Tuesday, March 31, 2009

ELECTRONIC EXPORT PERMITS FOR TIMBER PRODUCTS LAUNCHED (PAGE 20)

THE Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission has launched the issuance of its electronic export permits for timber and wood products.
It is based on the Ghana Community Network (GCNet) system in Takoradi to ensure uniformity in data capture with respect to imports and exports of timber and wood products.
The aim is to minimise malpractice, ensure accurate capture of state revenue, enhance record keeping, aid effective monitoring of timber and wood products imports and exports, add value and ultimately reduce permit processing and approval time.
In line with the government’s directives and current operating systems worldwide, and to reduce human contact and permit processing time, it has become necessary for the TIDD permits’ offices to be hooked to the GCNet system.
Another objective is for the TIDD to collaborate with the Ghana Customs Management Systems (GCMS) to approve electronic timber export permits based on the GCNet system.
This collaboration between the TIDD and the GCMS is expected to provide immense benefits to the TIDD, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and exporters and importers of timber and wood products.
The timber industry is the first establishment in Ghana issuing export permits through the GCNet system. All other MDAs and companies that are connected to the GCNet, are rather issuing import permits.
Speaking at a workshop on the launch of the electronic export permits for timber and wood products in Takoradi, the Executive Director of the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), Mr A.N. Attah announced that the TIDD was also in the process of delivering contracts of sale electronically.
That, he explained, would help to fast track contract administration and in particular, make the procedures more transparent.
Mr Attah said the TIDD had put up terminals at its offices to kick-start the issuance of electronic export permits and also to help timber exporters who were currently not connected to the GCNet.
“All these timber exporting companies or agents need to provide TIDD with supporting documents, such as approved contract of sale, wood products inspection certificates, permit invoice forms, Bank of Ghana foreign exchange form 4A, specification sheets and letters of credit before their export permits could be processed and approved electronically”, Mr Attah stated.
He further explained that once approval had been granted by the TIDD through the GCNet system, a copy of the permit approved electronically went to CEPS and the exporter or the agent who electronically applied to the TIDD on behalf of the timber exporter.
“It is common knowledge that many companies are now using the GCNet system for their imports. Our efforts are geared to help timber companies to use the GCNet system for their exports as well”, he said.
The Deputy Operations Manager in charge of Projects of the Ghana Community Network Services Limited, Mr Eben Engmann explained that the electronic permit and exemption module of the GCNet system had replaced the manual system for granting permits and exemptions to importers and exporters.
The new system, he said, was faster and more efficient because the processes that importers and exporters went through to obtain permits and exemptions had been shortened.
“The system has so far shown a lot of resilience and has improved the turn around time for documentation which invariably benefits the timber exporting public”, Mr Engmann said.
He said apart from the TIDD that issued export permits for timber and timber products, other MDAs had been connected and were using electronic permits and exemptions for imports into the country.
They included the Ghana Standards Board, Food and Drugs Board, Minerals Commission, Ghana Free Zones Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.

Friday, March 27, 2009

IDUAPRIEM MINE REFUTES STORY (PAGE 3)

THE Community Relations Manager of Anglogold Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine), Mr Kwamina Sekyi Yorke, has refuted the story that some illegal gold operators have been trapped underground in the company’s concession at Teberebe in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality in the Western Region.
He explained to the Daily Graphic that there were illegal mining activities inside the company’s concession along the Teberebe road.
He said the company discovered a huge open trench very close to the Teberebe road and management called leaders of the illegal gold miners and told them about the dangers their activities were posing to the road.
Mr Yorke explained that the illegal activities were destroying the environment and also the gold diggers were encroaching on the company’s mining concession or property.
He said the illegal miners begged the company to give them some time to enable them to mop up, so they were given two weeks, after which the company would seal the trench.
Mr Yorke said the company had already notified the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly about the activities of the illegal miners in its concession.
“So yesterday morning our security guards went there in an attempt to seal the trench to prevent possible erosion that may destroy the road eventually,” he said.
He said according to the security chief of the company, the illegal miners told the guards that there were some of their colleagues trapped underground.
He said as a result, the security guards stopped their operation to cover the huge trench.
Mr Yorke said the galamsey operators invited some opinion leaders from Akyem and other mining communities to plead on their behalf.
He said in 2006, the road was destroyed through illegal gold mining activities and the company spent thousands of dollars to repair it.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

