Month: August 2011

The Member of Parliament for Akim Oda in the Eastern Region , Yaw Owusu Boateng has dared Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal to go ahead and sue him in court as he has threatened.

The MP in the wake of the recent incident in which the Birim River broke its banks and destroyed over 500 homes and rendered about a 1,000 people homeless in Akyem Oda, alleged in an interview on radio that Baba Jamal had mining concessions along the Birim River and actually engaged in illegal mining (galamsey).

The Deputy Minister did not take kindly to the MP’s comments and asked his legal counsel to issue out a 48 hours ultimatum for the MP to retract his comments failure of which he would sue him in court.

The 48 hour ultimatum elapsed on Sunday 31st July 2011, but the Deputy Minister is yet to make good his threat of suing the MP.

Speaking to ghanamps.gov.gh, the Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, Yaw Owusu Boateng called the bluff of Baba Jamal saying he still stands by his statements and has no retraction to make.

He claimed he has in his possession evidence to the effect that Hon. Baba Jamal and other influential people in the Eastern Region had mining concessions around the banks of the Birim River and challenged him to proceed to court.

Meanwhile Baba Jamal has described the MPs assertion as baseless and must be treated with the contempt that it deserved.

He noted that the MP has succeeded in avoiding being served with summons, adding that he would ensure the Hon. Yaw Owusu Boateng is dragged to court and made to pay for his unguarded statement.

Story : Kwadwo Anim/ghanadistrict.com

In an effort to enhance and provide an enabling environment for quality teaching and learning, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suhum, Fredrick Opare-Ansah, has presented educational and other office equipment to the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar Directorate of Ghana Education Service (GES).

The items, which include three 21-inch television sets, two table top refrigerators, and three computers, including printer, were presented to the Suhum GES office upon a request by the management.

The items costing about GH¢7,000 were purchased by the MP from his Common Fund and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETfund).

Presenting the items, the MP, who is also the Minority Chief Whip in Parliament, explained the items were in fulfillment of an earlier request made to his office by the GES to assist provide the Directorate with office equipment.

According to him, the action was very paramount since it would go a long way to equip the office and encourage teachers in the area to give out their best, in the bid to ensure quality teaching and learning.

He continued that it was through the toil, selfless dedication and devotion of teachers in the country that had made them very important people in society, hence it would not be out of proportion to recognise their contributions in the development of education.

To him, the campaign to ensure quality teaching and learning in the country was not a one-man show, but however, the collective responsibility of all.

To this end, he called on meaningful Ghanaians to contribute their quota towards the goal of creating an enabling environment for both teachers and school children.

That, notwithstanding, he charged the staff of the GES Directorate to put the items to good use, in order to justify the essence of its presentation, thus paving the way for future donations.

Receiving the items, the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar GES Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource Management and Development Mr. Alex Baafuor-Awuah, on behalf of the Directorate, expressed his profound gratitude to the MP.

“We accept these donations whole heartedly, and promise to put the items to the intended purpose to help improve the standard of education delivery in the district,” he assured the MP.

Acknowledging the massive and immense contributions by the MP, Mr. Baafuor-Awuah called on Mr. Opare-Ansah to continue with his kind gesture, and respond to the call of the office anytime it was in trouble.

The Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie has bemoaned the lack of skills development programs under the National Youth Employment Program [NYEP].

He says programs that aim at developing the capacity of beneficiaries such as carpentry, tailoring and engineering should have been part of the modules under the NYEP to enable beneficiaries manage their own fortunes when they graduate from the program.

Created in 2006, the NYEP has about 14 modules which covers areas such as road maintenance, sachet water production and community policing. The NYEP was designed to create employment opportunities for the youth as well as empower them to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.

But speaking on the newspaper review segment of Adom TV’s morning show Badwam on Multi TV, the Ablekuma Central MP noted that the absence of modules on skills development is a minus to the initiative.

According to him the addition of such programs would go a long way to support the beneficiaries to manage their livelihoods as well as deal with the country’s unemployment situation since “the country has a huge deficit and unemployment is a major issue.”

The MP also criticized the sanitation module of the program saying it “is nothing to write home about”.

He lamented the poor remuneration system as well as the allowances paid those enrolled under the program and suggested that the financial framework of the program be reviewed to motivate the employees.

