The Member of Parliament for Agona West, Charles Obeng-Inkoom has handed the refurbished Agona Nkum Clinic to the community.

The community clinic which was over 20 years old was crying for maintenance until the MP decided to intervene to bring it back to live to serve the people better.

The general renovation and refurbishment saw new roofing, and ceilings made, and painting of the entire facility.
The forty-eight thousand Ghana cedis (GHs48, 000) also led to the provision of some new equipment including a number of hospital beds, bed sheets, pillows and improved delivery wards to aid the quest to improve maternal and infant health delivery.

Mr. Obeng-Inkoom indicated that the original plan was to include the existing residential facility in the renovation. Unfortunately, the amount of money available cannot suffice it considering the extent of work that needed to be done on the residential facility.

This notwithstanding, the MP assured that the project has not been abandoned adding that more deliberations would be carried out on it to see the way forward to make it convenient for accommodating the health personnel.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Samuel Oppong who commended the MP for his intervention added that it was a boost to the quest of making health delivery accessible to the people and that the over 7000 population that rely on the facility for health delivery can now feel more confident attending the facility.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is asking the management of Anglogold Ashanti to assure government that the mine will be re-opened within the stipulated 18 to 24 months after shutdown.

The mine has served notice it will close its main mine and lay off about 5,000 of its workers due to falling gold prices and cost of production in Ghana.

The sector Minister, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has justified the need for Anglogold Ashanti to shut its Obuasi Mines after over 100 years of operation.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Alhaji Fuseini stated that his personal assessment shows that the company cannot continue to operate under the current circumstances.

He explained that the cost of operation far outweighs the profit revenue that is derived from Obuasi, adding that, he has personally visited the site to assess the situation.

The closure of the mine is expected to last between 18 to 24 months and time is to be used to invest and ensure the southern part of the mine which holds the potential is fully exploited.

This is to enable the mine to re-open and operate for the next 25 years.

But Alhaji Fuseini is requesting for some concrete assurances from the management of the company because according to him, government has legitimate concerns about the closure.

“How will they protect the integrity of the mine because the mine is an underground mine…a mine closure will need security to safeguard the integrity of the mine so they should come out and tell us how they want to protect the integrity of the mine.

We need firm commitment that if they close down the mine, they will re-open it after the date that they have said. We need firm commitment from them to show that they have enough resources to invest in the mines,” he said.

The sector Minister however, clarified that the mine has not been closed down yet and negotiations are ongoing “and what you have heard is just an intent; they are not yet implementing the decision.”

He disclosed that governments concerns in relation to the matter have been penciled down for the next engagement with the management of Anglogold Ashanti.

Alhaji Fuseini pledged that his Ministry will closely collaborate with Anglogold Ashanti “to build a consensus on what ought to be done that will inure to the collective benefit of the people of this country and guarantee them a return of their investments.”

He also expressed regret at the failure of Ghanaians to take advantage of the mining boom which took place in the 1980s.

Alhaji Fuseini noted that Ghanaians have the expertise in mining working in other mining industries across the world but was quick to add that government should not be blamed for the absence of many wholly owned Ghanaian mining companies.

“Going forward, we should be able to see Ghanaian companies acquiring each other and turning themselves into big companies to determine the way the mining industry goes in Ghana,” he said.

Citifmonline.com

Government says school children will benefit from free shoes to be produced by government’s shoe factory in Kumasi

Deputy Minority Leader, Dominic Nitiwul says at a time where the nation is engulfed in filth, implementing the Free Senior High School (SHS) Policy should not be President Mahama’s priority.

He stated emphatically that Ghana has urgent sanitation need which should attract government’s commitment instead of it looking for money to provide freebies to schools for political expediency.

“Every part of Ghana is engulfed in filth” six years after the NDC government promised to clear the country off filth within 100 days, Mr. Nitiwul said on Joy FM’s Newsfile hosted by Samson Lardy Ayenini on Saturday.

