THE construction of new landing beaches and cold store complexes in some fishing communities in the Western Region are likely to suffer setbacks, according to officials at the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council.
The projects are two fish landing beaches to be located at Axim and Dixcove and three cold store complexes at Shama, New Takoradi and Half Assini, for which the former Minister of Fisheries, Mrs Gladys Asmah, cut the sod last November.
The facilities are intended to boost fishing activities in the beneficiary communities, but after the sod-cutting ceremony for the start of the projects, nothing has been done at the project sites.
Investigations by the Daily Graphic indicate that the execution of the projects will delay with the change in administration, since a new Minister of Fisheries is yet to be appointed.
Moreover, the projects are likely to be reviewed.
A source close to the projects who pleaded anonymity, said the designs on some of the projects had been completed.
According to the source, officials of the ministry would meet later this month when the plans for the projects would be discussed.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
CHIEF ESTABLISHES FOUNDATIION TO AID COMMUNITIES (PAGE 23, JAN 10)
APRAPONSO, Bomba and School Junction are three deprived farming communities in the Mpohor Wassa East District in the Western Region.
People in these communities, who are predominantly cocoa, citrus, vegetables, oil palm, as well as subsistence farmers, lack many social amenities and infrastructural facilities which may help to improve their living conditions.
The settlements are deprived of a good road network, schools, electricity, places of convenience, potable water, good sanitation and health facilities.
It is against this backdrop that the Chief of Apraponso, Nana Ekua Bri II, under whose traditional authority the three communities fall, established the Nana Ekua Bri II Foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in Denmark, to spearhead the meaningful and rapid socio-economic development of the communities.
The foundation will ensure the construction of schools, roads, good houses, places of convenience, as well as the provision of potable water, health and sanitation facilities in the communities.
Since its establishment four years ago, the foundation has been providing assorted items, including tables, chairs, hospital beds, computers and their accessories, sewing machines, bicycles and wheelchairs, not for only the three communities but also schools, health facilities and other institutions outside the settlements.
In collaboration with the Mpohor Wassa East District Assembly and with the assistance of Rotary Denmark, it has constructed three boreholes fitted with pumps for the people of Apraponso, Bomba and School Junction at the cost of GH¢156,000.
Early this year, it shipped a 40-footer container with 80 school tables and 160 chairs, 200 bicycles, 15 wheelchairs, 20 boxes of children’s T-shirts, six boxes of reading books, six plastic bags of cloths, one box of carpentry tools, 37 sewing machines, 40 computers and accessories, 30 plastic bags of clothes for schoolchildren, among many others, all worth GH¢50,000.
Nana Bri, who is resident in Denmark and is also the Chairman of the foundation, told the Daily Graphic that 20 sewing machines had been donated to the Department of Social Welfare to be given to the Essipun Rehabilitation Centre in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis.
She said some computers had also been donated to the Saint John School in the metropolis, while a computer had been given to the Kojokrom Police Station.
Nana Bri said the library books would be given to the Bomba Junior High School and the Mpohor Senior High School.
She said the other items would be distributed among the people of the three communities, adding that the bicycles would be distributed among schoolchildren who trekked long distances to school.
According to her, the foundation would construct teachers quarters in the area to help attract qualified teachers to schools there, while a boarding house would be constructed for final-year students of a junior high school at School Junction to enable them to have ample time to study.
People in these communities, who are predominantly cocoa, citrus, vegetables, oil palm, as well as subsistence farmers, lack many social amenities and infrastructural facilities which may help to improve their living conditions.
The settlements are deprived of a good road network, schools, electricity, places of convenience, potable water, good sanitation and health facilities.
It is against this backdrop that the Chief of Apraponso, Nana Ekua Bri II, under whose traditional authority the three communities fall, established the Nana Ekua Bri II Foundation, a non-governmental organisation based in Denmark, to spearhead the meaningful and rapid socio-economic development of the communities.
The foundation will ensure the construction of schools, roads, good houses, places of convenience, as well as the provision of potable water, health and sanitation facilities in the communities.
Since its establishment four years ago, the foundation has been providing assorted items, including tables, chairs, hospital beds, computers and their accessories, sewing machines, bicycles and wheelchairs, not for only the three communities but also schools, health facilities and other institutions outside the settlements.
In collaboration with the Mpohor Wassa East District Assembly and with the assistance of Rotary Denmark, it has constructed three boreholes fitted with pumps for the people of Apraponso, Bomba and School Junction at the cost of GH¢156,000.