AKYEMPIM RESIDENTS WORRIED ABOUT MINING ACTIVITIES (PAGE 40)

THE chiefs, opinion leaders, unit committee members and the youth of Subriso and Ningo in the Mporhor Wassa East District of the Western Region have petitioned against the activities of Golden Star (Wassa Mines) Limited, a mining company operating in the district.
The petition signed by the chiefs of Ningo and Subriso, Nana Ben Teye and Nana Ofosu Appiah, respectively as well as the Unit Committee Chairman of Ningo, Mr Jonathan Tetteh and Unit Committee Chairman of Subriso, Mr Amos Asare, was addressed to the management of the company.
The people complained that the drinking water in the communities had been polluted, while dust emissions were so much that all their belongings had turned into red powder.
According to the petition, noise made by the company’s moving machinery and vehicles was so disturbing that one could hardly have rest during the day or at night, while blasting was so close to buildings that many of them had developed cracks and would soon collapse.
“The haul road constructed at the village is so close that the residents, especially children were at a great risk crossing. It is 30 metres or less to the houses and that the schoolchildren cross the road without guide or aid”, the petition said.
It said a new C-Zone pit dug by the company is about 100 metres away from the Ningo village, adding that compensation paid to farmers whose farms had been paid by the company is woefully inadequate.
The petition further complained that the youth in the mining communities were not considered anytime there were employment opportunities.
“We, therefore, send this notice on behalf of the people and ask that something better would be planned for us. Relocation will be the best option anyway, but we do not need hen coop type of buildings”, the petition warned.
Meanwhile, the management of Golden Star (Wassa Mines) Limited has put up comprehensive measures to mitigate the negative impact its operations would have on the people in the Subriso and Ningo communities.
The company has, however, rendered sincere apology to the two communities in the mines’ catchment area for any inconvenience its operations might have caused the people.
Responding to the concerns of the communities raised in the petition, the General Manager of Golden Star (Wassa Mines) Limited, Mr Michael Mracek said the company would want to improve the water quality that the villages had relied on and that it had piped water into villages from a borehole it had drilled.
He said a tank was being constructed at Ningo so that the people could have constant water supply before the end of this month.
Mr Mracet said he had asked a team to look at drilling a second well that would further enhance the water supply system in the communities.
Touching on dust emission, Mr Mracek conceded that the company had a problem with dust control in certain periods of the day on various parts of the haul road.
He, however, stated that it was a mystery as to how dust emission could affect the people at Subriso which was far away from the haul road.
He explained that in the case of Ningo, the company had constructed a new road that by-passed the village completely and that safety and comfort were much enhanced by the construction of the new road.
“Nevertheless we intend to do our best to mitigate any problems with dust”, he said, adding that the company would improve the situation with the addition of a new water truck.
“Currently, we have started a trial with a chemical based dust suppressant in the Odumase area. If it is successful, we would suggest that we use it on the haulage road in the vicinity of your village”, Mr Mracek said.
He said the mining company was also in contact with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which had developed a local lime based product that could be applied to roads to reduce dust, adding that the company would investigate if it was a practical solution.
The general manager said the company had a 24-hour noise monitoring programme conducted monthly, saying “We will increase the frequency of this programme to improve on our data collection”.
Mr Mracek also said waste dumping at the Subriso East dump would be scheduled to minimise noise impact, especially at night.
He said an assessment team had been put together to conduct an investigation into any alleged cracking of buildings as a result of blasting.
The assessment, Mr Mracek explained, would be compared to a baseline study conducted before the company initiated blasting and that any identified affected structures would be repaired at the company’s expense.
“We are also concerned about people using the haul road for access”, he said adding “It is, however a public road and this presents us with some restrictions”.
Mr Mracek said the company would raise the road and build a three-metre high walkway under it so that could provide easy access from one side to the other.
Touching on the payment of compensation, he said Golden Star’s rates were higher than the approved government rates and also compared favourably to other mining companies.
“Our records indicate that the open pit at Benso has created 498 jobs directly and 132 of those jobs are currently being held by local employees, representing 37.7 per cent of the total work force coming from the local communities”, Mr Mracek explained.
He emphasised that the company needed not only a mining license to operate, but also a social license as well to work peacefully.
“Our Community Relations and Environmental Department will continue to work in consultation with you to monitor the impact of our operations in your communities and recommend appropriate mitigation measures”, he said.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

