Sell cement at approved price-- Kyerematen
Accra, April 25, GNA -
Government on Wednesday warned that it would not hesitate to institute price controls to protect the interest of consumers if distributors and retailers continued to sell cement at arbitrarily high prices.
Speaking at a meeting with stakeholders in the industry, Trade and Industry Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen said although the government would not want to return to the days of price regulation because of the ideals of the market economy, it would have no choice in taking such a drastic action when cheating of consumers persisted.
"Government would not sit by unconcerned for distributors and retailers to take undue advantage of the current cement crisis to exploit users," he said.
He therefore warned distributors and retailers to desist from selling the product at unauthorized prices.
The energy crisis has affected the production of cement, leading to a hike in prices. Diamond Cement, one of the two cement producers, whose production output stands 95,000 to 100,000 tonnes per month slackened by about 10 percent.
GHACEM also had to cut production in line with the request to all industries to cut their energy usage by 25 per cent. The shortfall in supply has led to a price hike of the product from about 60,000 cedis to between 75,000 and 90,000 cedis per bag.
Mr Kyerematen said the government would set up a committee to look into the activities of cement distributors, especially pricing of the product, and if after a period of time the situation remained unchanged, he would be left with no other alternative than to come up with sanctions against distributors and retailers who might falter. He appealed to the two cement producers, Ghana Cement (GHACEM) and Diamond Cement Ghana Limited, to have a close relationship with their distributors in order to have a fair idea on how their product was sold since they would be at the receiving end if anything should go wrong in the industry.
According to Minister there is no policy banning the importation of cement into the country once the importer can pay the 40 per cent tax that is imposed on it.
He commended GHACEM and Diamond Cement for their decision to look for ways of mining limestone-a major component in cement production- in the country, adding that government would also sponsor research into its production.
The Strategic Director of GHACEM, Dr Dawson Amuah said the company had records of the various limestone sites and it would not hesitate to take advantage of them if the quantity and quality are good. Dr Amuah said since the inception of the energy crisis, the company had reduced its energy consumption by 25 per cent as ordered by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) hence their inability to produce the normal quantity. He added that GHACEM had plans of installing new plants to support its energy production.
Already, GHACEM has installed six diesel generators to produce a total output of 5.1 megawatts of power at its plant at Tema to augment the current shortfall of energy supplies.
The Company has also started taking delivery of imported bagged cement from its sister company in Togo, expecting a total of 40,000 tons, which is equivalent to 800,000 bags to supplement production and supply.
Mr M. Prasad of Diamond Cement said for the past four months the production of cement by the company had dropped by 10 per cent due to the energy crisis. He added that from next month they would install new plants, which would help them produce more than they have been doing for the past two years.
Mr Paa Kwesi Ansong, President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association, called on producers of cement to supply the public with contact numbers by which people could report distributors and retailers who sold the product at exorbitant prices.
Source:
GNA
Crook Siphons Millions From ATMs
The police have arrested a Sierra Leonean for illegally withdrawing various sums of money with Visa cards from the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of two multinational banks.
John Trejet, the suspect, was alleged to have withdrawn ¢24 million from Barclays Bank and ¢1.2 million from Standard Chartered Bank on April 19, 2007 with the Visa cards which are suspected to have been stolen.
Between 4:45 a.m. and 4:56 a.m., a period of 11 minutes, the suspect was able to withdraw ¢17.6 million from the Makola Branch of the Barclays Bank.
It has also been established that ¢6.4 million was withdrawn at the High Street Branch of the bank just about the same period.
Seven Visa cards were retrieved from the suspect, while one of the bank also brought out five of those cards which had been captured by its ATMs.
The James Town District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) William Sewornu, told the Daily Graphic that Trejet was arrested at the High Street Branch of the Standard Chartered Bank last Thursday after he had been able to withdraw ¢1.2 million.
According to ASP Sewornu, information available to the police suggested that there could be a syndicate behind the use of the Visa cards to siphon money from the accounts of unsuspecting victims.
ASP Sewornu said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to access the card details of account holders from sales representatives at malls for a fee.
He explained that after a customer had used a Visa card for payment at a shopping mall, a member of the syndicate would approach the sales representative for the card details of the customer for a fee.
He said having accessed such details, the member of the syndicate would apply to the Visa Centre in London, purporting to be the holder of the card which had been misplaced and so request for a new one.
ASP Sewornu said when the perpetrator received the card, he or she was able to access the account of the genuine card owner and make withdrawals from it.
He said when the account was depleted, the ATM would capture the card.
According to him, information from the local banks indicated that their ATM cards were secure and could not be abused or accessed by any other person unless the holder compromised his or her personal identification number (PIN).
Source:
Graphic
Malaria obstructing economic growth in Africa - Expert
From Eunice Menka, GNA Special Correspondent, Mombasa
Mombasa, Kenya, April 25, GNA -
There is strong evidence that malaria obstructs overall economic growth in Africa, a medical anthropologist said on Tuesday.
Professor Isaac Nyamongo of the University of Nairobi, Kenya, said, in 2000, it was estimated that economic development in Africa would have been 32 per cent higher had malaria been eliminated 35 years ago. "Malaria-free countries average three times higher gross domestic product (GDP) per person than countries with malaria," he said at a workshop on malaria for some 25 African journalists and scientists in Mombasa, Kenya. The Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), an African-led institution overseeing vaccine trials in nine African countries, is organizing the workshop under the theme, "Moving the Malaria Agenda Forward."
