“Complete work on Teshie underground reservoir”
Randgold denies Ashanti offer made
Aflao
(Volta Region) 02 June 2003 - Hundreds of Togolese have fled to neighbouring
Ghana fearing violence in their homeland during and after elections in which
Africa's longest-serving ruler Gnassingbe Eyadema is seeking a return to
office.
Koffi
Dzameshi, deputy minister representing Ghana's Volta area, which borders Togo,
told AFP the Ghanaian government was bracing for even more refugees from Togo.
"There
has been a flowover from the other side. We are setting up three refugee camps
with the United Nations. Each camp can accommodate 600 persons.
"Already
many people have come. We are tightening security along the border. There is
peace here, the Togolese should not bring their problems to Ghana," he
said Sunday. "How long will they stay here? Difficult to say. That depends
a lot on what happens between today and the swearing in."
Eyadema
has ruled the tiny African state uncompromisingly for 36 years since wresting
power in a coup in 1967; nevertheless for many Togolese he represents the best
choice for stability for the country. Opponents and right groups accuse Eyadema
of corruption, torture and rights abuses.
Ghanaian
officials said the Togolese came through the border town of Aflao, adjacent to
Lome, the Togolese capital. Some others however walked in through the bush
where border controls are virually non-existent.
Linus
Koffie, the administrative head of Ketu district, of which Aflao is a part,
said "several hundred people from Togo had come in recent days obviously
wanting to avoid problems during the elections. "They bring back funny
stories. Only yesterday a group of about 25 came. There were some Ivorian women
among them, they said they had been raped by Togolese soldiers."
Theophilus
Laiyea, a Ghanaian official at the Aflao-Lome border -- closed on the Togolese
side since Saturday evening - said: "The traffic from the other side has
been significantly higher in the past few days."
A
colleague of his added: "The Togolese stay with relatives and friends but
keep a low profile. They are scared of retribution and do not open up top
strangers."
Kaodama
Koffi Luc, a 67-year-old retired soldier, who fled Togo 11 years ago, echoed
the Ghanaian official.
"There
is infiltration here, Eyadema has spies everywhere so people even when they
come here are scared. Hundreds have come to be away from home during the
polls," Luc, the head of the local Togolese refugee association, said.
"There
is a general fear in Togo. People hate the general but he has muzzled them. Why
is there no revolution? Because the interior ministry in 1975 decided under his
sage advice to seize all arms and hunting equipment.
"Now
only Eyadema's men are armed. And he has muzzled my people. I cannot go home as
long as this mister sits on the throne," he said. Eyadema proclaimed
himself head of state in 1967 after the coup, and his position was confirmed by
a plebiscite in 1972. He was elected in 1979 and 1986, when he was the only
candidate.
Several
hundred people lost their lives in political and social unrest in the early
1990s, but in 1993 and 1998 Eyadema also won elections in polls boycotted or
contested by the opposition.
Last
year parliament amended the constitution, dropping any reference to a two-term
presidential limit and paving the way for another term in office for Eyadema.
Of
the five candidates running against him in the current election, four are
former members of the ruling party. The opposition has failed to unite and put
up a common candidate - an added advantage for the president. The main
opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio, has been barred from Sunday's polls as
the electoral commission said his dossier was incomplete. - AFP
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Tema (Greater Accra) 02 June 2003 – Greenview International Company Limited, a subsidiary of Dankote Group, Lagos, Nigeria, has defied a demand by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to relocate the research department of the Quality Control Division before constructing a cement bagging plant near the western gate of the Tema harbour.
Work
at the site of the plant is busily going on with a kind of impunity that has
ridiculed the very existence of the COCOBOD research department, which it
shares common walls with.
Last
year, when a seemingly hired crowd of less than 100 was assembled at the
present site for the proposed project in the name of a public forum, (how
public was the crowd?) COCOBOD protested vehemently against the siting of the
cement bagging plant, if established, would render its research findings
inaccurate.
This
is aside of concerns raised by residents of neighbouring Tema Community Two of
the dangers of health hazards due to the direction of the wind. Present at the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) organised forum were representatives from
Ghana Cement Works (GHACEM) and WACEM, two cement-producing factories in the
country.
The
seemingly “rented” crowd, mainly made up of the unemployed, chanted “we want
jobs” at the time environmentalists took to the floor to explain the health
implications, should the plant be sited there.
It
was no surprise that some officials present declared openly that come what may,
the plant would be established. While the genuine request by the COCOBOD has
not been met, one is amazed, as the power of individuals or group seems to
supercede that of national interest.
The
draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) produced last exposed why the project
siting cannot be conducive. Shockingly, Greenview has been able to make
possible its dream of obtaining the zone earmarked for warehousing and
container devanning (terminal) area from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority
(GPHA).
Could
that have been made possible that the influence or power of the owner of
Greenview, Aliko Dankote, and local representatives, Kwame Siriboe and
Griffiths Randolph.