“Government must prioritize its activities. Government must stop looking for money to be able to do free education, when you don’t have money to even clear the filth,” he asserted.

Mr. Nitiwul therefore charged: “Government must stop giving more promises that we are going to give free shoes to school children when you don’t have money to clear the filth.

“That you promised to clear the filth you have not been able to clear, and what government is doing is that ‘well we are going to look for votes so we will give free education, free shoes etc’.”

The capital, Accra, and other cities across the country are facing serious waste management crisis due to government’s inability to pay waster collectors and lack of adequate landfill sites.

But the Deputy Minority Leader said, the lack of priority on the part of government should be blamed squarely for the country’s increasing sanitation problems.

He said he cannot understand why the country should be wallowing in filth when millions of Ghana cedis is sank into sanitation management annually.

The Member of Parliament for Bimbila said a large chunk of District Assemblies Common Fund go into sanitation. District and metropolitan assemblies are deducted GHc25,000 and GHc40,000 respectively per quarter to deal with sanitation, he claimed.

He is warning of possible outbreak of diseases if the sanitation issues are not well managed.

“The real problem is government and metropolitan assemblies don’t have money to pay the contractors,” he said and urged government to release the assemblies share of the Common Fund.

He is also asking the government to go to Parliament and make a case for the Stabilization Fund, which he said is meant to shore up any government when they are in trouble.

A presidential staffer, Dr. Clement Apaak indicated that the government cannot run away from the fact that the nation is faced with sanitation crisis.

“There is a visual evidence to show that we a challenged,” he conceded.

He said he is privy to information that the Local Government Ministry would release money to pay off waste collectors somewhere next week.

Dr. Apaak disclosed that government is working at getting garbage processing plants for the assemblies.

“Sooner than later you are going to see that some districts are going to be having their own plants where garbage is going to be processed to produce fertilizers, fuel and other useful substances.”

A development and organisation policy analyst, Dr. Mawai Zakaria called for a commensurate plan to go with the increasing population of the country.

Managing waste in the country should be a collective responsibility of the people, he said, underscoring that government should not be left alone to tackle the issue.

He is therefore calling for attitudinal change among residents.

Myjoyonline

Member of Parliament for Obuasi West Constituency, Kwaku Kwarteng, says it is time the Mahama administration sits up to curtail the spate failing industries in the country.

Citing the recent retrenchment of some 3,700 workers of AgloGold Ashanti (AGA) and the folding up of industries in other parts of the country, the MP issued a statement Monday asking government to act swiftly to save the situation.

“In the second quarter of 2013, Ghana recorded GH¢2,281 million worth of industrial activity in real terms. In the third quarter, this reduced to GH¢2,057 million. In the fourth quarter, it reduced further to GH¢2,030 million”, he said.

Kwaku Kwarteng, whose constituency AngloGold Ashanti operates in, says AGA’s current challenges are not isolated.

“Tema, Ghana’s industrial hub, is a pale shadow of its former self. Last month, Tema Chemical Ltd announced plans to lay off 400 workers. Super Paper Products Ltd has folded up completely. Many of the Tema companies have folded up or are in serious distress. But it is not just Tema; in the last quarter of 2013, Blue Skies Products (Ghana) Ltd in Nsawam laid off 400 workers. The list is endless.”

He said goverment’s overspending and incessant borrowing is partly to blame for Ghana’s declining industry performance.

Below is the full statement:

Industrial crisis in Obuasi and elsewhere: Time for government to sit up

AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) in Obuasi directly employs about 4,300 workers, almost all of whom are Ghanaians. According to the company’s books, last year, they paid a total of about GH¢ 4.2 million to the state by way of taxes, royalties and dividend payments. The company has announced its intention to lay off a vast majority of these employees.

AGA is yet to give exact figures, but it appears the company will retain only some 600 of its current workforce. Put in another way, some 3,700 will be going home, albeit with their severance awards. These 3,700 do not include contractors who may lose their contracts and therefore lay off their workers as a result of the crisis.

