GRi Newsreel 15 – 10 - 2002

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002 - Government on Monday said there was no fuel shortage in the country hence there was no need for panic buying of the commodity.

Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, in statement said the Ministry of Energy was setting up a Task force to conduct checks at filling stations and that anyone caught hoarding fuel would be appropriately sanctioned.

He said, "the government notes with concern the queue forming at filling stations in Accra and parts of the country."

The statement gave the assurance to the public that, "production of fuel for supply to filling stations has not been interrupted and stock levels remain normal. "The queues at the filling stations can therefore, only result from hoarding by filling stations and panic buying by motorist," he noted.

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Cocoa being smuggled despite price increases

Hohoe (Volta Region) 15 Oct0ber 2002- In spite of the increase of producer price of cocoa from 387,500 cedis to 531,250 cedis per a bag of 64 kilograms, smuggling activities of the commodity is still high in some parts of the Volta Region.

A survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday revealed that although some cocoa farmers in the region welcomed the new prices announced by government last Friday, some hardened smugglers were still engaging in the illicit trade along the country's borders with Togo.

It was also revealed by some farmers that smugglers from Togo were buying a bag of 64 kilos of dried cocoa beans at 750,000 cedis as against the new price of 531,250 cedis, a difference of 218,750 cedis.

A farmer said smugglers, who parade farm gates with hanging scales were buying a kilo of the produce at 1,000 CFA.

A Marketing Officer of the Produce Buying Company (PBC) alleged that cocoa farmers at Ayoma and Baika in the Jasikan District and Likpe in the Hohoe District were selling their cocoa to smugglers.

A farmer told the GNA that they were enticed by the high prices offered them by the Togolese. He called on the government to consider increasing the price of cocoa to 750,000 cedis as being sold in Togo to prevent the smuggling of the produce.

When contacted, Mr. Kwesi Bediako-Addey, Volta Regional Manager of the PBC, said he had received various complaints from most of his marketing clerks that smugglers were buying cocoa from the farmers, especially at cocoa societies along the country's borders with Togo.

He, therefore, called on law enforcement agencies to help combat the smuggling of the produce in the region. Mr Kofi Agyei-Ntim, Kadjebi District Chief Executive (DCE), at the Regional Farmers Awards day at Kadjebi last week, called on his colleagues in the region to form anti-smuggling task force to combat the crime that was gaining grounds in the region.

He said the Kadjebi District Security Committee (DISEC) has formed an anti-cocoa smuggling task force that patrols cocoa producing areas in the district.

He has, therefore, called on (DCEs) in the region to encourage the formation of such task forces, adding that they should find a way of motivating them.

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Rainstorm destroys banana plantation

Akwamufie (Eastern Region) 15 October 2002 - A 240-hectare banana plantation belonging to the Volta River Estate Limited (VREL) at Akrade near Akwamufie had been destroyed by a severe rainstorm on Saturday.

The damage, which affected about 80 per cent of the VREL's banana plantation, now, leaves the company with only 40 hectares at its Akuse farm.

Mr. Van de Broeke, the General Manager, said this on Monday when the Member of Parliament for Asuogyaman, Mr. Dwamena Bekoe, visited the farm to inspect the damage. The General Manager said the company might not be able to export bananas to the European market for the next two or three years due to the heavy loss.

He estimated that the company would be losing over one million dollars in export revenue, while it would have to decide on the fate of its 640 workers.

Mr. Van de Broeke told the MP that the setback, which is the first in the history of the company's operation in Ghana, would create a serious financial problem for both its local and external operations, especially its commitment to its bankers.

He said the management was in consultation with the local labour union of the company on the fate of the workers. Mr. Van de Broeke appealed to the government to immediately come to their aid to help them out of the predicament.

In another development, a new paper factory located at Ghanakope near Atimpoku was also hit by the storm destroying equipment worth over 70 million cedis.