FEMALE AGRIC EXTENSION OFFICERS ATTEND WORKSHOP (PAGE 21)

FIFTEEN participants, comprising eleven extension officers of the Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and four processors in the Western Region, have attended a three-day training of trainers workshop in plantain processing and utilisation in Takoradi.
The participants were taken through market requirements of a good food processor, hygiene in food processing, maintaining standard for processed products—storage, packaging and labelling, exhibition of products and practical demonstrations.
The training programme became possible as a result of the effective implementation of the Plantain and Banana Project, which is intended to be used for the transfer of processing technologies for plantain and banana in the project operation zones.
Gatsby, a charitable foundation seeking among other things to alleviate poverty in the rural areas through the provision of micro credits, funded the project.
The Plantain and Banana Project, which ended in 2002, introduced the black sigatoga resistant hybrid varieties of banana and plantain into six regions in the country.
The regions are Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Volta, Western and Central while Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions were subsequently selected for a three-year pilot project on ‘processing and utilisation of banana and plantain varieties’, which started in October, 2004.
In 2007, a consultative workshop brainstormed for products to be developed at the farm gate considering the expected increase in production.
Processing plantain into flour and using the flour in recipes appeared to be the best preservation option.
It is expected that 20 plantain-growing communities with at least 50 farmers each, would receive training through the extension officers of the Women in Agriculture Development in collaboration with the Food Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
At the workshop, the officer in charge of the Value Addition Unit of the Women in Agriculture Development of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Rev. (Mrs) Nyuieme Adiepena, said before plantain flour could be promoted, there was the need for the public to know its nutritional importance.
She said plantain provided adequate amounts of vitamins such as vitamin ‘A’ and served as a good source of energy.
She stated that plantain contained high amounts of potassium with low sodium contents which helped in the prevention of hypertension and was also a rich source of iron which was needed in the formation of haemoglobin.
Rev. Adiepena suggested the establishment of plantain processing centres in all districts in the region through the lobbying of their respective district assemblies for support.
“Sell the idea to them, let them understand you and appreciate the importance of the project,” she advised the participants.
The Western Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr David Okine, noted that training and transferring of technology was easy but the adoption of such technology was very important.
He said his outfit would provide the required information for the improvement of plantain processing in the region.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

GHANA AIDS COMMISSION DONATES COMPUTERS (PAGE 52)

The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) has presented computers and accessories worth GH¢4,500.00 to the Western Regional Co-ordinating Council (WRCC), the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Mpohor Wassa East District Assembly in Sekondi.
Speaking at the presentation, the Chief Director of the WRCC, Mr David Yaro, said there was a high possibility that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the Western Region would increase following the discovery of oil which might lead to a boom in business and consequently an influx of all manner of people including commercial sex workers.
Reports indicate that 2,822 people got infected with the HIV virus in 2008 as against 1,278 people, who got infected with the disease in 2007.
He said a lot needed to be done in an effort to fight and reduce the debilitating effect of HIV on the economy of the region in particular and the country as a whole.
“The level of awareness is currently very high, almost 100 per cent and the acceptance rate is equally increasing dramatically”, he explained but added, “however, in the Western region, the prevalence rate is not one for celebration, despite a reduction from 4.3 per cent in 2006 to 3.2 per cent in 2007”.
Mr Yaro, therefore, stressed that there was the need for proper planning to cope with the new trend which could be done effectively only when there was accurate data.
The presentation of the computers, he said, would help the beneficiaries to do that without major challenges.
He stressed the need to undertake and also ensure proper dissemination of information on HIV, to ensure proper data availability as well as the management and the application of such information.
“There is no doubt that, these computers will help in the dissemination of information to all stakeholders in the HIV/AIDS sector”, he said, adding, “For us in the Western Region therefore, the presentation is most timely and therefore warmly welcome”.
The use of the computers at the district level, he said, would help link them to the regional co-ordinating council and subsequently improve information flow from the grassroots to the regional and national levels.
“It is expected that information flow will be smooth once the country’s Response Information System becomes the main medium of reporting, which is done through the internet”, he said, pointing out that, “it would also enable the Ghana AIDS Commission to monitor and ensure compliance, while eschewing duplication and wrong entries”.
The Management, Information Systems Officer of the Ghana AIDS Commission, Mr Samuel Dery, who made the presentation, said 21 district assemblies and 10 regional co-ordinating councils had been selected for a pilot project on the national response on HIV/AIDS.
He said there was the need to know whether the regions were moving forward as far as data management was concerned or not.
According to Mr Dery, there were a lot of implementers of HIV/AIDS programmes on the field and that they needed to be monitored.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

