Government says time not right for reduction in fuel prices
Students against privatisation of urban water supply
Policeman guarding Spintex Road Standchart interdicted
Rehabilitation of police stations will cost huge sums of money
Registration of unemployed picking up
Committee to plan Omanhene' arrival
Vice President intervenes in Kwabenya refuse saga
Ghana needs humane government - Dan Lartey
Government says time not right for
reduction in fuel prices
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - The government said on Thursday that the time is not right for a reduction in the ex-pump price of petroleum products.
It said if the 15 per cent Ad Valorem Excise Duty and Excise Duty Specific are introduced now, prices of petroleum products would increase and not decrease.
The government's explanation was contained in a statement issued in Accra by Mr Kwabena Agyepong, Deputy Government Spokesman, in reaction to a statement by the Minority Group in Parliament asking for a reduction in prices of petroleum prices.
Mr Agyepong said the Minority's statement does not only "oversimplify a rather complex pricing issue" but it is also "potentially misleading".
He said the formula for ex-pump prices makes it explicitly clear that the ex-pump price is a summation of the ex-refinery price, government taxes/levies and margins for the oil marketing companies.
It said the Minority has conveniently ignored the obvious impact of recent legislative enactment by parliament.
He said in July this year, parliament passed a bill to reinstate the taxes, namely the 15 per cent Ad-Valorem Excise Duty and a weighted average of 192 cedis per litre Excise Duty Specific.
"At the time of the reintroduction, the Ministry of Energy promised to monitor crude oil prices and exchange rates and implement the taxes only when favourable conditions will not lead to significant increases in the ex-pump prices."
Mr Agyepong said in August, a reduction in the traded price of crude oil offered an opportunity for the Ministry of Finance to reintroduce the 15 per cent Ad-Valorem Excise Duty but deferred that of the Excise Duty Specific to a time when the price of crude oil would be low enough to accommodate such a change without a significant revision in the ex-pump prices.
He said going by the formula for the determination of ex-refinery pricesand using an exchange rate of 7,214 cedis to one US dollar and crude oil price of 20.68 US dollars per barrel, there is a reduction of 59.38 cedis per litre.
The Excise Duty Specific, which ought to be imposed, is a weighted average of about 192 cedis per litre, he said, adding, "If the two are introduced today, there will be an increase not a decrease in ex-pump prices."
Mr Agyepong said the Ministry of Energy continues to monitor crude oil and petroleum product prices as well as the cedi/dollar exchange rate and would
implement the Excise Duty Specific reintroduced by parliament when conditions
were favourable without significant increases in the ex-pump prices.
Mr Agyepong said windfall profits or over-recovery of costs, as well as under-recovery, by the refinery, are made from time to time and are carefully monitored by the ministry.
"Indeed, the cumulative windfall profits as at September was 40.688 billion cedis," he said.
"It ought to be pointed out, however, that beyond the ex-refinery cost, the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) continues to grapple with interest payment on the 2.3 trillion cedis debt arising out of the unrealistic pricing policy of the NDC government."
Mr Agyepong said, as at September, interest payments made by TOR on its indebtedness was over 248 billion cedis, adding: "Clearly, this figure pales the
windfall profit of 40.7 billion cedis into insignificance."
"Apart from the reinstatement of the Excise Duty Specific in the near future and until such a time that the components of the ex-pump pricing formula are adequately realised, one should not expect a direct and immediate correlation between any downward trend in ex-refinery prices and reduction in ex-pump prices of petroleum products."
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Students against privatisation of urban
water supply
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - The Students' Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana said on Thursday that it supports the position of the
Christian Council, workers and NGOs kicking against the "inimical policy" of urban water privatisation.
In a statement signed by Mr Benjamin Ampoma-Boaten, President and Mr Frank Acheampong, Secretary, the SRC said two decades of structural adjustment policies and neo-liberalism have only delivered greater social inequalities and potential social disintegration.
"The fact that something as basic to life as water will not be spared the greed of the already powerful is evidence of the extremism of an agenda that will stop at nothing to concentrate more and more resources and wealth in the hands of a few as their private gain, even if this is at the cost of the pain of many."
The statement said the public water system is an integrated one, which includes a range of activities from water sourcing, production and distribution.
It said it is possible to separate these activities such that they would be operated and controlled by different entities.
"The Government-World Bank proposal for water sector restructuring calls for the separation of urban water supply systems and the transfers of their management and control.
"In short, the government is transferring effective ownership to profit-oriented multi-national companies."
The statement said the restructuring of the urban water supply systems to fulfil a profit motive "is a reorientation of how public-funded institutions and services no longer have the primary purpose of providing a public need and serving the public interest."
It said the directors of public institutions should be made accountable to the public.
"We recognise that it is precisely such failure of accountability and governance that is at the source of the crisis and inefficiencies in public institutions such as the Ghana Water Company Limited and public services such as the water sector.