The company, which employs over 60 people, had therefore, been temporarily closed down and the management appealed also to the government through the MP to come to their aid to enable it to resume production.

Mr Bekoe, who sympathised with the two companies over the loss, urged both management and workers to collaborate to bring back the two companies into production, while he conveyed their predicament to the authorities.

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Tema Oil Refinery to export excess fuel

Tema (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002-- The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) will soon start to export fuel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) following completion of the Residual Fuel Catalytic Cracker (RFCC).

The refinery produces 240 metric tonnes of LPG daily and the normal weekly delivery for the country is 1,200 tonnes. It has 4,000 tonnes storage capacity.

Mr. Robert Forson, Deputy Managing Director (Operations), told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Monday that the refinery took delivery of 2,400 tonnes of LPG on 05 October when there was acute shortage.

''That was the time the refinery was doing test runs for the RFCC. Now that the RFCC has stabilized, we are producing our own LPG.''

On the shortage of petrol in some parts of Accra over the weekend, he said it was because the dealers might have increased their reserve level so that in case there was fuel price increase they could reap some profit.

Mr. Forson said it was the management of the refinery that advises the Ministry of Energy on price increases, looking at the crude oil price on the world market.

"We are not paying a realistic price for fuel. Since crude oil price is rising, there is the possibility of price increase. This is the work of the Ministry of Energy,'' he said.

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Accident victims to get higher insurance benefit

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday, said it was negotiating with the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) and the National Insurance Commission (NIC) for an upward adjustment of the ceiling placed on the premium paid for the treatment of road traffic accident (RTA) victims.

A statement in Accra said this followed the submission of guidelines by a team on how health institutions could access the benefit package, "in lieu of free treatment of RTA victims during the critical or acute phase or within 48 hours".

It said the issue had been referred to the Technical Committee of the GIA and gave the assurance that negotiations would be concluded within a week. The statement indicated that the guidelines would then be released to health institutions to make the benefit package operational.

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Bank of Ghana commends Abokobi Rural Bank

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- The Bank of Ghana (BOG) on Saturday commended the Abokobi Rural Bank for adopting prudent banking practices to improve its capital as at June this year.

The BOG data indicates that Abokobi Rural Bank's deposits increased from 2,560 billion in 2001 to 3,649 billion cedis in July 2002, with loans and advances also increasing from 2,202 billion cedis to 2,689 billion cedis over the same period.

The Reverend Joseph Akunyumu-Tetteh, Deputy Chief Manager, Banking Supervision Department of BOG was speaking at the 10th Annual General Meeting of the Abokobi Rural Bank at Abokobi near Accra and urged the bank's management to strengthen its capacity for expansion.

Rev Akunyumu-Tetteh said "these achievements could be attributed to prudent banking practices which are being pursued by the directors and management of the bank," and urged the management to work together as a team to achieve higher objectives in the years ahead.

He also noted that the bank's consistent impressive deposits and increase in share capital were indications of growing public confidence in its operations. Presenting the annual report, Mr Roland A. Boi-Doku, Chairman of the bank's Board of Directors, said the bank fulfilled its tax obligation of 32,513 million cedis to government for the 2001 financial year.

He said the bank also granted a total of 587,253 million cedis as loans and overdrafts to both salaried and non-salaried customers within its area of operation with a recovery ratio of 97 percent.

Mr Boi-Doku emphasised that the bank also fulfilled its aim of serving as a financial intermediary to stimulate viable economic activities for the creation of wealth to improve the standard of living of people.

"We supported customers in the agricultural sector with 161,828 million cedis, the transport sector 32,118 million cedis, traders with 184,843 million cedis and the educational sector with 208,461 million cedis." "That helped to raise the living standard of the people and offered them lifeline of hope for the future," he added

Mr Samuel Dsane, the Bank Manager told the GNA that the banks, especially rural banks needed to define their role for the social-economic development of rural areas in the era of Golden Age of Business (GAB) within the context of poverty alleviation.

