Month: September 2011

Mr Inusah Fuseini, Deputy Minister of Energy, has said that under a special electrification project, 1,300 communities in three regions will be connected to the national grid by the end of the year.

Mr Fuseini who was addressing a durbar at Manhyia in the Asutifi District during the launch of a 350 million dollar electrification project, said the three regions were Brong Ahafo, Central and Western.

He said the Asutifi project will be executed by Weldy Lamont and Associates of the United States of America.

Mr Fuseini said the Ahafo mine of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited was not the only target for the project but that more than 80 communities in the region would also benefit.

He said the electrification project would encourage people to set up small and medium scale industries and help reduce rural-urban migration.

Mr Fuseini urged the people to show interest in the project to ensure that the contractor does a good job and on schedule.

Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Transport and MP for Asutifi South, said the electrification projects were aimed at achieving the goals of the Better Ghana Agenda with an aim of improving the lives of every Ghanaian.

Mr Eric Addae, Asutifi District Chief Executive, announced that 27 communities in the District would be connected to the national grid and that government was determined to ensure that other communities would soon join the grid.

GNA

Mr Dan Botwe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere, has expressed his unhappiness about the number of deductions from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).

He said he was surprised that out of GH¢198,000 earmarked for the assembly as its share of the common fund released recently to undertake development projects, the assembly received only GH¢44,000 with the rest being deductions at source.

Mr Botwe called on all assembly members to help investigate why there were such deductions and for what purpose they were used. He expressed this concern on Thursday at the Akuapem North
District Assembly meeting at Akropong.

Mr Botwe said if the trend continued, it would disrupt the ability of the Assembly to undertake development projects in the area. He briefed the Assembly on some of the important deliberations in
Parliament such as the number of bills before the house and other pressing issues being dealt by the house.

Mr Botwe appealed to the members of the Assembly to be committed to their constituents and work for their welfare in order to continue to receive good will from them.

Source: GNA

Nii Armah Ashietey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, has appealed to chiefs and the public to partner government in initiating development projects and policies towards the “Better Ghana Agenda” in their communities.

He made this suggestion when he interacted with the chief and people of Kpone Traditional Council at Kpone.

He blamed lack of development in most communities on chieftaincy dispute.

Nii Armah Ashietey who is also the MP for Klorttey Korley said disputes had left the affected communities with little or no development and advised that issues concerning chieftaincy and land litigations should be channeled to the House of Chiefs.

Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Minister of State at the Presidency, took a swipe on some staff of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) for allegedly selling lands belonging to the Kpone Traditional Council (KTC) without following the right procedure.

He described the situation as unfortunate and said the practice denied the state of its revenue as the money goes into the pocket of some individuals.

Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kpone/Katamanso, called for collaboration among the Ministry of Works and Housing, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the KTC to solve the problem.

Nii Armah Ashietey donated 3,000 Ghana cedis, eight crates of soft drinks, five cartons of Guinness, two cartons of schnapps and eight cartons of beer to the Council for the celebration of the Homowo Festival.

He called for unity among the people of Kpone and advised the public to respect traditional leaders.

Nii Tetteh Otu II, Chief of Kpone Traditional Area, mentioned that the lack of proper road network and a Senior High School were some of the major challenges facing Kpone and appealed to the government to help solve the problem.

GNA

The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reacted to comments attributed to Kwesi Pratt Jnr, the Managing Editor of Insight Newspaper condemning the opposition for the failure of the STX Korea housing project to take off as planned.

Contributing to a discussion on Radio Gold’s ‘Alhaji and Alhaji’ at the weekend, Mr Pratt said the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) should not be entirely held culpable for the failure of the multi-billion dollar STX Housing Project to take-off.

“Part of the blame must be placed at the door steps of an irresponsible opposition, for their negative vibe towards the project,” Mr. Pratt said in a story posted on Peace FM online, accusing the NPP of deliberately opposing and sabotaging every initiative of the Mills-led administration.

Describing the comments by Mr. Pratt as unfortunate and palpable untruth in an interview with DAILY GUIDE yesterday, Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the NPP would not be deterred by statements made by “the uninitiated or people who want to give propaganda slant to anything that is said by the opposition”.

NPP, he insisted, could not be blamed by anybody for government’s failure to execute the STX project, asking Mr. Pratt to lay the blame elsewhere.

The STX housing project is an agreement between government and STX Engineering & Construction Limited for the construction of 200,000 housing units at the cost of $10 billion, starting with 30,000 houses for the security agencies at the cost of $1.5 billion.

According to Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame in the Ashanti Region, his side only did what Parliament was expected to do by scrutinizing any loan agreement or budget that government presented to the House for approval including the STX housing agreement.

He pointed out that although the Minority supported, in principle, government’s intention to reduce the housing deficit in the country, which is about 1.2 million, it would not support any agreement that was not in the best interest of the country.

“Parliament has the power of the purse and oversight responsibility. We will exercise that diligently. We will not be intimidated by whatever anybody says, in particular, the uninitiated or people who want to give propaganda slant to anything that is said by the opposition,” Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu emphasised.

The Minority, he noted, could only laud the NDC in its desire to reduce the housing deficit through the STX agreement “but we were saying that the documentation and the details were not in the best of shapes so we asked government to have a second look at it”.

He said if the Minority asking government to do the right thing by scrutinizing the STX agreement could be termed as noise, as claimed by people who were “uninitiated, then I am sorry to say it is unfortunate and palpable untruth”.

Mr. Pratt, a leading member of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA), a politically-contrived group with sympathies towards the ruling NDC, had indicated that NPP’s constant criticism of the STX Housing Project was one of the main reasons why the project could not take off, stressing that nobody would want to put his money in such a venture.