Early this year, it shipped a 40-footer container with 80 school tables and 160 chairs, 200 bicycles, 15 wheelchairs, 20 boxes of children’s T-shirts, six boxes of reading books, six plastic bags of cloths, one box of carpentry tools, 37 sewing machines, 40 computers and accessories, 30 plastic bags of clothes for schoolchildren, among many others, all worth GH¢50,000.
Nana Bri, who is resident in Denmark and is also the Chairman of the foundation, told the Daily Graphic that 20 sewing machines had been donated to the Department of Social Welfare to be given to the Essipun Rehabilitation Centre in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis.
She said some computers had also been donated to the Saint John School in the metropolis, while a computer had been given to the Kojokrom Police Station.
Nana Bri said the library books would be given to the Bomba Junior High School and the Mpohor Senior High School.
She said the other items would be distributed among the people of the three communities, adding that the bicycles would be distributed among schoolchildren who trekked long distances to school.
According to her, the foundation would construct teachers quarters in the area to help attract qualified teachers to schools there, while a boarding house would be constructed for final-year students of a junior high school at School Junction to enable them to have ample time to study.
GREL CONSTRUCTS CLASSROOM BLOCK FOR KEDADWEN (PAGE 23, JAN 10)
THE Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) has constructed a two-classroom block and a store valued at GH¢25,220 for the Kedadwen Kindergarten in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality in the Western Region.
The block is a great relief to the young pupils who have been studying under a big mango tree and always been at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather.
The company is constructing a similar building at Apemenim Number One in the Ahanta Traditional Area. Already, it has completed a three-unit classroom block for the Subri Primary School in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, a junior high school (JHS) at Anibil in the Gwira Traditional Area and a primary school block at Onzeaye in the Nsein Traditional Area, all at a total cost of GH¢126,000.
At a ceremony to hand over the building to the chiefs and people of Kedadwen, the Managing Director of GREL, Mr Marc Genot, said the construction of the classroom blocks for the communities showed the company’s commitment to education.
He said the company had this year instituted a scholarship scheme for the children of its employees and that seven students had benefited from it to pursue senior high school education.
He said the company had also increased the number of scholarships for brilliant, needy students in its catchment area from seven to 14 a year under the Association of Chiefs on whose Lands GREL Operates (ACLANGO) and the GREL Scholarship Scheme.
“The children should work hard because we are helping children who are working very hard,” he said.
“Now rubber prices have fallen considerably and that will have an impact on our social responsibility programmes next year,” he explained, adding, “But we remain committed to our goal of promoting education in our operational area and we shall be able to accommodate some few projects next year.”
Mr Genot appealed to all communities which had encroached on GREL concession either through illegal mining activities or farming to stop their activities and live peacefully with the company.
He advised the chiefs and people of Kedadwen to take good care of the school block so that generations yet unborn would benefit from it.
The Chief of Kedadwen, Nana Ankamoah II, appealed to the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly to construct a JHS for the town to save the children from trekking a distance of about three kilometres to attend the nearby JHS at Asamang.
He lamented that sometimes some of the children were involved in accidents when trekking to school.
The block is a great relief to the young pupils who have been studying under a big mango tree and always been at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather.
The company is constructing a similar building at Apemenim Number One in the Ahanta Traditional Area. Already, it has completed a three-unit classroom block for the Subri Primary School in the Wassa Fiase Traditional Area, a junior high school (JHS) at Anibil in the Gwira Traditional Area and a primary school block at Onzeaye in the Nsein Traditional Area, all at a total cost of GH¢126,000.
At a ceremony to hand over the building to the chiefs and people of Kedadwen, the Managing Director of GREL, Mr Marc Genot, said the construction of the classroom blocks for the communities showed the company’s commitment to education.
He said the company had this year instituted a scholarship scheme for the children of its employees and that seven students had benefited from it to pursue senior high school education.
He said the company had also increased the number of scholarships for brilliant, needy students in its catchment area from seven to 14 a year under the Association of Chiefs on whose Lands GREL Operates (ACLANGO) and the GREL Scholarship Scheme.
“The children should work hard because we are helping children who are working very hard,” he said.
“Now rubber prices have fallen considerably and that will have an impact on our social responsibility programmes next year,” he explained, adding, “But we remain committed to our goal of promoting education in our operational area and we shall be able to accommodate some few projects next year.”
Mr Genot appealed to all communities which had encroached on GREL concession either through illegal mining activities or farming to stop their activities and live peacefully with the company.
He advised the chiefs and people of Kedadwen to take good care of the school block so that generations yet unborn would benefit from it.
The Chief of Kedadwen, Nana Ankamoah II, appealed to the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly to construct a JHS for the town to save the children from trekking a distance of about three kilometres to attend the nearby JHS at Asamang.
He lamented that sometimes some of the children were involved in accidents when trekking to school.
MICRO-FINANCE PROJECT FOR JOMORO DISTRICT (PAGE 23, JAN 10)
A microsfere project has been launched at Kengen in the Jomoro District of the Western Region to complement the development efforts of the Jomoro District Assembly by providing micro-finance services for fringe communities of the Amansuri Wetlands.
This is to enable the people to venture into economic activities in order to limit their over-dependence on the wetland and natural resources.
Microsfere is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organisation based in Lyon in France which has the objective of assisting fringe communities around protected areas (PAS) in Ghana to improve community members’ livelihoods through the creation of income-generating activities that are compatible with the sustainable use of natural resources and with biodiversity protection.
To achieve these objectives, Microsfere is providing micro-finance services through the Jomoro Rural Bank Limited to reach out to four communities selected in partnership with the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS) for the implementation of the project in the first year.
The communities are Kengen, Ellowyin, Beyin and Ekabaku.
At the launch of the Microsfere Project, the Field Co-ordinator of the project, Mr Senyo Mensah Buake, explained that the project had been established in the country in collaboration with the GWS, the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, as well as the Kakum Conservation Area Management Authority.
He said the Kakum Conservation Area in the Central Region and the Amansuri Wetland Area in the Western Region were the two ecologically protected areas identified for the initiation of the project.
A representative of the GWS, Miss Cynthia Cudjoe, said she was highly delighted, since the purpose of the Microsfere Project would complement the objective of the Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development (ACID) project, since both sought to conserve and improve the quality of life.
She said one of the key components of the ACID project was the support for and development of income-generating activities for the local people, especially women, to reduce pressure on the wetland resources.
To that end, she said a total of GH¢22,399 was disbursed to 115 local community members to engage in micro-enterprises whose activities were compatible with conservation activities.
The Manager of the Jomoro Rural Bank Limited, Mr Nicholas Effeh, explained that the bank was established to inculcate the habit of savings in the rural folks and support the implementation of government’s monetary policies in the rural areas.
The Presiding Member of the Jomoro District Assembly, Mr Andrew Jos Ehwie, expressed his gratitude to the management of the Microsfere Project, the GWS and the chiefs and people of the beneficiary communities who, in diverse ways, contributed to the establishment of the project and also ensured the continued management of the Amansuri Wetlands.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, commended the president of Microsfere for the launch of the project in his traditional area to provide micro-finance services for some fringe communities of the Amansuri Wetlands to improve their livelihoods.
This is to enable the people to venture into economic activities in order to limit their over-dependence on the wetland and natural resources.
Microsfere is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organisation based in Lyon in France which has the objective of assisting fringe communities around protected areas (PAS) in Ghana to improve community members’ livelihoods through the creation of income-generating activities that are compatible with the sustainable use of natural resources and with biodiversity protection.
To achieve these objectives, Microsfere is providing micro-finance services through the Jomoro Rural Bank Limited to reach out to four communities selected in partnership with the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS) for the implementation of the project in the first year.
The communities are Kengen, Ellowyin, Beyin and Ekabaku.
At the launch of the Microsfere Project, the Field Co-ordinator of the project, Mr Senyo Mensah Buake, explained that the project had been established in the country in collaboration with the GWS, the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, as well as the Kakum Conservation Area Management Authority.
He said the Kakum Conservation Area in the Central Region and the Amansuri Wetland Area in the Western Region were the two ecologically protected areas identified for the initiation of the project.
A representative of the GWS, Miss Cynthia Cudjoe, said she was highly delighted, since the purpose of the Microsfere Project would complement the objective of the Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development (ACID) project, since both sought to conserve and improve the quality of life.
She said one of the key components of the ACID project was the support for and development of income-generating activities for the local people, especially women, to reduce pressure on the wetland resources.
To that end, she said a total of GH¢22,399 was disbursed to 115 local community members to engage in micro-enterprises whose activities were compatible with conservation activities.
The Manager of the Jomoro Rural Bank Limited, Mr Nicholas Effeh, explained that the bank was established to inculcate the habit of savings in the rural folks and support the implementation of government’s monetary policies in the rural areas.
The Presiding Member of the Jomoro District Assembly, Mr Andrew Jos Ehwie, expressed his gratitude to the management of the Microsfere Project, the GWS and the chiefs and people of the beneficiary communities who, in diverse ways, contributed to the establishment of the project and also ensured the continued management of the Amansuri Wetlands.
The Paramount Chief of the Western Nzema Traditional Area, Awulae Annor Adjaye III, commended the president of Microsfere for the launch of the project in his traditional area to provide micro-finance services for some fringe communities of the Amansuri Wetlands to improve their livelihoods.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)