He said, "Rural banks hold the key for the attainment of the goals GAB," and urged the government to involve them actively in financial policy formulation for the rural communities."

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Disaster Organisation assists Ivorians to return to Abidjan

Sekondi (Western Region) 15 October 2002- Nine Ivorian railway services workers fleeing fighting in Cote d'Ivoire arrived at the Elubo border on Saturday en route to Abidjan from Wa in the Upper West Region.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Sekondi on Monday, Mr. Padmore K. N. Arthur, Western Regional co-ordinator of NADMO said the men, aged between 24 and 44 years, were workers operating between Bouake and Bobodiolasso.

He said when the crisis began on September 19, they crossed the Ghanaian border and took refuge at Wa. Mr Arthur said the workers, who were eager to go back to Cote d'Ivoire, appealed to the NADMO to facilitate their return.

In another development, out of 500 Ghanaians, who sought assistance from the Ghana Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire, waiting to return home, only 128 and a Togolese arrived at the Elubo border on Saturday on four buses.

Mr. Arthur said the returnees, made up of 50 women and 79 men continued their journey to Accra, Kumasi and Winneba. Mr Arthur said most of them are traders living in Abidjan and decided to seek assistance from the Embassy when the fighting intensified.

He hinted that all the 128 Ghanaians, who did not apply for any refugee status, were assisted to continue to their respective homes. Mr. Arthur said personnel of NADMO have been stationed at Elubo, to assist Ghanaians and nationals of other countries fleeing the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire.

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President Kufuor confers with Chinese Ambassador

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday held a discussions with the Chinese Ambassador in Ghana, Mr. Lu Yongshou on his impending state visit to China, at the Castle, Osu.

President Kufuor said the visit would be a landmark in the relationship between the two countries and the benefits to be accrued would be to their mutual benefit.

Mr. Lu said the visit would further strengthen the cordial relations between their countries. Details on the visit were, however, not disclosed.

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Media urged to place events at Cote d'Ivoire on priority

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- Mr. Kojo Yankah, President of the Africa Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC), on Monday called on the media to place reporting on events and analysis of Cote d'Ivoire on a priority footing.

He said "it is time we took our report from our own notebooks rather than merely repeat reports from foreign news sources because Cote d'Ivoire is our own story". Mr. Yankah was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on the performance of the Ghanaian media towards the crisis in that country.

Mr. Yankah who is also a journalist and one time Editor of the Daily Graphic deplored the media houses' inability to send reporters and correspondents to Cote d'Ivoire or to the borders for regular reports on the situation there, adding that the analysis of the situation has been very pedestrian."

He said Cote d'Ivoire is very close to Ghana unlike Rwanda, Somalia and other countries in the continent and that the media would have no professional excuse to deny the people authentic views and analysis of the situation.

He advised media houses to give their reporters further education on research and analysis, information gathering and the use of the Internet to put materials together.

Touching on the performance of the media in the country, Mr Yankah said "unfortunately, the energy and enthusiasm to go another mile, which was used to cover the general elections, have filtered away".

He said that mediocrity has set in and the effect of the general populace was being felt in the quality of contributions from some phone in programmes and the inability of presenters to correct erroneous statements.

On what AIJC can do to reverse the situation he said, a number of short courses have been organised for working journalists and the two-year diploma in journalism course would commence in November, this year.

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Let’s appreciate the work of Rawlings - Heward-Mills

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002 - Bishop Dr. Dag Heward-Mills, Presiding Bishop of the Lighthouse Chapel International, at the weekend called on Ghanaians to appreciate the work of former President Jerry John Rawlings during his lifetime.

"The best time to appreciate our political and religious leaders is whilst they are alive. We must not wait for them to die before we say how good they were during their leadership days," he said.

Bishop Heward-Mills was speaking at the end of a week long Convention of Saints, organised by the Royal House Chapel International under the theme "There shall be a performance."