MCTA is expecting a malaria vaccine for use in Africa by 2011 should clinical trials into the candidate vaccine prove successful in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and other African countries. Prof. Nyamongo, who was dilating on the economic and social cost of malaria, told participants that malaria attacks adversely affected educational attainment in Africa.
He said in Kenya, malaria was responsible for 50 per cent of all preventable school absenteeism. Prof. Nuamongo spoke on cerebral malaria, a severe form of malaria, which results in coma and deaths when not treated early at the health facility.
He said cerebral malaria affected the brain and could result in learning difficulties, especially in children even after they had recovered.
"In Kenya, school children hospitalized with cerebral malaria are 4.5 times more likely to have learning difficulties." He said cost of treatment resulted in loss of man hours and hindered productivity.
Source:
GNA
Government urges students to "remain calm"
Accra, April 25, GNA -
The Government on Wednesday urged students of the University of Ghana to remain calm while government discusses their concerns about the new residential policy with the authorities with a view to addressing them.
A statement signed by Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Minister of Education, Science and Sports in Accra said government had received a petition by the students on the subject and was considering their concerns.
"Meanwhile, Government urges students to remain calm under the circumstances while Government discusses these concerns with the University authorities with a view to addressing them," it said.
Students of the University of Ghana last week staged a demonstration to protest the decision of the authorities to change the present residential policy from in-out-out-in to in-out-out-out. This means, only first year students would have official residential accommodation at the university. Under the previous policy, students had official residential accommodation in the first and final years.
The authorities argue that they arrived at that decision because of pressure on official residential accommodation.
Source:
GNA
Women march for their rights
Accra, April 25, GNA -
Political parties in Ghana have been asked to spearhead the 'women manifesto', compiled by gender activists, to ensure the full participation of women in active politics. Ms Ekua Ansah-Eshon, Chief Executive Officer of Advocates and Trainers for Women's Welfare Advancement and Rights (ATWWAR) a non-governmental organisation made the call on Wednesday. " If they refuse to come for the women's manifesto and make it an integral part of their manifestoes women would indeed advice themselves come election 2008"
Speaking at the end of an historic march of women to celebrate Ghana's 50 years of women's contributions to the political and socio-economic development of Ghana, Ms Ansah-Eshon said since pre-colonial days, women have contributed immensely towards national development but their efforts had not been recognised by the state. She said development is not about structures and infrastructures but about the human race particularly women of that nation, adding, "any institution which does not see this and design policies that make human system go waste must not be supported".
Madam Dzodzi Tsikata, member of the Network for Women's Right in Ghana (NETRIGH) said though the march was to commemorate Ghana's independence, women @ 50 was not Ghana @ 50 since they have not been given more room to operate.
She said it was about time the nation officially recognised the role women played before and after independence to deepen democracy and ensure equality among citizens of the country.
Madam Tsikata called on government to ensure that women who struggled for independence had their monument displayed all over the country just as those of men in Ghana to encourage them to do more. Mrs Jane Quaye, Executive Director of FIDA noted that the value of women since independence had always been the same adding " we all have the right to go high on the political ladder to ensure that policies that have women at heart are designed and implemented in the country". Nana Oye-Lithur, African Regional Coordinator of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative called on the President to give accent to the Domestic Violence Bill before the conference of African Charter of Human Rights Cession begins in May this year.
She said as the Chairman of the African Union, it was prudent for him to do so before other African countries realise that his country had problems with human rights and gender equity laws since laws on violence against women had not been given the accent.
Nana Oye Lithur also expressed worry about the low participation of women in the political arena and called on government to include more women in the cabinet to promote gender equality and encourage them to engage in politics.
Source:
GNA
NGO commends government for its educational interventions
Wa, April 25, GNA-
The Northern Network for Education Development (NNED), an NGO has commended the government for its relentless efforts to provide quality education for all children in the country. It welcomed the gains made through the introduction of the capitation grant and the school feeding programme and said it was looking forward for a more relevant education through the new education reforms, which would start in September this year. The NGO, a broad based network of stakeholders in education in the three Northern Regions, noted that with a political will, attention and resource allocation, Ghana would certainly achieve "Education for All" by 2015.
These were contained in a press statement issued and signed by Mr. Eric Dourinaah, Coordinator of NNED in Wa on Wednesday to mark the 6th Global Action Week on education. The Week is on the theme: "Join up for education rights in Northern Ghana".
The NNED however said, despite these interventions, the data it gathered from some rural communities including Tanchara, Lawra-Zombo and Wa township in the Upper West Region, Azinsum-Sumbrungu and Zongo in the Upper East Region and Bagliga in the Northern Region, point to the denial of the right of several children to quality basic education. It said up to 20 per cent of children, majority of whom are orphans and vulnerable were still denied the right to enrol and remain in school.
The NGO therefore called on the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to conduct a research in the communities mentioned and make a real commitment to get all children enrolled into school. The NNED also called on the government to give a special allocation of the capitation grant to rural schools to support poor children to help improve teaching and learning in rural schools. It appealed to traditional rulers and Members of Parliament in the three Northern Regions to show concern for education and welfare of poor children in their communities.
"Members of Parliament must be able to advocate the plight of vulnerable children on the floor of Parliament and increase direct support to needy pupils", it said.
The NGO urged implementers of the new education reforms to demonstrate genuine commitment to bridge the development gap between the south and the north as well as urban and rural communities by adopting policies based on equity.
Source:
GNA