VODAFONE SETS UP FOUNDATION (PAGE 31)

VODAFONE Ghana has established a foundation, Vodafone Ghana Foundation, with an initial investment of £200,000 with the aim of sharing the benefits of its operations in the country as widely as possible.
The foundation also aims at protecting the natural environment and supporting local communities in which the company’s customers, employees, investors and suppliers live.
The company is yet to advertise for the public to make proposals for assistance from the foundation.
The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana, Mr David Venn, announced this when he paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia V, at Essikado in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis over the weekend.
The company donated GH¢3,000 to the Nana Nketsia IV Educational Trust Fund to help alleviate poverty, improve the social and economic circumstances and the development of education in the traditional area.
Mr Venn said Vodafone took immense pride in its contribution to the development of local communities.
“Under our access to communication programme, we have started deploying community SIM phone booths in the rural and peri-urban communities across Ghana,” he said.
This, he explained, was to ensure that as many Ghanaians as possible had access to telecommunications and the enhancement of life the facility provided.
“We have also installed several of these phones in several second cycle schools to facilitate easy communications between students and their parents and guardians, “ he added.
Mr Venn said Vodafone Ghana was currently in transition in order to re-position itself to deliver enhanced value added services to all its stakeholders in a very competitive market.
“In the past few weeks, we have undertaken a number of investments both in infrastructure and people, in order to infuse greater efficiency into our operations and offer our customers the global excellence that Vodafone is famous for,” he explained.
The chief executive officer said the Western region was regarded by the company as one of the most important areas for future business development.
“The region is renowned for its natural resources, which have attracted a lot of world renowned mining companies and which require first class international communications to operate efficiently, ” he noted.
Mr Venn further said with the recent oil discovery, the Western region had become the new economic destination in Ghana and that Vodafone Ghana was working hard to ensure that the company delivered the global excellence that it was famous for to the people of the Western region.
“We intend to expand our operations in the region to ensure that the people of the Western region enjoy excellent, unparalleled and uninterrupted telecommunications services,” he added.
Nana Kobina Nketsia V said there had been a lot of noise about the sale of Ghana Telecom, which showed how dear the company was to the heart of Ghanaians.
Also, he said, capital flight was a worry to the people of the country, since capital retention would ensure re-investment and improvement of the country’s economy.
Nana Nketsia said the company’s donation to the educational trust fund was very commendable and that the traditional council would make judicious use of it to improve education standards in the area.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI SUPPORTS WANGARAKROM/BADUKROM SCHOOL (PAGE 11)

ANGLOGOLD Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine) Limited has constructed a three-unit classroom block and teachers’ quarters for the Wangarakrom/Badukrom Lower Primary School in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality in the Western Region at the cost of $64,000.
The construction of the infrastructure will save the young pupils from trekking about 15 kilometers to Teberebe to attend school.
Last year, the company invested over $100,000 in education from its social and economic development budget.
The company will also improve the structures of a private Early Childhood Development Centre in Wangarakrom/Badukrom as part of its medium and long term plan.
It also intends to build additional classrooms to raise the status of the Abompuniso Primary School to a junior high school level and construct some teachers’ quarters at Abompuniso and Adieyie, all in the municipality.
At the inaugural ceremony, the Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti (Iduapriem Mine) Limited, Mr David Kwesi Renner, stressed that the importance of education could not be underestimated at this time and age and that development of the child at the lower primary level was crucial for shaping the foundation for which the child could achieve greater heights in future academic pursuits.
“It is for this reason that AngloGold Ashanti is happy to be associated with bringing education nearer to the children within the communities,” he explained.
Mr Renner noted that currently 19 students in senior high schools and technical schools were on the managing director’s scholarship scheme.
Mr Renner said to assist the teeming community youth who were looking for skills to make a living and improve their lives, AngloGold Ashanti had aided nine youths, to master mechanics, hair dressing salons and art workshops to acquire employable skills.
Mr Renner emphasised that participation and ownership were quite important in creating successful community development programmes and therefore implored the community to take ownership of the facility and ensure regular maintenance. The Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Director of Education, Ms Catherine Davies, appealed to the company to provide the school with a kingdergaten.
The Gyaasehene of the Apinto Stool, on whose land the mining company is located, Nana Ntsiful, advised parents to take keen interest in their children’s education.
The Odikro of Wangarakrom, Nana Kingsley Awudu, commended the mining company for undertaking many development projects for communities within its catchment area.
The Assembly Member for the Teberebe Electoral Area, Mr Ernest Amoateng advised parents to enrol their children who had reached school age.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

