as the academic hub for teaching, learning and research in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.

KOSMOS ENERGY ASSISTS SCHOOLS IN 3 DISTRICTS (PAGE 19, JUNE 29, 2010)

KOSMOS Energy Ghana, has presented 22,000 Ghana Education Service certified books to first and second cycle schools in three districts in the Western Region.
The books worth about $50,000 are for Mathematics, General Science, English Literature and a wide area of general reading to enhance education in the Jomoro, Ellembelle and Nzema East districts of the region.
In a statement, the Country Director of the Kosmos Energy, Mr Cavin Black said Kosmos’ focus was to be a good corporate citizen in the communities in which it operated.
He said the company regarded citizens of the communities, where it operated as key stakeholders of its business, saying “Our corporate citizenship is reflected in how we affect the world in which we operate, in the physical, social and economic dimensions.”
Mr Black said support through corporate philanthropy was one way Kosmos could help through a partnership with the communities to bring a real change in the communities.  “We undertake such initiatives with the aim of maximizing social benefits and development.”
Kosmos Energy he said believed in the creation of a positive social change by providing intellectual capital through education and health initiatives.
Health and education, Mr Black said were very important to the development of communities, “with health we are guaranteed of healthy workforce as education enriches the human resource base of the corporate world”, adding that Kosmos’ focus this quarter was educational development.
“We are helping to meet the needs of our community schools by providing books and apart from the three districts a similar donation has been planned for the Western Regional School for the Deaf as well”.
“We also believe every child has the potential to succeed. Investing in high quality learning environments for children from the basic through secondary ensures that children entering school are ready to learn,” Mr Black said.
Mrs Nora Imbeah, the Inspector of Schools commended the company for the support and asked for more support to enable our schools have better libraries.

TAKORADI RUNAWAY SUBMERGED...due to abandoned drain project (PAGE 18, JUNE 26, 2010)

Danger looms at Takoradi Airport as uncompleted drain works by the Sekondi -Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly has redirected heavy current flood waters onto the runway posing threat to flight landing and takeoff.
As a result of the flood, the required distance or the length for landing by five domestic aircrafts operating between Accra and Takoradi has been reduced as the water has covered half of the runway.
This according to the air experts posed a serious danger to flight safety and must be rectified immediately to avert the looming disaster.
As a result of this development, all domestic flights carrying officials of the oil exploration and mining companies as well as investors in the metropolis have been cancelled leaving passengers stranded at the Takoradi Airport.
The operators said they incurred a lot of debt and passenger inconveniences as well as losing the confidence of their passengers which they said was a threat to the growth of the industry. Mr David Debe, the Area Supervisor/Dispatch officer for Antrak Air, one of the operators said the problem was having a lot of negative effects on their operations.
He said apart from losing revenue and passenger confidence, they incur additional cost to ensure that the passengers were comfortable until the water had subsided.
Mr Debe said other operators cancelled their flights and resorted to other means which they did not plan for.
Some of the stranded passengers told the Daily Graphic that they had other businesses to take care of but could not because of the delays casued by the floods.
When this reporter got to the runway half of it has been covered by the flood waters due to the abandoned drained project embarked on by the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly.
When contacted, the Air Force Station Commander said when they saw the problem coming they raised the issue with the authorities and it was agreed that the drain causing the problem now should be diverted. But that project, he said, was yet to be completed.
Officials of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly said funds for the completion of the project had been channeled to another project since they were not allowed by the military authorities to follow the original plan since 2008.
It said even the drawings for the said diversion project was yet to be submitted to the assembly to enable it to source funding for its completion.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Takoradi Station Commander of the Ghana Air Force, Air Commodore I.A.R. Abass, said the situation was not the best. He explained that the situation had reduced the required length for safe landing and take-off.
He said since the runway had been reduced by the floods aircraft operators were left with no option than to cancel all flights.
‘’With the volume of water on the runway, if any aircraft made an attempt to land it would be a disaster so to be on the safer side all local flights had to be canceled’’, he said.
Air Cdr. Abass said during the rehabilitation of the airport, GAF explained to the Metropolitan Assembly that it would be impossible to cut the runway to change the existing drain due to the short time the contractor had to finish for the CAN 2008 football tournament.
He said the decision was taken to divert the course in order not to touch the runway but the project is yet to be completed.

