Month: October 2011

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications on Monday said government would continue to ensure that the frequency spectrum, which was a scarce national resource, was efficiently managed by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to ensure sanity.

He said policy directive had, however, been given for the NCA to withdraw all frequency and spectrum allocations that had been assigned and had not been in use for the last three years to revert to the State for re-allocation.

Mr Iddrisu who was addressing the Ministry’s turn at the Meet-the- Press series in Accra, said the action to revoke licenses of unutilized frequencies was to re-allocate them for profitable services to cover underserved communities in the country.

He explained that some individuals had applied for the frequencies and were not using them while a lot of applications were pending, saying “I am sure this will not be good news for those who are not using their frequencies but we have to take this hard decision for those who need them to benefit”.

Mr Iddrisu announced that Cabinet had approved the road map and standards for the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, which some seven companies submitted their proposals to participate in the biding process for the provision of the Digital Terrestrial Television Network nationwide.

He said government had adopted the second Generation Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standard popularly called DVB-T2 for digital terrestrial television in Ghana, which had the advantage of offering the needed flexibility of transmitting high definition (HD), standard definition (SD) and mobile television channels on the same transmission network.

Mr Iddrisu said an Inter-Ministerial Committee had finalized and promulgated new guidelines for setting up cell sites and base stations in response to growing public concern on related physical and health hazards of communication masts.

On verification of International Inbound Telephone Traffic to Ghana, the Sector Minister said government had empowered the NCA to have capacity to undertake the exercise, which had helped to track and convicted some SIMBOX operators.

He said figures released by the NCA revealed that between March 2010 and June 2011, a total of 102,689 fraud lines were detected on the networks of the telecom operators and that revenue contribution from the International Telephone Traffic Termination amounted to $45 million, which had already been paid into the Consolidated Fund.

Mr Iddrisu said the improvement of ICT infrastructure would help promote high speed internet and that government was in the process of launching the wide area network for e-Government in the nearest possible time.

He said the Ministry in collaboration with the Chinese Government, was making an arrangement to build an enhanced e-Government Platform Project to be commenced by Huawei Technologies in November this year, to introduce advanced e-Applications.

Mr Iddrisu said to bridge the digital divide government remained committed to providing universal access to ICT and telecommunication services as a primary objective to benefit underserved communities.

He said the Ministry remained committed to the implementation of Persons With Disability Act and was focusing on the development of short and medium term projects and programmes aimed at promoting access to ICT for persons with disability.

Mr Iddrisu said the Ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Education was pursuing the plan of government to provide computers for basic schools and tertiary institutions, which the Ministry of Communications had sourced 1,500 computers for distribution to schools.

Mr John Tia Akologu, Minister of Information, appealed to the media to focus on issues that would develop and unite the country rather than concentrating on destructive matters.

He said the Government remained resolute on adhering to freedom of speech and would continue to exert good governance to the people of Ghana and asked for cooperation to ensure that Ghana become a haven investment destination.

Hon Samia Yaba Nkrumah, Chairperson and Leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) over the weekend attended the 10th Anniversary of the Dzodze Deza – A Palm Festival of the Dzodze Traditional Area, Volta Region.

She expressed gratitude to the chiefs and people of Dzodze Traditional Area and the central planning committee of Dzodze Deza, for their invitation, warm welcome and also for the congratulatory message sent from Dzodze on her election as chairperson and leader of the CPP.

Samia reminded the gathering about the use of the palm tree as a symbol by Nkrumaists under the People’s National Party (PNP) in the 1979 election, noting that the palm tree with its many uses was the embodiment of self reliance and self-sufficiency.

The palm, she said, was used for many things – for brooms found in many homes, its leaves for shelter, its oils for food and medicines, the nut shells for fuel, palm wine etc, and in its dead state mushrooms. “It is a tree that never dies,” she said.

The CPP leader congratulated the Dzodze people for a great festival and added her support and goodwill for a planned school to teach the youth about the palm industry. She made a donation on behalf of the CPP.

Samia Nkrumah was accompanied by the CPP Volta and Eastern regional chairmen as well as other national and regional officers.

The Member of Parliament for Keta Richard Lassey -Agbenyefia has charged parents in his constituency to make sure that their children find enough time to learn after they close from school.

According to him, this is one responsibility of parents which they must not fail to honor as it will go a long way in shaping their children’s future.

The MP was speaking at Keta during a Stakeholders’ Forum organized by the District Assembly on the fallen standards of education in the Municipality especially the poor results of most of the children in the constituency during this year’s examination.