GHACEM STARTS PROSPECTING FOR LIMESTONE...In Jomoro District (PAGE 20)

THE Ghana Cement Works (GHACEM) has begun prospecting for limestone in the Bonyele-Nawule Limestone Concession in the Jomoro District in the Western Region to ascertain the quantity and the quality of the limestone deposit in the concession. Limestone is used for the production of cement.
The 21-square mile concession was acquired about 20 years ago by the Western Limestone Products.
The limestone project is located in five communities, namely Kabenla Suazo, Bonyere, Egbazo, Ndum Suazo and Nawule.
The top management of GHACEM, Western Limestone Products and the chiefs and representatives of the towns held a meeting at Kabenla Suazo at the weekend after a tour of the project site.
The Strategy and Corporate Affairs Director of GHACEM, Dr George Dawson Ahmoah, told the Daily Graphic after the tour that GHACEM was carrying out the prospecting and if the result was positive, it would manage the quarry in accordance with the laws, regulations, permissions and approval from the appropriate agencies.
“All things being equal, mining will start before July 2009 with an estimated maximum quantity of 2,000 tonnes delivered to the Takoradi GHACEM factory annually for the production of quality cement,” he said.
“It is expected that this component of raw material will form an average of 25 per cent of the total production of cement,” he added.
Dr Ahmoah said GHACEM was committed to the use of local raw materials in the production of cement in the country.
He appealed to members of the affected communities to be patient since the company was aware of the payment of compensation to people whose crops would be affected by the mining of the limestone, adding that GHACEM was law-abiding.
Dr Ahmoah assured the people that both skilled and unskilled workers would be recruited from the communities located in the project’s catchment area.
“But we will not condone malpractice. We have an experience from where we are coming from, so we need your co-operation so that the work will go on,” he stressed.
The Chief Executive Officer of Western Limestone Products, Dr J.A. Addison, was happy that after 20 years of negotiations and the signing of the agreement with the chiefs and people in the area, the exploitation of the mineral was coming to fruition.
He said the visit of the top management of GHACEM was a clear indication that the project would become a reality.
Dr Addison noted that the project would lead to the rapid development of the affected communities and therefore called for their co-operation with GHACEM to create a congenial environment for work to progress smoothly.
The Managing Director of GHACEM, Mr Morten Gade, said the meeting with the chiefs and the people in the area marked a very important day, since it marked the beginning of the development of GHACEM factory in Takoradi, as well as the communities in the project area.
He attributed the situation to the foresight of Dr Addison, whom he described as one of the great industrialists in Ghana.
The managing director said Dr Addison contributed immensely to the establishment of GHACEM in Ghana about 41 years ago.
Mr Gade called for co-operation to ensure meaningful development in the communities, adding, “The more you co-operate, the more benefit you will derive from the project”.
“We are looking forward for your co-operation to enable GHACEM to help build Ghana,” he added.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Western Limestone Products, Mr J.H. Mensah, noted that the limestone project was a very big one which would benefit the people and the country as a whole.
The chief of Kabenla Suazo, Nana Kabenla Tendenle V, noted with delight that the project which was started a long time ago had become a reality.
He expressed optimism that the project would yield results for the benefit of both parties.

WR RECORDED 168 FIRE OUTBREAKS IN 2008 (PAGE 20)

THE Western Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) recorded a total of 168 fire outbreaks in 2008.
The total estimated cost of damage caused by the fire outbreaks was GHc1,355,647.59.
There were 77 domestic ,14 vehicular, 19 electrical, 10 commercial, 19 bush and 20 industrial fires with nine other unspecified ones.
The Western Regional Commander of the GNFS, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Nana Ekow Abban told the Daily Graphic that the command intensified its fire safety programmes, which benefited a number of organisations and institutions.
He said more than 25 institutions obtained fire certificates for their operations, while a considerable number also renewed their fire certificates.
Nana Abban entreated all defaulting institutions to use the opportunity to go and register for certification.
He said the rural fire unit had been carrying out its outreach programme to educate the various communities on the prevention of bush fires.
Nana Abban said with the advent of the harmattan season, the regional command had ordered all district commanders of the GNFS to intensify their education on the prevention of bush fires and place men on the alert.
“We also entreat the public to be vigilant and cautious in the handling of fire during this period”, he cautioned.
Nana Abban said the advice had become imperative “because rampant bush fires could dissuade potential investors from doing business in the region.