JUBILEE PAARTNERS TO CONSTRUCT CHEMICAL PLANT (PAGE 29, JUNE 26, 2010)

Tullow Ghana and its Jubilee partners have finally secured the lease from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) to construct a chemical depot for its projects offshore in the Jubilee fields.
According to the Tullow officials, the absence of the facility could have added $1million daily to the cost of production of which Ghana would have been the loser.
The Communications Manager of Tullow Ghana, Mr Gayheart Mensah, who confirmed this to the Daily Graphic said the lease had been granted the Jubilee partners to commence work.
He said the facilities would help with the smooth operations of the jubilee partners offshore and commended the GPHA and Ministry of Transport for the support towards the company’s dream of ensuring that the first oil was poured in the last quarter of the year.
Mr Gayheart Mensah said the prime focus of the jubilee project was to ensure safety through the use of world-class mode of operation.
He said the FPSO would help to process the hydrocarbons by separating all other components such as the gas, water and the crude, as well as serve as storage where processed crude would be stored.
Mr Mensah said one other important aspect of the move was the opportunity offered to supplier vessels to offload their content offshore before being taken to their various destinations.
He said the FPSO with its sophisticated nature would help in management and maintenance of wells for optimum production through the injection of gas back into the wells to enhance production.
The Communications Director said the FPSO was carefully chosen, since it would also avoid the costly laying of pipelines from the offshore to the coast, thereby minimising the impact it would have on the operations on the fishing communities.
The jubilee fields was discovered in June, 2007 and oil is due for production in the fourth quarter of this year.
Under phase one of the project, Tullow Ghana has 34.7 per cent shares, Kosmos 23. 49 per cent, Anadako Petroleum 23.49 per cent, the government of Ghana through Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) 13.75 per cent with Sabre Oil & Gas and EO Group taking 2.81 and 1.75 per cent respectively.

RURAL COMMUNITIES TO HAVE A FEEL OF WORLD CUP (GRAPHIC SPORTS, PAGE 11, JUNE 22, 2010)

Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu

The Member of Parliament of Ellembele and Deputy Minister for Energy, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has presented a 42-inch Protech LCD Television set with HD satellite dish to three communities in the Ellembelle district in the Western Region.
The gesture was to enable the three communities in the district, namely, Atuabo, Tandan and Asasetre to watch live matches of the FIFA World cup.
Five communities in the northern part of the district without electricity, namely Asomase, Kwasikrom, Mantukwa, New Baseke and Aidoo Souazo have also taken delivery of 25 inch Panasonic Television with brand new generators from the member of parliament to enable them follow events at the tournament.
Hon. Buah noted that lack of electricity should not prevent people in the remote areas from watching the World Cup.
The District Chief Executive of Ellembelle, Danile K. Esun, who made the presentation on behalf of the member of parliament at Tandan, called on the people to take very good care of the gift since it had become a community property and therefore advised parents in the community to monitor the activities of their wards in order not to turn the gift into a nuisance since most school children may sneak to watch television instead of going to school.
He again prevailed upon them to call on the Assembly for any assistance they would need and also promised to fix their primary school which was, a deteriorating state.
The Chief of Tandan, Nana Ezah Kwame IV, thanked the MP for the kind gesture and promised to take good care of the gift to the benefit of all the community members.

END

HOMOSEXUALS BARE TEETH (MIRROR, PAGE 34, JUNE 19, 2010)

