Government urged to give priority to
acquisition of land
Elmina (Central Region) 21 January 2002 - Mr Ernest Bediako Sampong, Managing Director of Ernest Chemists Limited in Accra, on Saturday appealed to government to give priority attention to land acquisition for industrial purposes to boost private sector development.
He stressed the need for stakeholders, chiefs, landowners and administrators to come together to formulate flexible policy to enhance easy acquisition of land. Mr Sampong was contributing to the topic "Private Sector Operators' Inputs" at a three-day National Workshop to define the policy direction and strategies for achieving the "Golden Age of Business" held at Elmina in the Central Region.
It was necessary for land acquired or preserved for industrial purposes to have serviced plots and other facilities in order to make development easy for investors as found in some industrial zones in South Africa, he said.
Mr Sampong said Private Sector Development could not be tackled in isolation because all industries were inter-dependent and to achieve self-sufficiency in production for export, there was the need for highly trained manpower both in management and technology.
"In the pharmaceutical industry, there are not enough industrial pharmacists and technicians although the number of manufacturing companies is on the increase. Post-graduate training for various professions and industrial disciplines is necessary and must be encouraged," he added.
Mr Sampong said the success of every industry depended on the availability of qualified human resources because lack of knowledge on the part of management and lack of technical know-how would result in an industry producing sub-standard products to the detriment of consumers.
He said in the absence of flexible laws for financial institutions and other lending houses to support investors, landowners, chiefs and local administrators would not give support and encouragement to applicants to establish industries on their land.
Mr Sampong said with efficient utility services, provision of basic infrastructure and well-trained and motivated manpower, the private sector could develop.
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 21 January 2002 - The government has been urged to re-consider the ban on chain-saw operators the view to rather legalising their activities to boost the economy.
Mr Opoku Agyemang Prempeh, Executive President of the Centre for Moral Education (CEME), a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), said this was necessary because the ban had rather increased the number of operators and paved the way for some organisations and individuals to cash in at the expense of the government.
Mr Prempeh told a press conference in Kumasi on Sunday to outline programmes and activities of the Centre on moral education for the youth, that should the proposal be accepted, the government should as a first step, register all chainsaw operators, grant them permit and conveyance licences and impose tax on them like what pertained to timber firms.
The government could generate huge revenue to assist small-scale wood processing firms including manufacturers of furniture and coffin and at the same time create employment.
Mr Prempeh expressed regret that the ban had resulted in the collapse of most small-scale firms since the source of supply of raw materials had been curtailed.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 January 2002 - The Ghana Re-Estate Developers Association (GREDA), on Saturday called on the government to regulate land acquisition in the country to ensure sanity in re-estate development.
Mr. Togbor Mensah, former President of GREDA said the greatest threat to real estate development in the country is the role of land guards and greedy chiefs who employ them to cover up their dubious activities in land adjudication and administration.
"The government's intention of developing and promoting low cost housing through the private sector and 'Golden Age of Business' policy would be a mirage if land administration is not streamed lined."
Mr. Mensah told GNA in Accra after an Executive Meeting of the Association to plan the swearing ceremony of a new eleven-member executive committee, headed by Mr. Branford Adu, MP for Okere and Executive Director of AWET Company. Others are; Commander C. Addo of Jupiter Re-Estate as vice president and Ms. Mina Arthur of VIRKAM, Secretary.
The Former President welcomed the intended restructuring of the Land Commission and urged the government, traditional authorities and the National House of Chiefs to assess the current policy thoroughly and institute measures to strengthen regulating bodies of land administration.
Mr. Adu said his projections for the housing industry would be to revamp GREDA, through education of its members on new construction techniques and overcoming structural defects.
He stressed that his administration would set up a strong lobbying force to deal with government on housing policies and to implement housing policies that would favour employees. The GREDA would research into low income housing for the benefit of workers, review existing information, update and incorporate into housing programmes.
He said GREDA would also study other low cost housing technologies of other countries and "select the best that suits our conditions or modify to meet the nation's peculiar circumstances."
He said regional interest of concentration of new developments would be enforced to encourage business to spread out beyond Accra and other major cities. The new executive members would be sworn into office by the end of February.
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Techiman (Brong Ahafo) 21 January 2002 - Mr. Isaac Osei-Antwi, Techiman District Chief Executive (DCE), has ordered the demolition of all structures and buildings sited at unauthorised places in Techiman.
The DCE giving the order at the inauguration of an 11-member district demolition task force on Thursday, expressed regret that in spite of persistent warnings by the assembly on the sitting of structures, some recalcitrant people had not heeded to them.
The demolition squad would operate around the market square, the water works area, recreational grounds, streets, lanes and refuse dumps, which are earmarked for development projects, the DCE said. He assured members of the force of the assembly's support in their activities and should, therefore, act without fear or favour to instil discipline in the people.
