GMA to enforce boat safety regulations
Tapa-Abotoase (V/R), 31.03.2007, GNA -
A team of personnel of the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has been stationed at Tapa-Abotoase to enforce maritime safety standards and rules on the operations of boats on the Volta Lake.
The team under the leadership of Mr Adangiak Akanteyam, Chief Ship Surveyor of the GMA would ensure observance of the lake safety code to stem overloading and drunkenness among boat operators on the Lake. Chief Adangiak told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that all boats would soon be registered and the owners licensed and educated on how to ensure safety on the Lake.
He said the team was currently studying the terrain to introduce some transformations such as new lake regulation and design and boat construction.
Mr Kaizaro Morgano, Secretary of the Abotoase Boat Owners Association expressed appreciation of the team's desire to ensure discipline on the Lake and pledged the preparedness of the Association to support the team at all times.
He appealed to the government to provide the Association with communication gadgets to enhance their activities. Nana Kwame Ampertey, Chief of Abotoase commended government for the decision to station naval personnel in the town and assured the team of the support of the traditional area.
He cautioned, however, "it is a taboo in the town for a man to hold the hand of a married woman, touch her shoulder or the buttocks in public".
Source:
GNA
Promote alternative energy sources
Takoradi, 31.03.2007, GNA -
Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has stressed the need for the development of alternative energy sources to safeguard the current crisis that the country is going through.
He called for the beginning of an aggressive programme to begin the manufacture and use of solar panels for domestic use to reduce the burden on the national electricity grid.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng was delivering the third of a series of lectures organised by the Western Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) as part of the activities marking the "Ghana at 50" celebrations at Takoradi on Thursday.
He said that apart from solar, geothermal, micro dams, wind energy, biogas and Ocean Thermal Energy Converter (OTEC) as well as Bio7-diesel should be promoted throughout the country to curtail the annual energy crisis.
The country's engineers must develop simple technologies to facilitate the "day-to-day" lives of the people, he said. To facilitate this, Prof Frimpong-Boateng stressed the need for the establishment a well-equipped Technical University to support the production of tools.
All districts must also have well-equipped polytechnics with the requisite machinery to manufacture, re-design and mould technologies appropriate to the Ghanaian environment.
He expressed regrets that while the advanced countries were still developing and using alternative energy sources African countries were still relying on hydro-electric dams.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng charged Ghanaians to "venture" into helping to solve the country's problems.
He noted that even though the Western Region was endowed with natural resources, it lacked the requisite infrastructure. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng urged the chiefs, churches, individuals as well as chief executives to play their roles to improve conditions in the region.
The inhabitants of the Western Region must "think alike" and develop the region "together," Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said urged Ghanaians to acquire "the skills and know how" that would enable them to transform their situation.
Mr. Philip K. Nkrumah, Shama-Ahanta-East Metropolitan Chief Executive, stressed the determination of the various district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to do their best to ensure national development.
Source:
GNA
Kufuor explains why Hawa resigned
President John Agyekum Kufuor has revealed that the late Tourism Minister, Madam Hawa Yakubu, resigned from government because of difference in opinion.
Addressing family members at the Castle, Osu, in Accra, President Kufuor said Madam Yakubu also resigned as Tourism Minister in May 2002 citing her inability to combine her ministerial duties with her duties as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament.
“Because I have known her over the decades, I invited her to become a minister but typical of her she was always free with her view. She picked a quarrel with me insisting I should add culture to tourism and tried as I did, she would not be convinced that tourism need not be linked with culture. That I believe was the main reason why eventually she left the government…but she remained, I would say loyal to government and the party,” he said.
Madam Yakubu died last week in London where she was receiving treatment for cancer. Until her death she was the first Vice Chairperson of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
President Kufuor paid glowing tributes to the late former minister.
He recalled how he first met and noticed her political prowess as a member of the constituent assembly in 1979. He told the delegation, how he unsuccessfully tried to woo Madam Yakubu to join the PFP in the late 1970’s and the NPP in the early 1990’s until he finally convinced her to join the ruling party in 2000.