“I think part of the blame must be placed at the door steps of an irresponsible opposition deliberately intent on sabotaging everything that government does. I recall in the wake of the STX debate, the opposition (issuing a) warning (to) STX that they are coming to power and when they do, they will review the agreement. This then provided the justification for the political insurance company cover that the project have but the threat continued, so who is going to put his money in a country where elections has just ended on a head-to-head margin and the opposition is threatening to come back to power…and will review the agreement. Who will put his money in the STX project? That was one of the reasons or possible reasons why the project did not take off,” he remarked.

Mr. Pratt also attributed the failure of the STX to take off to the boardroom wrangling between the Korean Directors and their Ghanaian counterparts.

He described the bickering and internal strife associated with the $1.5 billion conflict-ridden STX Housing Project as “uninspiring” which could lead to anybody withdrawing their resources.

Mr. Pratt also slammed the NPP’s position on the US$3billion Chinese loan facility from the China Development Bank (CDB) to finance major infrastructural and industrial projects in various parts of the country.

To him, it was unfair for the NPP to relate the $3bn Chinese Loan agreement to the STX Housing Project deal, stressing that the two agreements did not have anything in common.

“Many of the people on the Minority side came out and said ‘look we’ve just had the experience of the STX agreement and we should be very careful that this ($3bn Chinese loan) does not become another STX fiasco’. And they were indeed telling the people of the Western Region that be careful, all the people who supported the STX project now have their hands burned and are ashamed because if its failure. There are no similarities between this agreement and the STX agreement,” he noted.

However, Mr. Pratt conceded that “the STX agreement is having some difficulties,” calling for its abrogation if necessary.

Source: Daily Guide

The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alban Sumana Bagbin, in a press statement has dismissed reports that he fought with the Vice President over the controvertial STX Housing deal.

In the Statement, Hon Bagbin said: “My attention has been drawn to snatches of recent press reports and commentary to the effect that there has been an altercation between H.E. the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama and myself at the Castle regarding the National Housing Project.”

The NDC Member of Parliament for Nadowli West said his initial “intention” was to ignore this “piece of totally wild and reckless gossip with further commentary. However, I have had to revise my stand because less discerning people may be misled into believing this calculated falsehood.”

The statement, issued August 30, 2011, added, “For the avoidance of doubt and for the records therefore, I wish to clearly state that in my capacity as Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, my relationship with H.E. the Vice President and his High Office, both at the personal and official levels, is at an all-time high; and I do proudly enjoy his incredible support, goodwill and very active collaboration in everything, including the National Housing Project.”

It added: “I wish to take advantage of this release to put to rest and to unreservedly condemn this malicious piece of false journalism. I also want to reassure, especially all my friends, well wishers and discerning Ghanaians who have all rightly been scandalized by this report, that no such incident occurred, or has ever occurred between H.E. the Vice President and myself.

It comes days after the office of the Vice President issued a similar statement after widespread news reports claimed late last week that the two men had fought at a meeting to discuss the boardroom crisis facing the STX deal, under which STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited is contract bound to build some 30,000 Housing units for Ghana’s security personnel.

The Vice President’s statement also described as false an earlier claim that the former Bole Bamboi MP “pulled a gun on former President, JJ Rawlings at the Castle.”

It added: “Every Ghanaian knows and appreciates his tolerance and patience and it is not in his character to engage in verbal or physical exchanges with any person.

“… John Mahama has chaired, on behalf of the President, various government meetings on helping clear the country’s housing deficit and also reviewed the wrangling among the partners working on the Ghana Housing Project. None of these meetings has recorded any of the false news reports.”

The Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alban Sumana Bagbin, has issued a statement in Accra to reinforce an earlier press release in which Vice President John Dramani Mahama denied media reports that he recently fought with the former Majority Leader over the crisis-ridden STX Housing deal.

In the Statement, Hon Bagbin said: “My attention has been drawn to snatches of recent press reports and commentary to the effect that there has been an altercation between H.E. the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama and myself at the Castle regarding the National Housing Project.”

The NDC Member of Parliament for Nadowli West said his initial “intention” was to ignore this “piece of totally wild and reckless gossip with further commentary. However, I have had to revise my stand because less discerning people may be misled into believing this calculated falsehood.”

The statement, issued August 30, 2011, added, “For the avoidance of doubt and for the records therefore, I wish to clearly state that in my capacity as Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, my relationship with H.E. the Vice President and his High Office, both at the personal and official levels, is at an all-time high; and I do proudly enjoy his incredible support, goodwill and very active collaboration in everything, including the National Housing Project.”

It added: “I wish to take advantage of this release to put to rest and to unreservedly condemn this malicious piece of false journalism. I also want to reassure, especially all my friends, well wishers and discerning Ghanaians who have all rightly been scandalized by this report, that no such incident occurred, or has ever occurred between H.E. the Vice President and myself.

It comes days after the office of the Vice President issued a similar statement after widespread news reports claimed late last week that the two men had fought at a meeting to discuss the boardroom crisis facing the STX deal, under which STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited is contract bound to build some 30,000 Housing units for Ghana’s security personnel.

The Vice President’s statement also described as false an earlier claim that the former Bole Bamboi MP “pulled a gun on former President, JJ Rawlings at the Castle.”

It added: “Every Ghanaian knows and appreciates his tolerance and patience and it is not in his character to engage in verbal or physical exchanges with any person.

“… John Mahama has chaired, on behalf of the President, various government meetings on helping clear the country’s housing deficit and also reviewed the wrangling among the partners working on the Ghana Housing Project. None of these meetings has recorded any of the false news reports.”

By: Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh