UNICEF calls for action on cases of
defilement
Kumasi Metro to undertake proper management
of waste
Dr Biney says Ghana has no water rights with
neighbours
Chiefs urged not to employ land guards
Nigerian First lady calls on Mrs. Kufuor
Women advised not to decline political
appointments
UNICEF calls for action on cases of
defilement
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 – The UNICEF on Monday said it would "urgently" consult other international agencies, the government and law enforcement bodies to determine a common approach towards the elimination of defilement cases.
A statement in Accra said: "this is to reinforce responsible social values and the protection of the right of the children of Ghana." The UN body expressed concern at the increasing number of defilement and rape cases involving children.
It said children had a right to grow up in a safe environment, free from exploitation and called on all Ghanaians, government agencies, professional bodies, teachers, and families to protect children in the country.
"It is the responsibility of all to uphold proper social values. Cases of rape and defilement must be reported to the police and not covered up. The media must continue to report and to investigate such cases so that convenient cover-ups cannot occur," the statement added.
According to UNICEF, teachers' associations, employers and other professional bodies must treat proven breaches of trust by their members seriously. "Abusive teachers should be sacked. Law enforcement agencies must treat such crimes with the seriousness demanded and ensure that alleged crimes are rigorously investigated and prosecuted."
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Kumasi Metro to undertake proper management
of waste
Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 January 2002 - All solid waste generated in Kumasi would be incinerated to generate electricity, as part of efforts to improve sanitation in the Metropolis.
Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive told a peoples' Assembly organised by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) in Kumasi on Monday to mark the ninth anniersary of the Fourth Republic and the first year of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government, that the project estimated at 100 million dollars had been found to be viable.
He added that a delegation would soon be travelling to the USA to finalise arrangements for the choice of Plant and sources of funding for project.
Meanwhile, Mr Jumah said the 550,000 dollars Buobai Faecal Treatment Plant was now ready and would be commissioned soon to provide a long-last solution to the liquid waste management in the Metropolis.
The Kumasi Central Market built in 1936 is to be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of 72 million dollars. It would be provided modern facilities. Responding to concerns raised about the clearing of hawkers from the central business district of the city, Mr Jumah explained that the exercise was not intended to put people out of business but rather help make their business boom.
"Busineess cannot, however, boom in a chaotic environment but rather in an atmosphere of law and order, hence the exercise", he added. Mr Jumah said efforts were being made to upgrade the Kumasi Airport to an International status. He said it would be most prudent to remove the railway station from its present location to Kaase.
Contributing to the forum, Mr S. K. Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister, urged Ghanaians to make ample use of the sub-structures of the local government to accelerate development.
Mr Boafo advised the Sub-Metro Councils, Urban/Town Councils and Unit Committees to strive to handle all issues within their domain and only refer matters beyond their jurisdiction to the appropriate authorities.
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Dr Biney says Ghana has no water rights
with neighbours
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 - Ghana has no water rights with her neighbours in the Volta basin, a situation that could have disastrous effect on the sustainable development of the basin, the Director for Water Research Institute, said on Monday.
There is no agreement on the sharing and usage of tributaries of the Volta River that start from Mali, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo and empty into the Gulf of Guinea.
Dr Charles Augustus Biney, the Director, who opened a five-day sub-regional workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management of the Volta basin, (IWRM) said the increase in population was causing an increase in water demand in the various countries.
"In the face of increasing demand for water resources and accompanying deterioration of quality of the resource, the IWRM is currently the best way to achieve a balance between the use of resources for livelihood of the increasing population of the basin," Dr Biney said.
He cited an example where some hydroelectric power projects could be starved of the needed height of water for their operations whilst flooding could occur when spillways of some dams were opened during the rainy season.
The workshop, the third to be convened in Ghana by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research's Water Research Institute (CSIR/WRI) within the framework of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the participation programme of UNESCO is aimed at finding solutions to the emerging problems. It has brought together about 30 technical representative of the IHP National Committees from Ghana, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin Togo.
The participants are to share their knowledge and experiences on the sustainable management of the resources of the basin to support present and future socio-economic development needs of the countries that share the Volta basin.
Dr Biney said IWRM was the process that promoted the coordinated development and management of water and related resource in order to maximise the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of the ecosystems.
He urged the participants not to make this workshop another paragraph in their already impressive Curriculum Vitas, "but to strive directly or indirectly, make use of the knowledge gained to support the socio-economic development of the Volta basin and the sub-region as a whole."
Dr Martin Agyemang Odei, Executive Director, National Science and Technology Foundation, said Ghana believed that to harness the resources of the Volta basin efficiently, the development and management of the water resources and the basin have to be rationalised and harmonised.
''We believe in sharing the benefits of the resources within the basin, for example, the possible extension of power supply from Ghana to other riparian states where feasible," he said. Dr Odei said there could also be extension of potable water supply from the Volta River in Ghana to the neighbours that needed it.
"We believe that when the riparian countries have a stake in the benefits of the resource they would be prepared to conserve and manage the water resources of the basin for the sustainable development of the riparian nations'', he said.
Mr Robert R. Bannerman, a consultant with the Water Resources Consultancy Limited, who chaired the function, called for trust and co-operation among the riparian neighbours to be able to provide for the socio-economic needs of the people.
The trust and co-operation could be achieved by sharing information and resources, he said.
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Chiefs urged not to employ land guards
Amasaman (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 - Chiefs in the Greater Accra Region have been urged to use laid down procedures to settle land disputes instead of employing land guards.
Addressing a durbar at Achiaman, in the Ga District, Nii Quartey Ajan, Chief of the Town, said chiefs, landlords and tenants should be able to resolve issues amicably.
He noted that, "it is only when this is done that the destruction of property like buildings, damaging vehicles and assaulting people could be stopped" adding that, the activities of land guards at Achiaman and Abehenease last year affected the development of the area.
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Nigerian First lady calls on Mrs. Kufuor
Accra (Greater Accra) 15 January 2002 - The Nigerian First Lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo, on Monday paid a curtsey call on Ghana's First Lady Mrs Theresa Kufuor at her Residence in Accra.
The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, was believed to have centred on issues such as care for the needy and deprived and abandoned children. Mrs Obansajo, who is on a private visit, is expected to lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and visit places of interest such as Aburi Botanical Gardens and Cape Coast Castle.
She is also expected to call on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
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Women advised not to decline political
appointments
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 15 January 2002 - Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Friday advised women not to turn down political appointments but be courageous and offer to serve the people.
The Minister, who was answering questions at a people's assembly in Sunyani, emphasised that it was not the system that was marginalizing women as far as political and public appointments were concerned.
"Most women just decline to accept such positions for perceived fear of criticisms," he said.
Mr Baah-Wiredu explained that early last year when appointments for district chief executives were being made, a number of women contacted for the job declined it for various reasons. He, therefore, urged women to be courageous to offer themselves as assembly members during the district assembly elections to be held in June.
Mr Baah-Wiredu also spoke about the Highly Indebted Poor Countries' Initiative (HIPC), saying if it had not been accepted, the government would have paid 4.4 trillion cedis as capital on interests to its international creditors last year.
"The government is now working out an agreement with the country's creditors to be able to disburse their money in three months' time to all district assemblies to finance some identifiable development projects, which would be marked as HIPC projects," he said.
Mr. Ernest Akubour Debrah, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, said the loans and grants the government had been receiving from international donors as well as financial multi-national institutions were testimonies of the confidence that the international community has in the government.
He attributed this to the government's sound foreign policies and good international relations. "The rule of law is the bedrock of democratic governance, so the law will not spare anyone who will flout it; every citizen is subject to it."
Mr Debrah cited the case of Mallam Yusuf Issah, the jailed former Sports Minister, saying that though he was the government's own minister, he was sent to prison when the court found him guilty in the 46,000-dollar scandal.
"No one must consider Victor Selormey's case and others pending at the fast track court as harassment and victimisation of the government's opponents," he said, adding "it is the law that is taking its course".
Mr Debrah said the current economic indicators like the low level of inflation and interest rates, stability of the cedi and other economic gains were all a move to put the country on a higher pedestal for a better take-off.
Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, Sunyani District Chief Executive, noted that the people's forum was unprecedented in the country's political history. He announced that within six months of assuming office, the district assembly spent 840 million cedis on the construction and rehabilitation of school blocks in Sunyani, Nsoatre, Chiraa and Abesim.
Other speakers at the forum were Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Minister of Education; Mr. Edward Akita, Deputy Minister of Defence; and Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of Mines and Member of Parliament for Sunyani West.
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