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Month: June 2020

Komenda factory: Gov’t fears it would not get credit – Samuel Mills

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abbrem, Samuel Atta Mills has said the reason why government is failing to revamp and operationalise the commissioned Komenda Sugar Factory in his constituency by the previous government is the “fear of not getting credit for it”.

According to him the current government has left the sugar factory unattended to but moved to Ekumfi to build a pineapple factory because for the first time they have captured the seat in that constituency.

“If they could have avoided using terminal three airport they would have done that because, everybody was complaining that the old terminal was not good enough, they did not even commission it they did a little bit of inspection boom they started using it, what a shame”.

He emphasized that there should be continuity of projects anytime there is a change of government, “we should not play games with Ghanaians.

“If they could have avoided using terminal three they would have done that because everybody was complaining that the old terminal was not good enough they did not even commission it they did a little bit of inspection then boom they started using it what a shame we should have continuity the government comes you continue where the other person left off; do not play games with the Ghanaian people”.

In an interview as to whether there is anything new in the answers given by the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadow Kyremantey on ensuring that the Komenda sugar factory becomes operational, with his earlier question and recent one this week, he said,e “I was not impressed with the answers given by the Minister, the assurance he gave Parliament that April 30th the factory would be operational never happened. And added that last November when they heard we were going to demonstrate they brought a so-called strategic investor to take over, he never came back”.

He pointed out that it emerged that the strategic investor was not given a contract, as it turns out cabinet had not given approval, “why is it that approval was not sought?”

Again they talk about sugar policy, “did we have pineapple policy in producing pineapple juice but Ekumfi juice factory has been set up, they are playing a political game, we have six months to elections when is the contract going to be signed?”

Mr. Samuel Mills was worried that as a country we spent over six hundred million dollars to import sugar whiles other land log countries like Burkina Faso, Mail and Niger import sugar that passes through Ghana, whiles we can operationalise the sugar factory we have.

And expressed the view that if even it produces over two hundred million dollars worth of sugar it creates direct and indirect jobs with seven thousand people employed it is a lot of job and cooperative farmers would benefit.

Rather the fishing industry is being killed at the same time the farming industry is being destroyed, he lamented.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

North Dayi MP expresses worry over improper wearing of face masks

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs
Member of Parliament for North Dayi, Joycelyn Tetteh has expressed worry over majority of Ghanaians improperly wearing face masks as some place it below their chin, carrying it in their hands, with others having it on their forehead despite buying into the idea of wearing it.

According to her, this practice is usually exhibited at the markets, workplace and in commercial vehicles with impression created that it is sufficient to own a nose mask and carry it around.

Again, she further expressed worry over the way some handle the home-made mask, and pointed out that the proper way to handle it is for one to wash it with warm water and soap, “dried and iron it at least once a day if possible”.

“Sadly people wear soiled and unkempt mask, the situation is alarming as experts tell us clothing or accessories have the potential to be contaminated Dr. Daniel Griffin an infectious diseases expert at the Colombia University advices we must wash our masks as often as we do to our underwear”.

In a statement on the floor of the House on Thursday June 4, 2020, she pointed out that while she applaud efforts made to enforce mandatory wearing of nose mask, there should be a further step of ensuring that they are properly handled and worn, hence more public education from government agencies.

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Health Ministry, media, MPs, Information and Local Government must also support in this effort.

“Mr. Speaker we are told the wearing of the facemask alone may not prevent a healthy person from getting the virus but at least they may help to ensure that we do not spread it to others. I hope we would all adhere to the guidelines for using the facemask so as to protect ourselves”.

The guidelines also calls for encouraged use of alcohol based hand sanitizers before putting on or taking off a face mask, and the face mask should be removed from behind and safely disposed.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Education Ministry awards 822 infrastructure projects across Ghana

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

Minister for Education Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has told Parliament his Ministry has awarded eight hundred and twenty-two (822) various infrastructure projects at the Senior High Schools levels across the country.

According to him, this is to improve access to secondary education as he provided summary details in a table attached to the order paper of the day.

He further told the House the Ministry is guided by its strategic plan to improve equitable access to, and participate in quality education delivery in the country.

The Minister was answering the Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr. Clement A. Apaak’s question on the number of senior high schools benefiting from the eight hundred and four projects in the country.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Gov’t must re-programme, and stop printing money—Ranking Finance

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs
Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance, Cassiel Ato Baah Forson has taken a swipe at government and pointed out that in times of pandemic they should prioritize and re-programme rather than seeking to print currency.

According to him, printing of ten billion Ghana cedis as announced by the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta would only translate in high money supply growth in the cause of the year and further translate into high inflation.