FARMERS TO BE ASSISTED TO PRODUCE RICE IN WESTERN REGIONS (PAGE 20)

RICE is rapidly becoming a staple food in the country.
This food is consumed in every household, as well as educational institutions with boarding or hostel facilities.
As a result of its high patronage, the country is spending much hard earned foreign currency to import rice to satisfy the domestic requirement.
The government has, therefore, thought it wise to help improve rice production in the country by soliciting assistance in the form of loan from the African Development Bank to help address some of the challenges confronting rice farmers.
This is the genesis of the Inland Valleys Rice Development Project started in 2004.
The project is being implemented in five regions in the country, namely Western, Central, Eastern , Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo.
A total of 17 districts have been selected from the five regions with eight of them being in the Western Region.
The eight districts in the Western Region are the former Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Area (now the project is located in the newly created Shama District), the Mpohor Wassa East District, Nzema East Municipality, Wassa West District, now Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, Wassa Amenfi West District, Aowin Suaman District, Sefwi Wiawso District and Bia District.
The main aims of the project are to contribute towards food security and to reduce rice imports by the country with specific objectives of increasing incomes of small holder rice producers, rice traders and rice processors.
The project has five main components, which are land management, credit for crop development, capacity building, adaptive research and surveys, as well as co-ordination.
At the end of the project, 4,500 hectares of valley sites should have been surveyed, designed and developed.
The development includes land clearing, levelling, terracing and construction of water control structures, with 200 kilometres of feeder road spots improved and 80 kilometres of access tracks upgraded.
The project is also giving support by way of credit to rice producers/farmers, millers and processors. The support for the farmers is in the form of improved seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals, while the traders are benefiting from inventory credit, which means they are given loans to purchase paddy from the farmers for storage for some period before they dispose of the commodity.
The project is also to help construct storage structures, drying floors and provision of tarpaulins, rice threshers, power tillers, mini rice reapers and mini rice mills for stakeholders.
The activities being undertaken under its capacity building programme include the formation and training of farmers, traders and miller groups.
The project, in collaboration with the Crop Research Institute, is carrying out adaptive research trials in various project sites to come out with a rice variety which is suitable for each site.
Other activities being carried out under the adaptive research and surveys are soil improvements or nutrient management, rice-based cropping systems or integrated crop and pest management, baseline survey and ethno-botanical survey.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Takoradi, the Western Regional Officer of the Inland Valleys Rice Development Project, Mr Kofi Ayiah, said the project was being co-ordinated by a National Steering Committee, while at each regional level, it had a regional technical committee.
He said the project had other collaborators such as the Ministry of Health and the Department of Feeder Roads.
Mr Ayiah explained that before the project started in 2004, the area developed by rice farmers for rice cultivation in the valleys in the region was about 50 hectares covering three sites at Kobina Anokrom and Antseambua-Badukrom in the Shama District and Dompim Number One in the Mpohor Wassa East District.
He said the project was to develop a total land area of 1,400 hectares in the Western Region.
He, however, stated that the farmers had on their own been able to develop 263.4 hectares in all the nine sites in the eight districts, adding that last year, the farmers were able to crop 243.8 hectares.
Mr Ayiah said as of 2008, the project had been able to give 52 farmer groups support in the form of seed, fertilisers, agro-chemicals and loans totalling GH¢119,782.92.
He added that four marketing groups had benefited from a loan of GH¢53,140 while one processor had been provided with one mini-rice mill.
The regional officer said the farmers had received training in modern technology applied to rice production.
He said the Ministry of Health had also trained communities in the project catchment areas in the prevention of HIV/AIDS, malaria and water-borne diseases.
Mr Ayiah said the major challenge confronting the project in the Western Region was the delay in land development, unreliable rainfall and high cost of agricultural inputs.
“Unavailability of good processing facilities, such as rice mills and graders in most of the project sites in the region and the delay in the repayment of loans by some of the farmers to the banks are two of the problems hindering the progress of the project,” he said.