Mr. Chaie noted that as part of government’s efforts to address the unemployment situation in the country government is creating an independent department to deal with matters of concern to the NYEP.

Source: Multi TV

The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr. Alban S. K. Bagbin has refuted media reports that the STX housing deal has not succeeded in taking off as the scheduled date of commencement has elapsed.

He said plans for the execution of the project is on course adding that measures have been put in place for the realization of the housing project which would provide decent accommodation for the security services.

There have been concerns especially in the media that the controversial STX deal may not see the light of day as the end of July date by which the sector Minister stated the projected would have taken off seem to have materialized.

Speaking on Asempa FM’s “Ekosii Sen” show on Monday 1st August, the Minister for Water, Works and Housing stated that the commencement date for the take off of the project has been met, with the land preparations on course.

He said construction equipment had been moved to the various sites, which clearly shows the construction of the 30,000 housing units would soon begin.

Mr. Bagbin noted that the Kwabenya and Burma Camp construction sites have been prepared by STX Construction Company while the Tesano site is to be done by next week, explaining that the delay is due to the existence of some structures on the premises that were yet to be cleared.

He added that government will not fail but remained committed to the realization of the STX housing deal to provide 30,000 housing units for the security agencies in the country.

Story by : Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

Hon. Twumasi Appiah, Member of Parliament for Sene and Chairman for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications has debunked the widespread misconception that Parliamentarians were afraid to pass the Right to Information Bill into law for fear that the media will be more resourced to expose them to their constituents.

He categorically stated that they the Parliamentarians were ever ready to pass the Bill into law provided the basic meetings with the general public will enable the legislature to make an informed decision on the matter.

He spoke to Citi News on the sidelines at a day’s regional consultative forum on the Right to Information Bill jointly organized in Tamale by the Parliamentary Select Committees on Communications and Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

Hon. Twumasi Appiah was glad that Ghanaians were keenly interested in the Right to Information Bill for which reason the Legislature will not renege its responsibility on passing it into law to promote public accountability and transparency.

On the issue of politicians owning media houses in Ghana, the Sene MP saw nothing wrong with the practice and concluded that it was a form of creating employment for the unemployed masses.

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Communication’s Chairman however urged such media houses to be more cautious in dealing with persons whose intentions are to use the medium to foment trouble in the country.

Other members of the joint Committees comprising Hon. Dan Botwe, MP for Okere, Hon. Maxwell Kofi Jumah, MP for Asokore and their colleagues for Tain, Takoradi, Bekwai and Chereponi constituencies took turns and responded to the concerns of the participants.

Some of the concerns raised bordered on the undue delay in passing the RTI Bill into law, poor publicity and organization of the Committees regional consultative fora as well as lack of accessibility to the RTI Bill.

In 2003, the government of Ghana prepared the first draft of the Right to Information Bill (RTI Bill) to give effect to the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to information.

The Bill has gone through about eight reviews following some degree of consultations with the civil society and it was finally laid before Parliament on February 5, 2010.

Citifmonline.com

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Water Resources Works and Housing, Hon. David Tetteh Assumeng has dispelled fears that the STX housing deal is in limbo and likely to fail as predicted by the minority.

The New Statesman Newspaper on Tuesday August 1, reported that seven months after the flamboyant sod-cutting ceremony by President Mills for the commencement of the proposed construction of 30,000 housing units for security personnel in the country and coupled with the prediction by the Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alban Bagbin, that physical houses will be seen sprawling at the various sites by July, not even a single block has been laid on the site for the STX housing project to take off.

The STX deal, is for the construction of 200,000 houses in Ghana within a period of five years.

The Government of Ghana is to acquire ninety thousand (90,000) units of the houses representing 45% of the housing project. Out of the 90,000 units, 30,000 units would go to the security agencies with the remaining one hundred and ten thousand (110,000) housing being operated by Home Finance Corporation.

Gabby Otchere Darko, Executive Director of the Danquah Institute told Citi Eyewitness News on Monday August 1, that the failure of the NDC government to commence work on the STX housing deal clearly vindicates the position held by the Minority that the deal is fraudulent and a bad one for the country.

According to him, no financial institution is willing to finance the housing project because the STX deal is not worth it. He also argued that the cost of $50,000 per house is very expensive and would be very difficult for Ghanaians to purchase the building even if the government manages to complete the housing project.