Reports
have it that the situation has created a rift between the COCBOD and EPA/GPHA
why the environment agency woefully neglect their appeal – vital indeed – and
the authority abandoning its intention for the area for reasons that cannot be
explained.
The
EPA and GPHA are remaining tight-lipped over the issue but our information is
that the COCOBOD has despatched to the authorities, correspondence to explain
their position. – Chronicle
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Bawjiase
(Central Region) 02 June 2003 - The Ayensu Starch Company (ASCo) factory at
Bawjiase in the Central Region last Friday successfully conducted a test run to
showcase its readiness to begin full production in the first week of July.
The
$7m project, which was financed initially by the Agricultural Development Bank
(ADB), the National Investment Bank (NIB), the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), the
Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) and Oerko, a Dutch credit
financial institution, will be replicated in 50 districts in all the 10 regions
of the country.
The
Minister of Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives (PSI), Alan
Kyeremanten, was at the factory to witness the test run of the starch project.
Kyeremanten earlier visited an out-grower farm at Papaase to witness the
harvesting of cassava, which was planted in October 2001 after President J. A.
Kufuor had inaugurated the Ayensu Starch Project.
The
minister was accompanied by Ismael Ashitey, Minister of State in charge of
Trade, Industry and President’s Special Initiatives; Hajia Alima Mahama, Deputy
Minister for Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives; the Managing
Director of ASCo, Andrew E. Quayson, and the Co-ordinator of the Cassava Starch
Project, Osei Owusu-Agyemang.
The
ASCo Factory Manager, Silva Lumor, conducted them round the plant. Speaking to
newsmen, after the tour of the plant, the minister said a lot of hard work had
gone into the project during the past one-and -a half years and that the aim of
the project is to bring rural communities into the mainstream of economic
activities, adding that his ministry will do everything possible to ensure that
the project comes to fruition.
He
noted that the unique features of the project include the fact that Ghanaians
designed the conceptual framework, made up of its construction, engineering and
supervision. He said this gives a sense of hope and should serve as a test case
that Ghanaians can do better in the area of technology for the Golden Age of
Business to start from the rural communities.
He
said the project is primarily owned by farmers and that the PSI Secretariat is
working to separate ownership from management and that the ADB and the NIB have
agreed to convert part of their loans into equity for farmers.
Asked
why the final bagged starch has the inscription International Starch Institute
(ISI) of Denmark on it and not a made in Ghana inscription, the minister stated
that the government signed a sales agreement with the institute, one of the
leading starch companies in Europe, to enable ASCo to be part of ISI in order
to provide a ready market for Ghanaian starch on the world market.
The
Farm Operations Manager, Dr Joe J. Afuakwa said a total of 11,000 acres of
cassava is being harvested this year and refuted allegations in the media that
the cassava for the PSI is getting rotten. Dr Afuakwa explained that only a few
of the cassava had their roots rotten and said this is not unusual and that
ASCo, with support from the PSI, is trying to get harvesting tools.
He
also said ASCo is working together with other agencies to acquire mechanical
harvesters and stated that presently, the company is making use of manpower,
adding it takes 10-15 man-days to harvest one acre of cassava, depending on the
nature of the soil. He said the lack of tools for harvesting the cassava is the
only problem facing ASCo, adding that the harvesting tools will not only ease
some of the stress and burden on the farmers but also make harvesting easier.
Quayson
said farmers who have registered with ASCo, will have their cassava harvested
before those of the unregistered ones.He noted that ASCo has so far provided
between 7-10 tonnes of cassava for gari processing and that a 450-gallon
reservoir will be installed next week to boost the pumping of water to the
farms.
Owusu-Agyeman
said the PSI is establishing additional cassava starch projects in the Eastern
and Ashanti regions and it also intends to inaugurate two more cassava plants
by the last quarter of 2004.He said serious discussions are ongoing to secure
funding for three additional cassava starch projects in other parts of the
country because the number of farmers who have expressed interest in the
project has risen from 1,000 as of September 2001 to 5,000 in 2002 and it is
presently hitting the 10,000 mark. – Graphic
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 02 June 2003 - THE six-member committee appointed to
investigate the perennial water shortage at Teshie has called on the
authorities to complete the rehabilitation work on the underground reservoir
and overhead tank. A report of the committee called for the institution of a
task force to monitor the sale of water, enforce the directive to sell a bucket
of water at ¢100 and an immediate termination of the commercial sale of water
by underground tank owners, who tap from the Ghana Water Company Limited lines.
The
committee, appointed by the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I. C.
Quaye, presented the report to minister in Accra. The committee was set up to
identify the causes of the frequent shortage of water at Teshie, explore other
sources of potable water and make recommendations for the solution of the water
problem, following a petition on the scarcity of water in the area submitted to
Parliament by the Teshie Concerned Citizens Association.