President Kufuor conceded that though popular there was some tension about her.
“The leadership of our party in the Bawku area did not give any privilege to her but fortunately I managed to prevail on them to allow Hawa take the seat and they agreed eventually…and she performed very effectively as a Member of Parliament,” he said.
President Kufuor said Hawa Yakubu was very independent minded and politically alert saying these qualities influenced her appointment as Tourism Minister. But Hawa resigned that position citing her inability to combine her duties as minister and a member of the ECOWAS Parliament. Though speculation was rife then that there were other considerations, in a rare insight, the President said she was so independent minded she resigned over a difference of opinion.
Nonetheless President Kufuor said they remained good friends. He described her as a hard worker and a popular figure with deep international connections. President Kufuor said her landslide victory during the 2006 congress revealed her political clout.
“She also gained a great footing within the party. The party conference came and she came to tell me she was going to contest. She came out polling the highest vote to become the first vice chairman. She showed the character of generosity and I believe that was why she got the vote she got,” he stated.
President Kufuor revealed Madam Yakubu was very difficult to overlook. He described her as a shooting star and expressed regret that the country has lost such a high and free spirited individual.
Though a date for her burial has not been set, President Kufuor has instructed the director of state protocol to liaise with the family to ensure that she is given a befitting burial.
Source:
jfm
Ghana neeeds 10 more regions - Prof. Kumado
The Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), Professor Kofi Kumado, has proposed the creation of 10 additional regions to facilitate efficient administration and reduce conflicts between majority and minority ethnic groups in some of the existing regions in the country.
He argued that most of the current regions were too big to be administered by one regional minister, while the chunk of the resources allocated to the regions went to the regional capitals and surrounding towns to the neglect of remote towns and villages.
Again, he said, the conflict situations in some of the regions were generated by attempts by the smaller ethnic groups "to free themselves from the domination" of the bigger ethnic groups.
Prof. Kumado was delivering the third in a series of Golden Jubilee lectures on "The Degree of Our Commitment to Our National Motto - Freedom and Justice: An Assessment" in Accra on Thursday.
It was attended by Members of the Council of State, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament (MPs), chiefs, members of the Diplomatic Corps and students.
The Daily Graphic which published the submission quoted Prof. Kumado as saying that the geographical space of Ghana which consisted of four large blocs, namely the Colony, Asante, the Protectorates of the Northern Regions and Trans-Volta Togoland, remained "glued together by the bond of colonial power even after independence and the departure of the colonial power.
He described the four blocs as the "fault lines" to the nation's internal political freedom, and stressed that the fact that the blocs were brought together in a piecemeal manner to form the state meant that there had been a tendency for each bloc to think of itself first and the nation second.
Prof. Kumado, whose one-hour lecture was greeted with deafening applause, said internal struggles within each bloc became automatically a national headache, while the blocs suffered from "internal colonialism".
For instance, he said, the Central and Western Provinces of the Colony had remained Central and Western regions since 1957, while two regions had been carved out of the Eastern Province, namely Greater Accra and Eastern Region.
Prof. Kumado stated that the remaining part of the Eastern Province was added to the Trans-Volta Togoland to form the Volta Region, while parts of Trans-Volta Togoland were added to parts of the Northern Protectorates to form the present Northern Region.
''The objective behind the creation of new regions would be to dismantle instances of internal colonialism. Our political independence would have been complete because it would then encompass freeing ourselves from both external and internal forces,” he said.
Briefing the media later on the proposal, Prof. Kumado said the conflicts in some of the regions resulted from the oppression of some groups by others, saying that "we have sent the British away but to some people the internal colo¬nial power is still there".
"There may be eruptions somewhere, and when you look at it, the people do not understand why we say the country is independent while they are still under somebody," he said.
For instance, he said, people saw the Nanumba-Kokomba and Nkonya-Alavanyo conflicts as ethnic problems, but observed that it was a feeling of domination.
He said the creation of new regions might not necessarily result in the creation of more districts but the re-adjustment of district boundaries, and said people would not complain of increased number of Ministers of State if they felt the impact of their work.