CIVIC EDUCATION COMPETITION FOR 14 SCHOOLS IN WESTERN REGION (PAGE 11)

CIVIC Education Clubs in 14 junior high and second cycle schools in the Western Region are participating in a regional competition that is designed to help students and youths to develop a rich and varied understanding of government, public policy and citizenship in the country.
The competition is being held under the Project Citizen Ghana, a portfolio-based inter-disciplinary civic education curriculum programme for students and youth to promote competent and responsible participation in local and national government.
The programme also seeks to help young people to learn how to monitor and influence public policy and in the process develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance and feelings of political efficacy.
The participating schools are the Takoradi Senior High, Archbishop Porter Girls Senior High, Fijai Senior High, Ahantaman Senior High, Saint Mary’s Senior High, Adiembra Senior High, Sekondi College, Bompeh Secodary Technical High, Saint John’s Senior High and Methodist Senior High Schools.
The rest are Bishop Essuah Junior High, Saint Anthony Catholic Junior High, West Ridge Junior High and Katabrah Junior High schools.
The school which emerges first will represent the region in a national competition to be held next month.
Students who go through lessons in Project Citizenship will learn how to develop a public policy to solve a community problem, and how citizens can have power to monitor and influence public policy-making in the community.
They will also develop intellectual as well as participatory skills that promote reasoned investigation, critical thinking, effective communication and reflective thinking.
The participants will, in addition, develop democratic dispositions that encourage the exercise of fundamental rights and responsibilities with commitment and influence.
Project Citizen Ghana, which is being administered by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and Civitas Ghana, in cooperation with the Centre for Civic Education in the United States of America, started on pilot basis in March, 2006 in 20 junior and senior high schools in the Greater Accra and Northern Regions, with a total of 574 students and pupils.
Speaking during the Western Regional showcase of Project Citizen Ghana in Takoradi, the Project Co-Director, Mrs Fanny Judith Kumah, said the outcome of the pilot programmes were highly remarkable with students attesting their ability to research on their own, tolerating each other, working in teams, speaking confidently in public, formulating policies to solve community problems and lobbying implementing agencies to adopt their policies.
Since the pilot scheme, she said teachers from selected schools had been trained, bringing the total number of schools currently participating in the programme to 147. Included are two schools for the blind and three schools for the deaf, comprising 302 teachers, 88 civic educators and about 2,000 students.
Mrs Kumah commended the teachers, students and administrators of the participating schools, for being the pioneers of the programme in the Western Region.
She expressed the hope that “Project Citizen gain firm root in this region and become a beacon of civic education, which will lead our youth to become informed, responsible and committed participants in our democracy".
Mrs Kumah also wanted the four-day regional showcase programme to have an unsurpassed success with its snowball effect giving the participants confidence in advocacy, lobbying, project writing, public speaking, consensus building, cooperative learning, as well as equipping them with the necessary qualities of effective citizenship.
"It is my desire that the best school from this region will excel at the national showcase when they join students from the best schools in the rest of the regions next month, to crown the intensive and extensive work done so far," she said.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

2008 ELECTIONS SUCCESSFUL BUT MOST CHALLENGING (PAGE 16)

THE Director of Human Resource and General Services of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Samuel Yorke Aidoo, has said the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections have been described as the most successful, but also passed as the most challenging.
However, he said collectively the EC and other stakeholders were able to overcome the challenges.
Mr Aidoo was speaking on the topic, "Perspective of political party representatives on the challenges of the December elections" at a special Western Regional Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting in Takoradi, to assess the December elections and devise strategies to improve on subsequent elections.
"We have major elections ahead of us and it is going to be tougher. Let us work in a collaborative way,” he said, adding, "Election 2012 will be a difficult task. Let us be seen to be exhibiting the right attitude.”
Mr Aidoo stressed that political expediency would not help the country and bemoaned the situation where political party agents wanted to take over the duties of electoral officers at the polling stations during the December elections.
He also expressed concern about political party agents who were trained by the EC but did not turn up at the polling stations during the polling day, saying "We build the capacity of political party agents and they throw it away.”
"We must begin to search for knowledge for our electoral system to become a standard and example for others to come and learn", he told the political parties.
"We are in a global world that we must use knowledge-based approach in learning our electoral system,” he added.
A Member of the Electoral Commission responsible for the Western Region, Madam Eunice Akweley Roberts, pointed out that rumour-mongering during the December elections was the cause of the major problems the commission encountered.
She also explained that it was the commission which created the position for political party agents, to build more confidence in the electoral system, adding, “It is not found in the electoral laws or the constitution.”
"We created the party agents for a purpose, but not for them to take over from the officers at the polling stations,” she explained
Madam Roberts said the commission would not work again with those party agents who misconducted themselves at polling stations during the elections.
She advised the political parties to get copies of the electoral laws and reforms to educate their members as part of capacity building.
Responding to questions, she said the commission could not use electronic voting system, but would improve on voter registration and that in future the commission would make sure that registration took place long before election day.
She said the EC was in a process of reducing numbers of voters by creating more poling stations.
Madam Roberts urged the political parties not to see the regional and district officers of the commission as enemies, since they were working to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
"They are not here to put impediments or obstacles in anybody’s way, but they are here to conduct a successful elections,” she added.
The Western Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr K.K. Sam, suggested that the commission should give its calendar on elections to the political parties ahead of time to enable the parties to prepare well and attend the commission’s programmes slated for the parties.
The Western Regional Organiser of the NPP, Mr Kojo Acquah, suggested that the EC should consult its stakeholders before choosing dates for its programmes.