Former President Rawlings, his wife and some former ministers of state in his administration had during the week been special guest at the convention, which was also attended by the Chief Justice Mr Justice E. K. Wiredu.

Bishop Hewrad-Mills said it was worthy to note that some group of people were now claiming to be the original Nkrumaist, adding, "while Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first democratically elected president was alive, he was less appreciated.

"Nkrumah was criticized by his own peers and his projects such as the Akosombo Dam, Tema Motorway, Tema and Takoradi harbours among others were also criticized as over ambitious projects.

"But today we are benefiting from those projects and additionally all kinds of characters are cashing in on his name for political point," he stated. He said "today we have put a statue of Nkrumah and kept his corpse from decaying, claiming that he still lives, but when he was alive he was very unpopular among certain circles."

Bishop Heward-Mills, who said he was usually accused of being anti-Rawlings and anti-NDC, said leaders in whatever capacity, are usually chosen by God for a purpose in spite of their human frailties, adding that Rawlings had his negative side but there were also reasons for him to be appreciated.

He observed that the man Rawlings has followers even after his presidency which was indicative of the impact he had made on the lives of millions of Ghanaians.

"Much as we can not forget some of the brutal killings and atrocities during the Rawlings regime, we must not also close our eyes as people to the positive things we realized as a nation during the same period.

"It will not surprise me if after the death of Rawlings, various groups emerge and claim to be the original Rawlingsists," he said. Bishop Heward-Mills noted that the lack of appreciation for leaders during their lifetime was also a problem in the church, saying very few pastors are appreciated by the congregation.

This, he said, was evident in how certain church members handled their pastors when the pastor committed a mistake, forgetting that the pastor was as human as everyone in the church. He noted that the church has a duty to perform in contemporary times and that duty remains to be the preaching of the gospel.

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Radioactive workshop under way in Accra

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- Thirty-four radiation scientists and legal experts from 17 African countries on Monday began a five-day workshop in Accra to develop a legal framework to govern the safety of radioactive waste and safe transport of radioactive materials.

The workshop, the second regional training workshop for the English speaking African region, is being organised by the Legal Affairs Office of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in collaboration with the Radiation Protection Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).

Radiation sources are transported and used throughout the world for a variety of purposes in industry, medicine, teaching and research, agriculture and electricity production.

These sources become waste when no longer in use, and serious accidents have occurred during their use as a result of ineffective control and lapses in management control during extended periods of storage.

The workshop is in response to the need expressed by member states of the IAEA in Africa to establish or strengthen their legal framework for the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

It seeks to assist target countries in complying with the fundamental requirements of treaties, conventions, protocols and other international relevant instruments.

Opening the workshop, Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Environment and Science, said the international community had recently raised alarms on the problems associated with radioactive waste.

He said the lack of control of radiation sources and improper management of the wastes had resulted in widespread contamination in some countries. Professor Emmanuel Owusu-Bennoah, Acting Director General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research read Prof Fobih's statement.

He noted that since 1995, at least 60 severe radiological accidents were reported and which were sources not under regulatory control, lost, stolen or abandoned.

These have led to over-exposure of individuals to radiations, some leading to fatalities with serious economic consequences in terms of decontamination, evacuation, resettlement and treatment of the injured.

Prof. Fobih praised the IAEA for evolving a model Project on Radiation and Waste Safety Infrastructure in member states throughout the world and for committing considerable financial resources and technical effort to enable the African member states to establish adequate regulatory framework for radiation and waste safety.

He however, noted that even though much progress had been made in that area, participating member states should intensify efforts to establish and strengthen their legal framework for safe and peaceful application of nuclear energy.

He stressed on manpower training as a means to accomplish appropriate legal framework to manage radioactive waste and to safely transport radioactive materials.