He noted that Keta has a historic recognition for churning out good students over the years some of whom are currently occupying several sensitive positions in Ghana and it is important that efforts are put in place to ensure that the good name which the area once enjoyed is brought back.

He said parents should assume total responsibility for the studies of their wards and must not delegate that to the teachers as they do their bit in the school.

Hon. Richard Lassey, – Agbenyefia bemoaned the situation where some children are found loitering about aimless in town in the evenings, at a time that they should rather be seated behind their books.

He stated that he would liaise with the assembly to find ways of improving the educational standards in the area which at the moment leaves much to be desired.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Adenta Kojo Adu–Asare has identified fatigue among most of the senior officials of the Electoral Commission (E.C) as a possible reason for its apparent inertia concerning preparations for the 2012 elections.

According to him, the long stay in office of most of the ageing leadership of the E.C has resulted in the adoption of a sluggish attitude to such an all important national exercise as the 2012 general elections.

Several stakeholders including Civil Society Organization and especially the opposition parties have had cause to severally express their dissatisfaction with the ECs preparedness towards the 2012 General Elections.

According to them, the EC has not been up to task considering the number of months left to decide who becomes President in 2012.

It would be recalled that both the NPP and PNC walked out of a meeting arranged by the EC for political parties to observe the biometric registration process and also to inspect a new biometric technology it intends using for next year’s general elections. Their boycott was premised on the fact that the EC had circumvented procurement procedures and also the Commission did not allow the political parties present to make any comment – but just to observe

Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo show on Monday, the Member of Parliament for Adenta Kojo- Adu Asare called for the replacement of the ageing leadership of the E.C with much younger experts who are ready to do a more efficient work that will consolidate Ghana’s democracy.

“The senior officers are old and have acquired a wealth of experience in this field, some of them can even decide to run consultancy services and hand over the mantle to young and vibrant persons who can do the work equally well, it’s not all the time that the older the better’’.

He urged the E.C to be proactive in coming out to address the concerns of the political parties to ensure a peaceful, free and fair election come 2012.

Kwadwo Anim/ghanamps.gov.gh

A former Western Regional Minister and MP for Wassa Amenfi East, Joseph Boahene Aidoo, has taken a swipe at the ruling National Democratic Congress government for delaying work on the Tarkwa-Ayamfuri-Bogoso highway, six months after President Mills cut sod for work to start.

Speaking to journalists at Wassa Akropong, the capital of the Wassa Amenfi East District, Hon. Boahene Aidoo said government cannot justify the delay of commencement of work on the 94.6 kilometre road.

According to him, an amount of $70 million has already been secured from the European Union and that Government could not use the excuse of inadequate funds.

He said it was obvious that the contractor was not ready to start work, yet the president was quick to cut the sod, saying the road is in its worst state ever, creating so much discomfort for motorists and travellers.

“From the look of things, the contractor, SONITRA, was not ready when the President in indecent haste came to Bogoso to perform the official ceremony to signify the commencement of work on the road”.

“The road is in its worst condition ever. To travel on it is to go through nightmare, the agony, ache, bodily pains and exhaustion that travellers suffer, the lorry fares that have naturally shot up, cargo and haulage trucks that keep on falling on the road, the rampant breakdown of vehicles and travellers getting stranded sometimes at very odd hours, the frequent and increasing cost of repairs and maintenance of vehicles and the sheer psychological discomfort to everybody that has a journey to make on this stretch of the road, has become unbearable,” he lamented.

“Armed robbers have taken advantage of the situation to attack drivers and passengers,” Hon. Boahene Aidoo claimed.

The Former Minister said the Tarkwa-Ayamfuri-Bogoso-Prestea highway is of international importance and great economic value and must be given the needed attention by government.

“Much as we do appreciate that preparation is now underway for actual work to begin, the sorry state of the road must not be left unattended to. This highway links Ghana to Burkina Faso and it is even more important economically because it is the ulterior road on which our major non-oil exports commodities such as cocoa, timber, robber, gold, bauxite and manganese are transported to the Takoradi Port. It is part of what was described as a golden triangle, but today, there is nothing golden about this road. The Government and the Ministry of Highways must spare the people of the Western Region the agony of a hellish road” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the DCE for Prestea Huni-Valley, Robert Wisdom Kudjoe, has told Maxx News the contractor is ready to start work. The road is scheduled to be completed within 24-30 months.

He said government has paid 50 per cent of agreed compensation to people whose properties would be affected by the construction work.

According to him, the NDC could not be faulted by the opposition NPP which did nothing on the highway in their eight-year administration, with a Regional Minister who doubled as a Member of Parliament for the area.

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