Mr. Osei-Antwi assured members that the assembly would provide them with necessary logistics to enable them to commence work and called on people with such structures to comply with the order to remove them before it was too late.
Mr. Owiredu Nkansah, Deputy Superintendent of Police and chairman of the task force, pledged the force's readiness to operate to enhance the development of the district.
The demolition task force comprises personnel of the police, assembly guards, Department of Town and Country Planning and the district assembly building and works inspectorate division.
Others are representatives of the Urban Council, the traditional council, National Fire Service, Ministry of Health, environmental health division, Land Valuation Board and the district emergency social and relief organisation.
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Kumasi (Greater Accra) 21 January 2002 - An appeal has been made to the government to consider reviewing the District Assembly concept and also make provision for payment of salaries to Assembly Members.
Mr. Kwabena Antoh, Assemblyman for North Suntreso said unless the government takes a second look at the concept and institute bold initiatives for salaries to be paid to Assembly Members, it might be very difficult to achieve any meaningful development in the various electoral areas.
Mr Antoh told the GNA in an interview in Kumasi that the current situation in which Assembly Members operate was not fair, since in most instances, they have to spend monies from their personal purse in order to mobilise their people for communal activities.
The Assemblyman said if the situation persists, it could become difficult for people to contest the district assembly as well as the unit committee elections as they might no longer be willing to sacrifice their time, personal resources and energy for the progress of their areas.
Mr. Antoh stressed that like Members of Parliament (MPs), Assembly members are also elected to represent their people at the District Assemblies, and therefore, deserve to benefit from facilities like salaries, allowances and other privileges to facilitate their work in their electoral areas.
"More importantly, it is the Assembly members that the local people look up to more, to solve development problems of the area, as well as their social and even at times private issues more than any other official", he added.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 January 2002 - Lotto Receivers Union of the Department of National Lotteries (DNL) supported by stakers on Saturday stood against the introduction of a new mechanised machine by the department.
This created confusion and subsequently held up the day's draw until Police intervention. The draw eventually took place after one hour, when order was restored by about 20-armed Policemen who supervised the event.
Mr. Dan Mensah, Chairman of the Union said the use of the new machine would negatively affect their sales since stakers would have to wait for some time before following the trend of numbers drawn by the machine.
The DNL failed to gave adequate education to their numerous clients and receivers before the introduction of the new machine, he said, adding that advertisements they inserted in an Accra daily were not noticed by many.
Mr. Mensah said the union protested to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Ms Grace Coleman on the introduction of the new machine, who assured them that no directives have been given to the Director of National Lotteries to operate a new machine.
Mr Emmanuel Kermah, Director of the DNL, however, said he needs no directive from the minister before carrying out his duties explaining that the decision to introduce the new machine have long been taken.
He explained that the existing machine had been in operation for the past 40 years and it was difficult finding spare parts to operate it whenever it broke down.
The Director said it is easier for stakers to win on the old machine because there is only one set of wining numbers to be drawn each week, which is making the department to lose large sums of money as stakers continue to win.
Mr. Kermah cited an instance in Kumasi where the Department lost over 1.5 billion cedis last week because stakers are accustomed to the old machine and could easily predict wining numbers.
He said in the new machine where there are three sets of numbers to be drawn each week wining would become difficult for stakers, hence the department would not lose.
Lotto stakers GNA spoke to, were highly disappointed by the new development, saying they would boycott the National Lotto for some time until they are able to follow the trend of draw of the new machine.
Some said they lost heavily this week because the numbers drawn by the new machine were no where near what they anticipated. They, however, agreed that
Lotto is a game of chance.
The leader of the Police Force advised the Union Executives to adopt peaceful means of resolving problems instead of confrontation.
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Mangoase (Brong Ahafo) 21 January 2002 - The people of Mangoase in the Techiman district are battling with an acute water shortage in the area. The situation has forced the people, mainly farmers, to spend between five and six hours daily in search of water.
Nana Ati Yaw, the Odikro, described the water shortage as serious and appealed to the district assembly to come to their aid. Mr Stephen Yeboah assemblyman noted that the water situation Was affecting farming activities in the area.
Mr. Yeboah expressed regret about the attitude of some people in the area, who had persistently refused to participate in communal labour and warned them to change their attitude.
He expressed appreciation to the SDA church for the exercise and called on other churches to emulate it. Mr Ati Boateng, chairman of the unit committee, noted that the work by the SDA Church was a demonstration that "cleanliness led to Godliness."
Elder Stephen Oduro, leader of the Church, stressed that Christianity must not be confined to the church house but must also manifest in activities that benefited society. He gave the assurance that the exercise would be carried out regularly.
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