Professor Edmund Osae, Acting Director the GAEC in a welcoming address said about 3000 people, from both Ghana and other countries had been taken care of at Radiation Therapy of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital since it was established four years ago.

He said this had saved a lot of lives and reduced the high expenses that would be incurred in sending cancer patients abroad for treatment. Mr Wolfram Tonhauser, a Legal Officer of the IAEA in Vienna, said IAEA experts from Belgium and India would be participating in the workshop.

He announced that a third regional training workshop for addressing emergency response and physical protection was expected to be organised for both English and French speaking countries together next year to discuss all aspects of nuclear law.

Professor Daniel Adzei Bekoe, Chairman of GAEC chaired the opening ceremony and asked the participating countries to co-operate with one another in the formulation of regulation to control radioactive waste and transport of radioactive material.

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Cancer treatment centre opens in Kumasi

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- Treatment of various forms of cancer is to start at the Radiotherapy Centre of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi before the end of the year.

The commissioning of the Centre this month, had been rescheduled for latest January 2003, Professor Edmund K. Osae, Acting Director of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) told the Ghana News Agency in Accra after the opening of a five-day regional workshop for the development of legal framework governing the safety for radioactive waste management and safe transport of radioactive material.

He said that specialists had been trained and more were being trained in the United Kingdom and the South Africa to man the Kumasi Centre and appealed to the government to raise the service conditions of the health professionals to retain them in the system.

Prof. Osae said there was evidence of a rise of cancer cases in the country and advised for early diagnosis in recognised health institutions for early treatment and management.

Thirty-four radiation scientists and legal experts from 17 English speaking African countries are participating in the workshop being organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in co-operation with the GAEC. There are also representatives from Austria, Belgium and India.

Prof. Osae said the KATH Radiotherapy Centre was in addition to the one at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital; the only one in the West African sub-region, and would similarly serve the Ghanaian community, especially those in the middle belt, and other cancer patients in the West African sub-region.

He said the Centre would not only save lives, but also would reduce the high cost of treatment, which was often sought abroad and conserve foreign exchange.

The Acting Director of GAEC said about 3,000 Ghanaians and foreigners who had cancer have been taken care of at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital since it became operational four years ago.

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Churcher to assume HIV/AIDS ambassador

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 October 2002- Miss Christine Churcher, Minister of State for Primary, Secondary and Girl-Child Education, has announced her intention to assume the title of Ambassador Plenipotentiary against HIV/AIDS in the country.

Miss Churcher, who announced this at the eighth speech and prize-giving day of the Yaa Asantewaa Girls Secondary School in Kumasi at the weekend, said she was worried about the current rate of HIV/AIDS infections of 250 people everyday, adding that "Ghana is at risk".

She said for the start she was going to order the mandatory show of the film on Philly Lutaaya, the famous Ugandan singer who died of AIDS in 1989, in all senior secondary schools.

His song "Alone and Frightened" would also be played on radio and television stations and the lyrics discussed among the general population. Miss Churcher said those in high positions who had HIV/AIDS should come out boldly and openly, like Lutaaya to help raise awareness.

She advised the students to practice chastity until they were married and disabuse their minds of the use of condoms since they were not safe.

Miss Churcher expressed concern about the stigmatization of the virus and said: "if we do not conscientiously work to remove this stigma, HIV/AIDS sufferers will become the silent danger and killer stalking us all."

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National Reconciliation Commission commends chiefs

Tamale (Northern Region) 15 October 2002- The Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission, (NRC), Mr Justice K.E. Amua-Sekyi has commended chiefs in the Northern Region for their support in the commission's work.

He made the commendation during a courtesy call on the President of the Northern Region House of Chiefs, Yagbon-Wura Bawa Doshie in Tamale on Sunday. He urged them to continue to support the commission to achieve its goal.

Mr Justice Amua-Sekyi, who was in the region as part of a working visit to the three Northern Regions to assess the commission's work, appealed to the public to lay their complaints with the commission before it winds up.