The company has assured us, the people of Obuasi, that within 18 to 24 months, they expect to complete the restructuring needed to address the current challenges of the mine. After that, they will re-employ people. The Obuasi community has positive interest in AGA recovering from its current difficulties, and we wish the company well, but the fact remains that nobody knows the future, and we have good reason to be worried about events in Obuasi and anxious about what is yet to come.

The problems of AGA are not isolated. Tema, Ghana’s industrial hub, is a pale shadow of its former self. Last month, Tema Chemical Ltd announced plans to lay off 400 workers. Super Paper Products Ltd has folded up completely. Many of the Tema companies have folded up or are in serious distress. But it is not just Tema; in the last quarter of 2013, Blue Skies Products (Ghana) Ltd in Nsawam laid off 400 workers. The list is endless.

It is disheartening listening to industry. The Association of Ghana Industries’ Greater Accra regional chairman, Mr Humphrey Ayim-Darke laments, “We don’t see an end to the crisis. We are not inspired and there’s no hope being communicated to us in terms of what will be done in the short-term and the medium- and long-term. The mood among businesses is absolute frustration”.

The Private Enterprise Federation’s chief executive, Nana Osei-Bonsu feels the same, “We don’t see the road ahead, we don’t know the policies that will be put together to lift us from where we are.”

And the national figures reflect this negative trend and mood. In the second quarter of 2013, Ghana recorded GH¢2,281 million worth of industrial activity in real terms. In the third quarter, this reduced to GH¢2,057 million. In the fourth quarter, it reduced further to GH¢2,030 million.

Of course, government cannot be responsible for all the factors contributing to this industrial decline, but a responsive government attitude to industry can save many of our suffering companies.

AGA, for example, cites high cost of production (relative to gold prices) as the reason for its present difficulties. A close look at the cost profile of the company reveals that the cost of electricity and the falling value of the cedi are two important contributors to the company’s current distress. In both cases, responsive government policy could have made a difference.

The current government’s appetite for spending more money than it has will only lead to further depreciation of the cedi. Especially so when we look on while the industries that should produce and bring in foreign exchange fold up.

Government should cut the waste and the corruption, and support our declining industries. We must and can find the money. Government cannot be making dubious payments to companies like Subah InfoSolutions and others whilst lamenting at the same time that it cannot raise the money to support our suffering industries.

And again and again, erratic power supply and the cost of electrical power to industry have been mentioned by industry players as serious setbacks to the growth of business. Where are the strategies to match power demand with supply? What is government’s policy response to industries’ growing cost of production as a result of high tariffs for industrial power? I don’t find any.

The option of political leadership looking on unconcerned as industries suffer and fold up should no longer be entertained. It is time for the Mahama administration to sit up!

Signed

Kwaku Kwarteng

(MP, Obuasi West Constituency)

Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni Valley Constituency, Francis Adu Blay Koffie, is asking officials of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minerals Commission to increase their efforts in monitoring in mining areas to halt the steady destruction of lands due to galamsey.

“Today, as we are speaking our cemeteries are being mined ….the other areas forest reserves are being mined so we need to get a no go area so that no mining company will be given the permit to go and mine there,” he said.

The surge in illegal mining activities in Ghana is gradually rendering the country’s lands and natural resources useless.

Despite moves by a presidential taskforce to tackle the problem, illegal mining is continually increasing.

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in collaboration with the Ghana Police Service, based on the directives of the Eastern Regional Security Council also arrested one hundred and twenty-five (125) Nigeriens engaged in illegal mining activities in Kyebi in the Eastern Region last month.

According to the MP, the Minerals Commission officials “sit in the comfort of their office and issue mining license instead of going down there to the ground [mining sites] to verify what is actually happening.”

In an interview with Citi News, the MP further noted that the Commission’s lethargic attitude towards work is causing conflicts and poverty in those areas.

“There is always a clash between two investors and that brings a lot of controversy, it creates lot problems for the state,” he explained.