In making the proposal for the creation of new regions, Prof. Kumado said he was aware of the requirements of Chapter Two of Ghana's Constitution on the creation of new regions, which included the holding of a referendum.
He conceded that the conditions for referendum were stringent, but argued that the country did not have much choice, since the "future of freedom and justice in our nation is at stake".
To cut cost, he suggested the holding of the referendum alongside next year's Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Prof. Kumado admitted that there would be problems of infrastructure and where to locate new regional capitals besides the costs of providing one-time logistics.
However, he said, adminis¬trative costs should not be a problem "because they were already covered in existing budgets. "The panacea for tribalism for those for whom it is a problem, lies in these new regions. There is room, in my considered opinion, for as many as 10 new regions.
"These new regions would also help in our desire to devel¬op the whole country more equitably. On reflection, the unwieldy sizes of the existing regions may be part of the bane of our development efforts," he stressed.
Source:
Daily Graphic
Polytechnics entrusted to produce quality human resource
Accra, 31.03.2007, GNA -
President John Agyekum Kufuor on Saturday emphasized that human resource development and capacity building continues to be decisive factors in government's effort towards socio-economic and political development.
He said government had taken keen interest in the polytechnics and therefore pursuing vigorous policies that will enhance the capabilities of the polytechnics to function as the human resource of Ghana.
President Kufuor made the statement in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Ampofo Twumasi, Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sport, at the sixth congregation of the Accra Polytechnic. "For the sustainable development of a nation, the human resources and skills of the productive force are important. The government has vigorously pursued and demonstrated well enough its intention towards education.
The emphasis is being shifted away from the mere acquisition of academic qualification to practical knowledge and in-depth understanding of the productive environment and the polytechnics are at the vanguard of this noble effort," President Kufuor noted.
He said it was to ensure the successes of this agenda and the successes of Higher National Diploma (HND) graduates in the job market that provision of both infrastructure and human resource development in Ghana's polytechnics had been stepped up.
President Kufuor noted that there had been many dialogue among government, other stakeholders and industry to find a way of integrating the polytechnic curriculum and that's of the needs of industry.
He announced that government through the National Committee for Technical Education (NCTE) had started a research in order to harmonize the needs of the world of work and the polytechnic curriculum.
"There are many other plans that the government has put in place and these will begin to roll out at the opportune time. It is our desire and determination to see the polytechnics succeed," he said.
The President expressed sadness at the level at which pettiness and personal differences were eating into the fabric of the society and urged leaders in the institution to function unison and in one accord give the students exemplary managerial leadership lifestyles. President Kufuor advised the graduands to remain focus as they enter the job market since they were likely to face a lot of challenges. He said: "Ghana needs your vision, we need your energy, we need your optimism, we need your faith, we need your resourcefulness and we need all the good things you can bring to mother Ghana."
Professor Ralph Kingston Asabere, Principal of Accra Polytechnic, announced that the institution two departments had been given accreditation to run a Bachelor degree programmes in technology and vocational education.
He said the rest of the departments would be accredited soon assuring HND graduates in search of first degree of hope soon. Mentioning some achievements of the polytechnic, Mr Asabere said about 80 percent of students were on placement and said the institution was collaborating with the Association of Ghana Industries and other bodies to attain 100 percent placement opportunities for all students. He said polytechnic staff now enjoys rent subsidy, motor/car and bicycle and 'trotro' allowance, which are funded from internal sources. Mr Asabere however appealed to government to improve the remuneration and conditions of service for staff.
He called on the graduands to prove the worth at any work place they found themselves.
of the Polytechnic Governing Council, said the council in collaboration with management and staff had been able to elevate staff quality, improve and diversify curriculum content and adopted modern trends in educational technology in order to meet the challenges of the new tertiary status.
He said the council had also kept an eagle eye on teaching and learning so that it does not degenerate into theoretical academic work only since the objective of the polytechnic was to train graduates to man businesses and industries. 31 March 07
Source:
GNA
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