However, in a response, Hon. David Tetteh Assuming said everything is on course for the commencement of the project. He said Government is treading cautiously to ensure that it goes through the necessary processes to ensure a smooth take off of the project.

He denied allegations by Gabby Otchere Darko that there is no money to fund the project saying funds have already been sourced for the commencement of the programme and he is optimistic that Housing project will take off very soon.

Source: Citifmonline.com

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Ebo Barton-Oduro, on Monday said for Ghana to see improvement in the quality of life of people, it was imperative to develop her human resource base.

He mentioned scientists, technicians, technologies and engineers which he said were needed in Ghana’s industrial sector.

He said the Asian Tigers had advanced in the global world because they recognized the importance of science, technology and innovations.

Mr Oduro, who is also the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, said this at the opening of a six-day Regional Science, Technology, Mathematics and Innovation Education (STMIE) Camp for basic school children in the Central region.

It was on the theme: “Securing our Future through Science, Technology, Mathematics and Innovation”.

The Camp is being attended by more than 700 pupils drawn from the 17 districts of the region. It has been instituted to replace the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education Clinic which focussed on only girls.

The camp among others is to inculcate the study of science and technology in the pupils and demystify the study of science and mathematics as difficult subjects as well as showcase the benefits derived from the study of science, technical and vocational programmes.

He said the country could only advance in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if much emphasis was placed on the study of science and technology, adding that disciplines were today’s essential tools for the progress of every developing economy.

Mr Oduro noted that the unprecedented growth in digital emerging mobile and new technologies called for development of new competencies, especially among the youth, adding that the government was committed to the study of science and technology among the youth and those provisions had been made for about 6,000 students to go through specially designed and intensive holiday science camps.

He announced that plans were far advanced by the Ministry of Education to rehabilitate and refurbish 200 science laboratories nation-wide and called on all stakeholders particularly parents to join in the efforts to help to remove all barriers in the way of girls so that they could also contribute their quota to the study of science.

Mrs Georgina Quaisie, Head, Science Education Unit, Ghana Education Service, underscored the importance of science and technology in the development of a country and commended the Ghana Education Service for including the boy-child in the programme.

She, however, regretted that there were a lot of science programmes and scholarships, which were being under-subscribed and called on the pupils to take advantage of the programmes to improve upon their education both at home and abroad.

Mrs. Quaisie further expressed concern about the fact that poor-quality education had become a major concern since many children left school without the basic literacy and numeracy skills and lack the knowledge and skills relevant for today’s competitive job market.

She in this regard noted that investment in quality education should be intensified by prioritizing the professional development of teachers, improving learning conditions as well as revising school curricula.

Mrs. Vivian Etrue Metropolitan Director of Education, who presided tasked teachers to make the teaching of science and mathematics more practicable and asked that both parents and students be involved in career guidance and counselling when it comes to the subject selection.

GNA

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Mr Ebo Barton-Oduro, has expressed his concern about the negative attitude of some unemployed youth in the Cape Coast Metropolis towards vocational skills training.

He said most of the youth preferred white colour jobs to learning a trade and establishing their own businesses.

Mr Oduro who is also the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, expressed these concerns when he presented 48 sewing machines to apprentice dressmakers who had successfully undergone a six month training period under the National Youth and Employment Programme.

He said in the program, 100 people were engaged but only 48 of them managed to complete the training.

He said time had come for the youth to shift their attention from white colour jobs and engage in projects like bee-keeping, mushroom farming as well as grass-cutter rearing of which they would be their own masters instead of looking for non-existent jobs in the urban centres.

Mr Oduro said it was unfortunate that the youth in his constituency were not taking advantage of the NYEP to acquire employable skills for themselves but were rather blaming the government for doing nothing about their joblessness.

He called on the beneficiaries of the program to take their work seriously and should be honest and truthful to their clients.

He appealed to the beneficiaries to encourage their colleagues to make themselves available for the program, this he noted would help enhance their living conditions.

Mr Anthony Egyir Aikins, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Cape Coast, said government was committed to improving the living conditions of the youth and asked all unemployed youth in the metropolis to take advantage of the NYEP to acquire some employable skills.

He said the district assembly would continue to monitor the work of the beneficiaries and warned them against selling their sewing machines.

GNA