Angry BHC depositors charge on ADB
Ntiri-Buoho to raise 65 million cedis for projects
Water project faces engineering problems
Angry BHC depositors charge on ADB
Accra (Greater Accra) 1 Feb. 2000
Angry depositors of the Mobil House branch of the liquidated Bank for Housing and Construction (BHC) on Tuesday besieged the premises of the Cedi House Branch of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to demand an explanation to delays in the payment of their transferred deposits.
Six representatives of BHC depositors speaking at a meeting with top management officials of the branch said all other branches of ADB have made payments to BHC depositors whose accounts had been transferred to them.
Official sources at the branch on Monday attributed the delay in paying the BHC depositors to the uncooperative attitude of BHC officials at the Mobil house.
"They have refused to allow us to have access to their computers to scan and verify the signatures of depositors whose money has been transferred to ADB," one ADB official said.
He added that until BHC officials co-operate "we cannot pay the deposits."
The depositors said they disagreed with the way ADB was handling the issue, adding that "there are other reliable means by which depositors' identities could be verified.
"We have filled and submitted forms with our signatures and photographs to the ADB which could also be used to verify our identities.
"We have also submitted our business codes, identity cards and passports, which were demanded by ADB. These should be enough for them to ascertain our identities and pay us our money."
The depositors said their businesses have come to a standstill while others have not been able to pay the school fees of their wards.
ADB Officials who addressed the depositors at the premises of the bank, apologised to them for the delay and assured them that by the close of day on Tuesday, they would have rectified the issue for payments to start on Wednesday.
The ADB officials told the GNA that there is the need to scan the signatures before any payments could be effected, saying "this is to prevent the falsification of signatures".
They said some of the deposits are in joint accounts under which two people "must sign before a withdrawal could be effected. In such cases, they would not make payment unless both parties sign".
Meanwhile, pensioners who presented their identification cards, started collecting their money though their signatures had not been scanned.
On the week-long strike action initiated by the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) of the Trade Unions Congress (TUC), the ADB officials said the bank is not participating in it.
They said they are not aware of the decision of the local union on the strike action. However, both junior and senior staff are working and would continue to work throughout the week.
Meanwhile, reports from Ho says the Ho Branch of the Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited on Tuesday joined the five-day strike called by the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of TUC (ICU) in solidarity with workers of the liquidated Bank for Housing and Construction and Co-operative Bank.
Local branches of the SSB Bank Limited, Ghana Commercial Bank and the national Investment Bank are, however, serving their customers.
As at 9 am when the GNA called at the Barclays Bank, it remained closed with a "closed" sticker hanging on the main door while customers were waiting outside.
All the banks in the Ho township opened for business yesterday.
GRi../
Ntiri-Buoho to raise 65 million cedis for projects
Ntiri-Buoho (Ashanti Region) 1 Feb 2000
The people of Ntiri-Buoho in the Kwabre district are organising a fund-raising rally for the construction of a six-classroom block, a library and the completion of a JSS workshop.
Mr Sampson Adu-Poku, assembly member for Ntiri-Buoho, told newsmen at Ntiri-Buoho in Ashanti that the target for the first phase of the project is estimated at 65 million cedis.
The project would involve the moulding of 6,000 blocks for the construction of six classrooms, furnishing of the school library and plastering of the JSS workshop.
Mr Adu-Poku said the Ghana Book Trust has provided the community over 1,000 reading books worth one million cedis for the library.
The fund-raising is scheduled for 13 February. He appealed to all citizens of the town to contribute to ensure the success of the programme.
GRi../
Taxi driver robbed of his car
Ho (Volta Region) 1 Feb 2000
Two men, posing as officials from the Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Division (CID) from Accra on official duty in Ho last Saturday, allegedly drugged a Ho taxi driver and took away his Opel Kadet cab number VR 17 R.
The Taxi was reportedly seen in Accra on Monday heading towards Kasoa in the Central Region.
Mr Daniel Aka, the driver, who recounted the incident to the GNA, said the two beckoned him at Ahoe roundabout and introduced themselves and asked for his services in the investigation of a rape case.
Mr Aka said he took them to the Ho District Police Station and the Regional Police Training Depot where on each occasion, they went into the police offices and returned.
On their way to the Chances Hotel on the outskirts of Ho, they stopped at the Goil Rest Stop where the men bought him a bottle of Malta Guinness.
Mr Aka said he left the men at the Chances Hotel and later went for them as requested.
Later in the afternoon, he picked the two men in a drinking bar at Afifekofe, about three kilometres from Ho on the Ho-Accra road, where he was given a satchet of Yoghourt bought by the men earlier in the day.
From Afifekope, around 4pm, he drove the men to Sokode-Gbogame, a distance of about five kilometres from Ho where the men bought food but did not eat it with the explanation that they were getting late.
He said the last thing he could remember was that they were returning to Ho.
Mr Joe K.K. Quansah, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ho District Police Commander, said a hunter found Mr Aka unconscious at about 3 am on Sunday near Hoviefe, off the main Ho-Accra road.
A medical report signed by Dr H. K. Lesta of the Ho District Hospital said Mr Aka was drugged but did not state the nature of the drug.
GRi../
Water project faces engineering problems
Ho (Volta Region ) 1 Feb. 2000
The sustainability of the Volta Regional Community Water Supply and Sanitation Project (VRCWSSP) is being threatened by conflict of interests by its corps of district engineers.
The situation is compounded by the inability of a majority of District Assemblies to employ the engineers who allegedly failed to train technicians expected to take over from them.
These were disclosed during a one-day workshop organised by the project management for District Chiefs Executives in the region to explore ways of ''Sustaining post delivery technical services'' for the project in the region.
Mr Edem Asimah, Project Co-ordinator, told the workshop that two main options need to be considered for adoption by the assemblies to overcome the problem.
Mr Asimah said the positions of the District Engineers and their offices should be transformed into private sector entities that can provide sustained technical and professional services to the districts on retainer basis or on specific services.
The second option is to integrate the District outfit into the District' Works Department with additional resources for remuneration of the District Engineers and a mechanism to justify the possibility of improved packages for high calibre of expertise required from the engineers.
The ten year - (1993-2003) project is designed to provide safe water supply and sanitation facilities for rural communities with populations ranging from 300 to 4,000 under the joint initiative of the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Ghana government.
It is a project in which the communities make small financial contributions as a sign of their commitment to the facilities to be provided.
GRi../