From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi

The Western Regional Capital has lately been rocked by many sexual scandals and unacceptable social vices including homosexuality, lesbianism as well as sexual molestation of underage children.
These activities have incurred the wrath of members of the Takoradi metropolis. Interestingly, a lawyer who is also gay has told The Mirror that there is no law in the country prohibiting association by the same sex. He said the Constitution of Ghana guaranteed freedom of association and expression, including choice of sexual partners and the free expression of sexual feelings.
According to the former Western Regional President of the Ghana Bar Association, Lawyer Augustine Arvoh Mensah, the proclamation of one’s position as a lesbian or gay does not constitute a crime.In the same way, he said organising meetings to discuss issues relating to ones chosen sexual orientation or having a get-together did not constitute any wrong doing.
“We could however, apply the Criminal Code Act 104 of the 1992 Constitution, if the people are caught in the act as it happened recently in one African country,” he said. However, gays and lesbians in the Western Region have said the demonstration by some religious groups in the region was an infringement on their rights as citizens of Ghana who were free to express themselves.
The fears of the religious bodies were that, the strong presence of gays and lesbians in the region is a threat to morality and uprightness,especially as they are seen openly in bars and holding meetings that carry on till day break. Interestingly, many of the people who participate in gay events and meetings in the twin-city, travel from Accra, Tema, Kumasi, as well as other neighbouring West African countries.
In spite of agitations by religious bodies, the gay and lesbian community seem not to be deterred, contending that they are backed by the law.In another development, there is the increasing incidences of male foreigners seen at various bars and hotels with young girls whose ages range from 14 to 15.
The management of some of the hotels who spoke to The Mirror under anonymity said even though they want these foreigners and gays and lesbians as clients, they however, think their conduct is reprehensible.The owner of a leading joint in Takoradi said she had on several occasions refused permission for her premises to be used as a meeting grounds for gays and lesbians.
"Some of my colleagues have allowed their premises to be used by these people because they are able to pay any huge amounts quoted to them," she said According to some hotel operators, what was also worrying was that there were some foreigners who always visited their hotels in the company of children some of whom could be found drinking liquor.
“Sometimes I have had to drive some of the children away by threatening them with the police. I am also a parent and I know how damaging it is for juveniles to be drinking alcohol,” one of the operators said. Quite recently at a beach resort in Takoradi, the behaviour of a group of expatriates incurred the anger of the attendants who drove them out of their premises.
“When they get to the bar, they move to less illuminated parts where they sit with the innocent children, while they fed them with alcoholic beverages,” said one attendant.“Our children are at risk and we need to get unscrupulus people who take advantage of them out of the system. Now, all of a sudden, gays and lesbians have found a home in the Western Region,” he lamented.

ELLEMBELE GETS MOBILE CLINIC (PAGE 46, JUNE 17, 2010)

A multi-purpose mobile clinic to cater for the health needs of people living in deprived communities in the Ellembele District of the Western Region has been handed over to the district assembly.
The dilapidated clinic of the Nkroful Agricultural Secondary School (NASS) has also been refurbished and equipped for use by the students and the staff of the school.
The projects were the personal initiative of the Member of Parliament for Ellembele, Mr Emmanuel K. Armah Buah, to help his people, with support from a team of young medical volunteers from New York in the United States.
The mobile clinic, which cost more than GH¢100,000, was provided with a dispensary, a communication facility, a consulting room, a doctor’s examination bed, a storage facility, oxygen, among others, and it will travel to the deprived communities to deliver health care.
Other supplies included cartons of medical supplies from various pharmaceutical companies, such as Kinapharma, Tobinco Pharmacy, M&G Pharmacy and Aryton Drugs, worth thousands of Ghana cedis to support the efforts of the MP to bring relief to the people.
The mobile clinic is expected to serve about 40 per cent of the population in the deprived communities where, as a result of the lack of good roads, health, transportation and telecommunication facilities, the inhabitants die from preventable diseases.
Hitherto, the people in those deprived communities engaged in self-medication and purchased drugs from quack healthcare providers, while many women died during delivery due to lack of health personnel and access to health facilities.
In a statement prior to the inauguration of the mobile clinic, Mr Buah, who is also a Deputy Energy Minister, said it was sad that people could die from preventable illnesses.
“We, as public servants, must rededicate ourselves to the plight of the poor, respond to the voices of the people and address the concerns of the underprivileged in our society,” he said.
He said it was about time voters were given hope in hopeless situations, adding, “I must say that the plight of the poor should guide our politicians to aspire and help people in deprived communities who continue to vote for us but die from preventable diseases.”
The MP said it was the fervent wish of the government to meet the health and educational needs of the people, saying, “But before they get to us, we have to move to ensure that we support those whose efforts drive the economy of Ghana and feed the people.”
Aside from the mobile clinic, he said, the government was working hard on the district hospital project, noting that he would ensure that it was delivered.
The Deputy Western Regional Director of Health, Dr Kwaku Karikari, commended the MP and the medical volunteers and expressed the hope that the facility would promote health care in the district.