Monday, March 2, 2009

DEPRIVED TANO RIVER COMMUNITIES GET FACILITIES (PAGE 53)

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF) have completed water and sanitation facilities for 10 deprived communities along the Tano River in the Western Region of Ghana and the Aboisso Prefecture in Cote d’lvoire at the cost of US$500,000.
The facilities, which were provided under the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) through CARE International, is to serve as an incentive to improve water resources management within the Tano River Basin.
WADA, a joint initiative between USAID and the Coca-Cola Company, in collaboration with the Ghana/Cote d’lvoire Transboundary Community Water Management Project, through CARE International, executed the projects, with funding from USAID and the Coca-Cola Foundation.
The beneficiary communities are Edusuazo and Ghana Nungua in the Jomoro District, Pantooso in the Wassa Amenfi East District, Jomoro in the Aowin-Suaman District and Nsawora in the Sefwi Wiawso District, all in the Western Region.
The rest are M’Possa, CI Noungoua, Saykro, Ehania and Kongodjan in Cote d’lvoire.
The projects in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire include the construction of five boreholes fitted with hand pumps, a hand-dug well fitted with a hand pump and a mechanised borehole system.
The project also rehabilitated a hand pump and constructed nine places of convenience fitted with rain harvesting and hand-washing facilities in nine basic schools.
Through the provision of teaching and learning materials, hygiene education will be taught in the basic schools, since hygiene and sanitation training has been conducted for 98 school teachers from five communities each in the Western Region of Ghana and the Aboisso Prefecture in Cote d’Ivoire.
The WADA intervention has increased access to potable water for 12,600 people and improved sanitation for 2,600 pupils in the 10 beneficiary communities and is expected to reduce the incidence of water and sanitation related diseases in the beneficiary communities and also improve afforestation along the Tano River Basin.
Speaking at a ceremony to hand over the projects at Ghana Nungua in the Jomoro District, the Franchise Manager of Coca-Cola Equatorial Limited, Mr Philippe Ayivor, said the company and the TCCAF were pleased to be associated with the water and development alliance.
"With the successful execution of these projects, the primary objective of providing safe water and essential sanitation facilities for the good people of the beneficiary communities is now a reality," he said.
Mr Ayivor said the company recognised that people and the environment were central to all business activities and that the success of all businesses was inexorably linked to the well-being and prosperity of the communities in which they operated.
"Therefore, our community or social investments are not mere gestures but are structured to improve living conditions, empower people and drive sustainable development,” he explained.
Mr Ayivor emphasised that the provision of safe water for the communities was fundamental to the quest for healthy and prosperous communities envisioned under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The Programme Co-ordinator of CARE International (Forest and Natural Resource), Mr Albert Katako, thanked the benefactors for the initiative and urged the beneficiary communities to resolve to maintain and keep the facilities working.
The Jomoro District Co-ordinating Director, Mr R.A. Acheampong, said the assembly would create the enabling environment for the development partners to encourage them to assist in the development of the communities.
The Chief of Ghana Nungua, Nana Aboa Ebenle II, asked for more of the water facility to serve the whole community, since the one borehole would not serve the people effectively.
He also appealed to the benefactors to assist the community to implement its electricity project.