Mr. Blay Koffie also expressed fears that the problem could get worse following plans by the major mining companies to lay off thousands of workers in the next few months.

The Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, William Agyapong Quaitoo has raised serious concerns about delays in the release of common fund and the effects on their quest to assist development in their constituencies.

The MP noted that because common fund is still in areas they could not do much to in terms of rolling out development projects in their constituencies as their constituents would have wished.

According to him, MPs are burdened with personal problems of their constituents ranging from payment of school fees, money for business, health care and a host of others that individuals should have solved themselves. All these should have been made possible through the MP’s share of the common fund.

Mr. William Agyapong said most MPs rely on their personal resources to solve some of the challenges confronting their constituents. He indicated that because of the misconception about the role of an MP, people only judge the performance of the MP through how much he has been able to spend on them or the projects he supported. Anything short of this is not recognized.

The MP said his quest to help the youth with business ideas is not been fully appreciated except for a handful who are ready to benefit from that, adding that all the people wanted was financial assistance, hence the delay in the release of the common fund is not helping them at all.

The Akim Oda MP has therefore made special appeal to the government to expedite the release of the fund to bring the needed development to the people in the various districts.

He also called on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate citizens on the core function of MPs so that they can appreciate the various contributions they make to national development.

Dominic Shirimori/GhanaMps.gov.gh

The Member of Parliament for Krachi Nchumuru, John Majisi has advocated for special attention from government for the welfare and promotion of special need education in the country.

He indicated that although the government has shown some level of commitment in this regard there is seemingly some funding gap in promoting the welfare of the good number of special need institutions in the country.

Speaking on Joy News today , the legislator asserted that moving forward in special need education we must refocus on inclusive educational curriculum in the mainstream to help absorb those with special need.

He said there are implementation difficulties of achieving these broad objectives, and was quick to add that regular schools must show readiness in meeting the diversity of pupils’ needs in special need education.

He claimed another way of resolving these difficulties is to cut the numerous expenditures and create some consolidated funding for special need education.

According to him, being a legislator he is yearning to promote special need education as he had so far laid successively two papers to address the house, and advocating for robust decisions and intervention in the aspect of policy formulation.

He however urged good spirited persons and benevolent organizations to come-onboard and support improve conditions of our special need schools.

Inclusive education is the official policy position for educating persons with disabilities in Ghana. The Government of Ghana’s Educational Strategic Plan 2003-2015 argues for inclusion for all children with disabilities by 2015.

Jonathan Jeffrey Adjei/Ghanamps.gov.gh

MOTHER’S DAY is celebrated every second Sunday in the month of May to honour and show love and appreciation to mothers.

To show such love and appreciation the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ho Central Constituency in the Volta Region, Benjamin Kpodo has donate a 32 inch state of art Samsung Led Colour television worth about GH¢ 1500.00 to the Municipal Hospital Maternity ward.

At the same ceremony Volta Premier FM a Ho based private radio station also presented quantity of drugs, clothing, soap and court sheets to the ward.

The MP wished the mothers well and urges all expectant mothers to patronize the facility of the hospital for the purpose of safe delivery and avoid birth related complications.

In another development the Member of Parliament donated jerseys and footballs worth about GH¢ 3000.00 to some second Division Clubs in the Ho Municipality that applied for Sports accoutrement.

The beneficiary Clubs are Ho Area 51 F/C, Klefe YoungstarsF/C, Ziavi Adukofe Freedom Fighters F/C and Sokode Bagble Black Panthers F/C.

Each of the Clubs received a set of 18 jerseys and two footballs.

The MP, Benjamin Kpodo advised the Clubs to train hard and win High.

He further urges those Clubs playing in the Division Two league to work extra hard to enable them play in the premier league.

He cited teams such as the Ho mighty Eagle, Ho Sunset, Voradep F/C and Juantex F/C that had played in the highest league and defeated big Clubs like Hearts of Oak, Kotoko and Great Olympics and said they can also reach that peak if they are tactically discipline and take their training serious not as another game but as a professional one.

Daily Heritage