He reminded them that the commission has only one year to complete its work and urged all aggrieved persons to present their cases early to facilitate its work.

The Tuliuwe-Wura, Bakari Saaka, who represented the Yagbon-Wura, said the commission would help to promote peace in the region, which had been saddled with ethnic, religious and chieftaincy crisis.

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National Reconciliation Commission gets more complaints

Tamale (Northern Region) 15 October 2002- The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in the Northern and Brong Ahafo regions has so far registered 222 complaints lodged by individuals.

Their complaints include human rights abuses such as military brutalities and molestations, seizure of property and confiscation of assets, during the past military regimes.

Mr. Justice K.E. Amua-Sekyi, Chairman of the NRC announced this at a press conference in Tamale. Mr. Amua-Sekyi was on a day's visit to find out problems affecting the operations of the Commission with the view to addressing them.

He said 47 complaints were recorded in Brong Ahafo Region, while 175 were registered in the Northern Region. The Chairman said the Commission needed persons with knowledge in clinical psychology to counsel most of the victims to overcome the sufferings, trauma and disgrace meted out to them.

Mr. Justice Amua-Sekyi announced that the Commission has appointed three clinical psychologists to counsel the complainants to restore their image. He said inadequate funding was hampering the smooth operations of the Commission.

He commended the zone offices of the Commission in Tamale for the good work done and promised to support them if conditions improved to enable them to reach out to the districts to register complaints.

"The Commission is to heal wounds and not to open old wounds," he said, and called on the public to co-operate with it to make the exercise a success.

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New Website on Governance to be created-Jake

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002 - A new website would be created by the end of the year to enable the public access government programmes and have a deeper insight into them.

This is aimed at enhancing transparency in governance as well as creating a situation where people would be able to make objective analysis of government programmes and initiatives.

Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs announced this when he launched the Information Week Celebration of the Department of Information Studies, Legon in Accra.

He said the Ministry was evolving a policy that would ensure that only professional communication personnel served as Public Relations Officials in the various Government Ministries and it would involve up-grading officials, who were already serving within the ministries.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey observed that unless professionals disseminated information, its receivers would not understand its real meaning. He said due to the immense importance the government placed on communication, it was working on a new policy paper to enhance development of communication in the country.

Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said, "There is the need to give the people access to the government and for them to it, as a means by which real development could be achieved."

The Minister noted that information dissemination and its storage was very crucial for the nation's development. He said the government would support the Department in its endeavor to ensure that professionals took complete control of all information dissemination.

Dr. Erwin Badu, out-going Head of the Department, said although only 344 students initially enrolled for its degree programme, which begun two years ago, the Department was now handling about 1,200 students.

He said the increase did not correspond with enlargement of facilities and appealed to the government and all stakeholders to assist the department to improve upon its facilities.

The Department, which used to run a diploma programme in library and archival studies, began a degree programme in those disciplines as well as Information Communication Technology in August 2000.

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Vice President declares "Jihad" on indiscipline

Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 15 October 2002- Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Vice President, has said that the government's determination to lead the nation towards attaining the status of a middle level income country will not succeed unless the citizenry exhibit a high sense of discipline.

He therefore, submitted that the crusade against indiscipline, which he termed as "holy war" in all its forms and magnitude, must be a shared responsibility among the citizenry.

This was contained in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Rashid Bawa, Deputy Minister of Education at the 25th anniversary celebration and symposium of the Ashanti regional branch of Ghana Muslim Students Association (GMSA) in Kumasi on Sunday.

It was under the theme "The Ghanaian Muslim community and the challenges of globalization". Alhaji Aliu said the success of the government in wooing investors into the country depended so much on the kind of favourable environment the citizenry create.

He said it behoves on Ghanaians to show a national responsibility on the basis of sound cultural, religious and human values that are relevant to social growth and development in all generations.

