Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, Eugene Boakye Antwi had told Parliament that the hydrological service department had been tasked to carry out a survey to identify all the flood prone areas in North Dayi District.

He further noted that a design of an appropriate drainage system to address the problem of perennial problem would be undertaken, to determine all related cost estimate, for onwards submission to the Finance Ministry for funds to construct drains to alleviate the problem in North Dayi.

Mr Eugene Boakye Antwi made this remarks on behalf of the sector Minister when he answered an urgent question on the floor of the House as steps being taken to alleviate the plight of residents in North Dayi, whose houses were damaged in the recent rainstorm.

According to the Deputy Minister some factors could account for the perennial flooding, urbanization and settlements in low lying areas, lack of political will to remove properties sited on water ways and poor waste management of both solid and liquid in terms of storage and transport, he said.

He added that in the short term an amount of five million five-hundred thousand Ghana cedis would be used in desilting works in some of the choked drains in the North Dayi District to clear the silt to ensure free flow of  flash water.

“Mr. Speaker, to address flooding challenges in the country, this Ministry is collaborating with Sanitation and Water Resources, Lands and Natural Resources, Local Government and Rural Development and the Regional Coordinating Council to undertake long term measures to reduce the risk of flooding.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Students of the Anfoenga Senior High School (SHS) in the Volta Region had visited Parliament House to learn for themselves first hand workings of the House.

Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Joycelyn Tetteh facilitated the process for the students to have the experience on how the House goes about its workings.

Headmaster of the school Richard Stevens in an interview indicated that, there are students offering government as a subject and express the interest to see how the legislature works and the MP willingly facilitated their coming.

This is the second time the MP had facilitated students from her constituency to visit the legislature and learn at firsthand workings of the House.

Mr. Richard Stevens head master of Anfoenga SHS revealed in an interview that the school needs assistant with over thousand students, they had an uncompleted dining hall  and did not have an ICT lab, administration block and staff common room.

Touching on discipline in the school, he indicated that it has become very difficult with only four teachers having bungalows on the compound which is not walled, making it difficult to control the movement of students particularly those who disobey the law and run to town through the bush.

Again we have only four security personnel and it is a boarding school, we have inadequate teaching staffs, “if we have twelve more bungalows’ this would help us maintain discipline in the school”, he lamented.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament (MP) for Akatsi North, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe is advocating for the needed recognition to be given the Technical Universities in the Nation.

According to the Akatsi North lawmaker, the Technical Universities should not play “second fiddle” to the most referred to “Traditional Universities”, this is creating a lot of challenges, he said.

He called on the Minister of Education Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh to take a second look at the challenges and ensure that the Technical Universities are not relegated to the background.

Again, the Vice Chancellors of the Technical Universities do not belong to the Vice Chancellors Association of Ghana, leading to the Technical Universities forming their own Association.

This does not go down well for Universities development  in this Country. Additionally, staff of the Technical Universities are forming their own Association, hence the Students of the Technical Universities are not part of the  National Union of  Ghana Students (NUGS) an umbrella of University Students.

He further called on the Education Minister, to ensure that new Technical Universities are established and not converting Polytechnics to Universities.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, William Agyepong Quaittoo has assured residents of his commitment to collaborate with the Birem Central Municipal Assembly and other relevant state institutions to help reconstruct a deteriorated narrow bridge over a stream close to the Jubilee hospital in the town.

Member of Parliament for Nigo Prampram, Samuel Nartey George is calling on the Ghanaian government to approve to formalize the local integration of process for the most protracted refugees.

According to the Nigo Prampram legislator when barriers for inclusion are removed, it would reduce the risk of statelessness, as it is estimated to affect at least one million people in West Africa.

He further noted that Ghana is yet to accede to the two United Nations Convention on Statelessness and is one of only two countries within the West African Sub-region.

Mr. Samuel Nartey George made this statement on the floor of the House to mark world refugees day, “#With Refugees”.

“I call on MPs to join honor the resilience and courage of more than 65 million people who have been forced to flee war, prosecution and violence”.

“Government should commence as a matter of urgency, steps towards ensuring that the refugees on Ghana’s soil have an effective pathway for local integration and to advocate for the ratification of the two UN convention on Statelessness.”

Ghana has been gracious to host protracted refugee population of approximately 13,000 from various nationalities, with majority of them coming from Togo, Liberia and Cote d’lvoire, he said.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

Privileges Committee chaired by the first Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei Owusu, would on Tuesday the 26th of June 2018 hear a matter of privileges brought before it.

The committee would on Tuesday hear a case brought before it, as Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has dragged the Assin Central MP, Ken Ohene Agyapong, for allegedly referring to parliament and MPs  as “useless”.

In an interview on Friday, the Assin Central MP told a group of Journalists in Parliament that he is not even aware he is going before the committee on Tuesday, but gave assurance that he would go before the committee because he respect Parliament as an institution.

“You are just telling me, I have not received any information from the privileges committee that we would meet them on Tuesday”.

As to whether he would want the committee meeting to be open, he said, “yes yes, let them sit in the open not in camera so that people would see where I am coming from, they should play the tape there and you would hear the New Patriotic Party (NPP) man in Ashanti Region raining insult on me on Accra base private radio station Happy Fm”, he lamented.

Again I want you to know that I would go before the privileges committee “I am not, scared of them, I would meet Muntaka there”, he said.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com

The Ministry of Education has directed the contractor working on the E-Block project at Damanko in the Nkwanta North District to complete outstanding works before the commencement of the 2018/2019 academic year.

Sector Minister Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh made this known on the floor of the House, when answering a question from John Kwabena Bless Oti, as to when works will resume on the community Day Senior High School in Damanko.

He further told the House that, the “E-Block” project in the Volta Region is part of the 101 number of community SHS, which falls within the first phase being funded by Government of Ghana through the GETFund.

“Mr. Speaker the contractor has carried out seventy-two percent (72%) of work on the project and it was awarded to Messrs Westfalia Company Limited in August 2015 and the contract sum is GHc 6,546, 921.98, he said.

By: Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/ghanamps.com