The
members of the committee included Mr Ben Addo, Principal Economic Planning
Officer, Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council, Chairman and Secretary;
Nii Adjei -Kodi, General Secretary, Teshie Concerned Citizens Association
(TCCA), member; Seth A Tagoe, Co-ordinator, TCCA, Reverend J. M Odonkor, TCCA,
A. M. Laryea, N. E. Sagoe, Distribution Engineer, GWCL, and I. S. N. Entsuah,
Operation Officer, Accra East branch of the GWCL.
In
the report, the committee identified eight causes and made nine recommendations
to solve the problem. The major causes stated include the undue delay in the
completion of the rehabilitation of the underground reservoir and overhead tank
at Cold Store, an area in Teshie. The committee also noted that the springing
up of large industrial and residential estates, such as the Coca-Cola Bottling
Company, Printex, a number of concrete and block manufacturing companies along
the Spintex Road, have increased the consumption of water in these areas and
reduced the flow of water to Teshie.
Another
major problem is the rapid expansion of the Teshie township, resulting in
inadequate water distribution network. The report also stated that the
activities of water tanker drivers, who draw water on the main supply line at
Lashibi, are a contributing factor.
Among
the recommendations made to mitigate the problem in the short-term are the
completion of the rehabilitation work on the underground reservoir and the
overhead tank at the Cold Store area, as a matter of urgency, to alleviate the
suffering of the people.
The
report further recommended that the linkage of Weija in Accra West to Accra
East in the eastern part of Accra is important. The Chairman of the committee
Ben K. Addo said the report was written after five meetings and two field
trips, during which it observed that the situation is serious. - Graphic
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Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital not ready
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 02 June 2003 - The hopes of the people in the Brong Ahafo Region to enjoy improved healthcare delivery services at the £35m new regional hospital in Sunyani within the shortest possible time have been dashed. This is because the contractor of the multi-billion project, the International Hospitals Group (IHG), a British company is not certain when the project will be completed and handed over to the health authorities.
Apart
from the huge structures provided by the contractor, there is no equipment to
be used by health personnel to treat patients. These came to light when the
Regional Minister, Nana Kwadwo Seinti in the company of Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, the
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the
Sunyani District Chief Executive (DCE) and members of the hospital management
team inspected the project on Friday.
The
mission of the regional minister and his entourage was to ascertain if the new
hospital could be operational and start business in July, this year as they had
anticipated.
They
had the shock of their lives when Neil Ashurst, the Project Manager of IHG
could not assure them of the actual time the project would be completed but
only said he had just ordered the necessary medical equipment from overseas and
did not know when they would arrive.
When
the regional minister and Adjei-Darko continuously demanded from Ashurst the
definite time the hospital would be ready for use as people were making
unnecessary comments about the delay of the project, his only reply was
"soon" and when asked how soon he repeated "soon".
Nana
Seinti and his entourage visited the hospital's laboratory, pharmacy,
dispensary., operating theatre, X-ray department, obsterics/gynaecology, chest
and eye clinics and the various wards where they discovered to their dismay
that apart from a few plastic chairs and beds with vono mattresses in them,
there were no medical equipment in the building.
Briefing
the regional minister and his entourage, Dr Daniel Asare, the Medical Director
in charge of the Sunyani Regional Hospital said the project should have been
operational for business in 2000 as in the case of the Ho and Cape Coast
regional hospitals but the contractor has been playing delay tactics for no
apparent reason.
After
lengthy discussions during which the regional minister and his team put maximum
pressure on the contractor to complete the project without further delay,
Ashurst gave the assurance that the project would be ready for use in October,
this year, after he had consulted Alhaji I. Adam Braimah, the Project Engineer
of the consultants, Accra based Architect Co-partners.
Nana
Seinti and Adjei-Darko emphasised that once the government had fulfilled its
part of the contractual agreement by fully paying the contract sum, there is no
reason why the contractor should delay the project unduly.
They
warned Ashurst in strong terms that he would be sanctioned if he fails to
complete the project by the October deadline. – Graphic
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 02 June 2003 - Roger Kebble, the chairman of Randgold Resources
Ltd, said on Friday his company had not made an offer for Ghana-based miner
Ashanti Goldfields.
"We
have not made an offer for Ashanti," Kebble told Reuters. His denial
followed an earlier report that quoted a Ghanaian minister as saying that
Randgold had put in a bid for Ashanti Goldfields.
This
would have opened a bidding war with its larger rival AngloGold Ltd. A merger
between the partly government-owned Ashanti and AngloGold would create the
world's biggest gold producer, with combined annual output of 7.6 million
ounces. AngloGold has offered 26 of its own shares for every 100 Ashanti
shares.
Analysts
said they believed a merger with AngloGold would benefit Ashanti's development
more than a tie with the smaller Randgold. They expected the world's second
biggest gold producer to come back with a sweetened offer if necessary. - Reuters
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