The Vice President charged Ghanaians to nip in the bud practices such as disregard for authority and lawlessness and disorderliness, willful neglect of state duties, lateness to work without tangible reasons, defecating and urinating at unapproved places. This, he said, was the only way the country could be lifted from the doldrums of poverty.

Alhaji Aliu called on the nation's leaders to re-position themselves effectively as guides to the younger generation to facilitate long-term attitudinal changes to national issues that would guarantee a high sense of personal and sound discipline.

Parents should bring up their wards properly by inculcating in them the moral values of the nation. To the Muslim community, Alhaji Aliu advised them to cherish moral values and rid themselves of attitudes that have destructive consequences.

Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, Ashanti Regional Minister observed that the Muslim community that used to be closed to avoidance of social vices has now been threatened because of globalisation.

He therefore, charged the participants to make a clear distinction between what is intrinsically bad and should be avoided. Alhaji Bin Yamin, Ashanti Regional President of GMSA, urged Muslim students to join the association so as to enable the youth to present a unifying force.

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Annan calls for judicious use of water

Accra (Greater Accra) 15 October 2002- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday repeated calls for people to use and manage water wisely and responsibly. In a message to mark World Food Day, which falls on Wednesday, he said this is necessary to prevent water shortage and hunger.

"Today, agriculture uses 70 percent of the world's freshwater resources. We must develop new and innovative approaches in water development and management if we are to feed more than 800 million hungry people in the world, and ensure safe drinking water for more than 1.1 billion people who have currently no access to it," Mr Annan said.

He said the theme of this year's World Food Day, "Water: source of food security", recognizes water as one of the most pressing development issues. Mr Annan said the Day, coming soon after the World Summit on Sustainable Development, is an occasion to highlight the role of water resources in sustainable food production.

"Addressing that issue is vital if we are to meet the needs of present and future generations," he said. Mr Annan said: "If we are to prevent two-thirds of the world's population from facing serious water shortages in the decades ahead, we must learn to manage our water resources more efficiently, particularly in agriculture...and develop more effective capacities for the regional management of watersheds, especially where they are crucial to more than one country."

He said this is why the UN General Assembly as proclaimed 2003 the International Year of Freshwater and the Third World Water Forum would be held next March in Kyoto, Japan, to tackle issues of water resources development and management.

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Aflao to ban blaring of music at funerals

Kopeyia (Volta Region) 15 October 2002- The Aflao Traditional Council will ban the blaring of music at funerals in the area with effect from next year. Togbe Amenya Fiti V, Paramount Chief announced this at a mini-durbar at Kopeyia at the weekend to herald the Godigbe Festival of the Chiefs and people of the area.

He said those who would violate the ban including bereaved families and owners of the musical gadgets who organised such noisy funerals would be sanctioned, explaining that the practice is breeding waywardness among school children.

According to him, blaring music attracted the children to the funeral homes where they spent much time dancing and merry-making at the expense of their studies.

He suggested that solemn music and dirges at funerals and criticized the airing of profane songs, saying it could endanger the moral fibre of the youth. He called on parties to chieftaincy disputes pending before various bodies to exercise restraint until the cases are judiciously dealt with.

Mr John Avissey, a member of the Kopeyia Development Association appealed for the early completion of projects being undertaken for the town. He commended Togbe Fiti for ensuring peace by containing all chieftaincy disputes in the area.

The durbar coincided with the unveiling of a monument in memory of the late Kwesi Agbeli, a native of Kopeyia, whose association with some philanthropists, led to the construction of a school block and the institution of a scholarship scheme for pupils in the village.

A football park on the school compound was named after the late Kwaku Tenge, who gave out land for the school. Another block was named after the late Yaotse Agbeli, who died through motor accident while working on the school.

Another mini durbar has been planned for Anuenu on October 19 before the Godigbe Festival, which also marks the fifth anniversary of the installation of Togbe Fiti on 26 October at Aflao.

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