"We reject the ridiculous view that the solution to weak public accountability is to do away with any possibility of public accountability altogether and replace it with self-interest as guarantor of efficiency."
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Policeman guarding Spintex Road Standchart
interdicted
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - The Police Administration on Thursday interdicted the constable who was on guard duty at the Spintex Road Branch of Standard Chartered Bank where a lone robber looted the vault of foreign currency.
The robbery took place in broad daylight on Wednesday while the police guard was absent from duty.
Sources at the Tema Regional Police told the Ghana News Agency on Thursday that the constable was being sanctioned for leaving his post without proper permission.
The source said even though he obtained permission from the bank officials, "he should have sought permission from his district commander for him to arrange for a replacement."
Another source at the Police headquarters said the interdiction was without prejudice to any subsequent criminal findings that investigations may reveal.
The robber on Wednesday stormed the bank, held the staff at gunpoint and made away with 5,720 pounds sterling, 7,124 dollars and 247,750 cedis.
The man, said to be dark in complexion and heavily built, arrived at the bank in a taxi and paid the driver off.
When he got out of the taxi, he put on a cap and on entering the bank, he turned the cap into a hood.
He took out a gun and held hostage, Mr Ebenezer Kissi Adu, an official of the bank. He ordered everybody to lie on the floor.
The robber asked for the foreign exchange desk where he took all the money in the case and ordered Mr Adu to surrender his Opel Kaddet Saloon car key, which he drove away.
The source said the robber abandoned the hijacked car at the Johnson Wax Junction, where he took his own car, which he had parked there.
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Rehabilitation of police stations will cost
huge sums of money
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - Rehabilitation of police stations and barracks, some of them for the first time since 1916, will cost the state a fortune.
This was the assessment of journalists and organisers of a tour of police facilities in Accra on Thursday.
NNOBOA Foundation, a non-governmental organisation committed to assisting the police, organised the tour for the media to gain first hand information on the conditions under which police live and work.
At the Kaneshie District Police Station barracks officers share single rooms with an average family of four.
The barracks were built for single policemen who were brought from Northern Nigeria at the establishment of the Gold Coast Police Service.
Mr Robert Azu, District Commanding Officer said because of the poor accommodation, the prospect for family life for young officers is bleak.
"Some of them sleep on the bare floor with barely enough space to put their
legs."
The 85-year-old block, which the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit uses as offices look more like a refuse dump.
The group also visited the Teshie Police station where conditions are equally deplorable.
Mrs Florence Sama Chuku, Executive Director of the Foundation, said that the organisation wants to identify areas of immediate concern so as to raise funds to assist the police service.
She said the target of the Foundation is 12 billion cedis out of which six billion cedis would go into buying vehicles with security equipment and communication, and a computerised network system for the service in all 110 districts.
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Registration of unemployed picking up
Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - The nation-wide registration of the unemployed, which started slowly on Wednesday because of what registration officials said was inadequate information on the location of the various centres, is progressing steadily.
According to the Ghana News Agency toured of some centres on Thursday saw a marked improvement in the number of people who had turned out to register.
At the La Veterinary Centre, Mr Osei Kwaku, the registration official said he had registered over 15 people as at 1000 hours.
He said although the inkpad had still not been supplied, he was using the initials rather than the thumbprint of persons who could not sign their names.
At Chorkor Police Centre more than 50 people had registered as at 1100 hours. Mr Jacob Wellington, the officer, said everything was moving on well, adding that those who had so far registered were drivers, school dropouts and basic school leavers.
Mr Aboagye Boateng, the officer at the Mamprobi centre stressed the need for sustained publicity, saying most people in the area were not aware of the exercise.
"I personally had to talk to some youths yesterday about the exercise," he said, emphasising that the authorities need to make available posters that direct people to the various registration centres.
He said he was optimistic that more people would turn out as the information van carries the message to them.
At Abeka Eleganza, there was a long queue of the unemployed. The officer said he had registered a total of 77 persons since the exercise began on Wednesday.
The 14-day exercise being held under the auspices of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Action for Employment Generation would provide data and profiles of the jobless youth to enable the government to develop appropriate interventions to give them relevant training.
It is taking place in 360 centres throughout the country, comprising 66 public employment centres of the Labour Department and convenient centres that District Chief Executives would identify.
On the second day of exercise in the Brong Ahafo Region registration centres at Sunyani, Chiraa and Berekum recorded much heavier turn-up.
The scene on Thursday was in sharp contrast to what happened on the opening day on Wednesday when low figures were recorded.
Most of the people registered, according to officials, are aged between 18 and 40 who are either unemployed or under employed, many of them fresh school leavers.
They included artisans, farmers, tailors, dressmakers, labourers, watchmen, head porters carriers and truck-pushers.
Two additional registration centres have been opened at Odumase and Sunyani to ease congestion at centres in the Sunyani District, bringing the total number of centres to 41 in the region.
The two-week exercise has come under criticism for the slow pace of the registration, but Mr James Owusu, Registration Officer at the Sunyani Public Employment Centre explained that, "it is important that people answer all the 43 questions on the registration forms to make the exercise complete and credible".
Mr Owusu said 103 people were registered at the centre on Wednesday with 20 names recorded by 8.30 a.m.
At Chiraa, Mr Alex Agyei, Registration Officer, said by 9.00 am on Thursday, 25 people had been registered. The centre registered 60 people on Wednesday.
At the Berekum Public Employment Centre, Mr Nat Richard Kusi, Registration Officer, said the exercise had been smooth, with 100 people being registered on
the first day and 30 as at 10 am on Thursday.
When the GNA visited the Berekum Presbyterian Church centre, registration had been halted due to shortage of forms. People waited in a long queue while the registration officer went for replenishment.
People, who spoke to the GNA, said although the exercise would not bring them employment immediately, it provided "a ray of hope for a brighter future".
"This is an indication that the government has better plans in store for the poor and the unemployed," Mr Moses Kofi Yeboah, Mason/Painter at Berekum said.
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Dormaa Ahenkro (Brong Ahafo) 02 November 2001 - A five-member committee has been formed by the Dormaa Traditional Council to plan a welcome ceremony for Osagyefo Oseadeayo Agyeman-Badu II, Omanhene of the area, on an European tour, on November 11.
It is under the chairmanship of Barima Yaw Oppong, Gyasehene, of the Traditional Council. Announcing this, Barima Amponsah Appiah, Acting President of the council said the committee would plan a rousing welcome for the Omanhene at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra and organise a durbar in his honour at Abesim, near Sunyani.
Osagyefo Agyeman-Badu, who was accompanied on the trip by Barima Yeboah Kodie, Aduanahene and Nana Boakye Yaidom, Mankorahene (Nkosuohene) toured
France, Britain, Holland and Belgium.
Barima Yaw Oppong said the Omanhene successfully wooed investors who expressed interest in the cultivation of oil palm, cashew and coffee in the Dormaa-Ahenkro area and appealed to chiefs to release land for the projects.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - Vice President Aliu Mahama on Thursday appealed to residents of Kwabenya to allow the resumption of work on the Land Fill Sanitary Site project, while the issues of compensation, environmental and other socio-economic problems were being addressed.
In pursuant of this, a meeting is to be held on Tuesday at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development for stakeholders to discuss the issues for redress.
Alhaji Mahama, who met demonstrators at the project site, one of who was arrested with a cutlass, appealed for calm and tolerance, saying compensation would be paid to those who deserved it, while those who needed resettlement would be catered for.
Residents, citing possible health and environmental concerns, non-payment of compensation and other problems, stopped the project in September by blocking access routes to the site.
Their action is reportedly causing the state a loss of over 30 million cedis a day in payment of breach of contract to Taysec Construction, the contractor.
Alhaji Mahama said that since the first phase of the project was about 75 per cent complete, it was prudent to ensure the completion of that phase, which would finish in four weeks.
So far, the government has spent about 3.6 million dollars out of a British grant of 6.5 million dollars to fund the project.
Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, Minister of Local Government, who, with other government officials, accompanied the Vice President, stressed the need for the nation to have land fill sites to dispose of waste and called for co-operation.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 02 November 2001 - Dan Lartey, Leader of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), said on Thursday that the country needed a humane government that would depend more on the country's resources to develop rather than rely largely on foreign assistance.
"We must be proud of the abundant technical and managerial skills we have in the country and begin to depend on them," he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.
Mr Lartey lauded the achievement of Mr Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, and said, "a nation that has produced the calibre of Mr Annan should not lack technical skills to the extent of depending on foreigners to resolve its internal problems".
He said the party would hold its National Delegates' Congress in September next year but before that it would undertake a programme to reorganise its structures at the regional and national levels.
Delegates to the congress would include, the national chairman, two national vice-chairmen, treasurer, general secretary, all party members in parliament and ministers (if any), two delegates duly elected by each constituency.
The rest are members of the regional executive committee, members of the national executive committee, members of the national working committee and members of the board of trustees.
Mr Lartey said the GCPP, which did not win any parliamentary seat in last year's elections, was ready to break the political dominance of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) with a leftist progressive democratic government.
Mr Lartey said a GCPP government would take steps to ensure political stability, promote national reconciliation and unity and to safeguard the freedom of the people.
The party would create the necessary atmosphere for citizens to participate effectively in the national democratic process and ensure that the civil rights of citizens were not violated.
Mr Lartey said the GCPP, through the policy of domestication, would bring about, as speedily as possible, the economic and social reconstruction of the country.
It would safeguard the wealth of the nation and use it in the supreme interest of the people.
Mr Lartey said the GCPP has structures that differ from those of other political parties in the country. "The leader of the party is the overall head and stands automatically as the party's presidential candidate."
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