He further pointed out that as a result of what government want to do when inflation comes it is going to, “steal from every Ghanaian and imposition of inflation tax as prices of goods and services are going to go up”.

“The Finance Minister should tell us exactly what they are financing we cannot sit down for them to print money to finance expenditures that can be avoided in this time of pandemic what countries do is to look at their budget and prioritize”.

In a media briefing, Mr. Ato Forson pointed out that he was thinking government would cut down on its Ministers to help cut down on government expenditure on fuel.

“Sadly they are saying the central bank should print money instead of going through their budget to re-programme what we in the Minority are seeing from the financing side the fiscal deficit we can project would be fifteen percent to GDP this would be something that Ghana has never witnessed before”.

The Ranking member made known that they on the Minority side of the House are worried and the House should not allow the Ministry of Finance to print the ten billion cedis as their side would resist.

“They are only using it to finance election promises particularly election expenditure which is avoidable and it is a waste and should not be allowed. They have breached the threshold, the fact that UK or America is printing does not mean we should copy blindly”.

.Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Dodowa market re-development to commence after negotiation—Minister

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Alima Mahama has told Parliament that the Dodowa market re-development which is expected to be completed in six month, would start after the ownership of the land is determined.

According to her, the contractor is supposed to start work as soon as negotiation with families claiming ownership of the land is completed.

She noted that the first phase of the project which covers the construction of forty (40) lockable shops, forty (40) open sheds and a crèche was awarded to Messrs Rock Solutions Ltd at a contract sum of one million, nine hundred and eighty-three thousand, six hundred and forty-two Ghana cedis and twenty –four Ghana pesewa (1,983,642,24).

The Minister said this when Member of Parliament for Shai-Osudoku Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo wanted to know when the construction of the market would start.

“The Dodowa market has been in existence for twenty-eight years the Assembly took a decision to re-develop the market the market in phases and applied under the One Million per Constituency project to the Costal Development Authority (CODA) for funding to implement the first phase of the project”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

“Provide us with recruits as robbery span between Bekwai and Adubia”—Osei-Owusu

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

First Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu has appealed to the Interior and National Security Ministries to provide Districts in Bekwai and Manso/Adubia with police as they recruit new personnel.

According to him in the wake of increasing armed robbery in the Bekwai and Adubia Districts because of lack of security personnel there is the urgent need for that and appealed to the two security sectors to urgently attend to their needs.

Contributing to a statement made by the Member of Parliament for Manso/Adubia the first Deputy Speaker point out that the area is large and the robbers target largely the gold traders because there is a lot of mining activities going on there.

Again, from Districts in Bekwai to Adubia, he added that there are small scale mining activities going on and the robbery leads to huge amount of money and people’s lives being lost in the process.

“It is time to zoom in that area for the purpose of security and I suggest that the national security provide sufficient armory and I have had the opportunity to make representation in that regard most especially the Bekwai division is quite large”.

Mr. Osei-Owusu pointed out further that the latest robbery resulted in the death of the driver of the District Chief Executive (DCE), as telephone penetration is very low linking the two constituencies – Bekwai and Adubia.

“There is a place where when you stand you do not get access to any of the networks in the country, and the robbers take advantage of that to indulge in their activities. They block the road leading to Bekwai Municipal Police Directorate, hence the divisional command has pointed out that they do not have sufficient men and women”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Bad roads, insufficient personnel, and lack of communication boosting robbery —MP

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso/Adubia, Yaw Frimpong Addo has attributed increased robbery activities in Constituency a number of factors including bad roads, insufficient security personnel and lack of communication among the public and security personnel.

According to him hardly can one do a twenty kilometer smooth drive on the roads in the constituency which makes it difficult for the police personnel to arrive at robbery spots when they are called upon.

He further pointed out that despite the fact that most of the roads had been awarded on contract, the pace of work is very slow. And also pointed out that another development that makes it difficult for the security personnel to foil robbery in the district is lack of communication penetration.

In a statement on the floor of the House on Friday 29th May 2020 he lamented over the insufficient human resource of police personnel in the constituency, hence their inability to be up to the task as there are only thirty officers and only one vehicle manning three district police stations in the constituency.

“No motor bikes, helmet, armory, touch lights and communication gargets to protect the over eighty communities with a total population of about ninety thousand (90,000); no wonder the police have been overwhelm by the robbers”.

He appealed to the Speaker Professor Oquaye who was in the chair to take up the matter to the highest level to ensure the safety of the people in the districts of his constituency.

“We are a major contributor to the national economy as we produce cocoa, timber and mine gold in my constituency and other resources. The people cannot be subjected to such insecurity in the constituency”.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

“Real people to make better impact on peacekeeping are women”—Nitiwul

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

Defense Minister Dominic Bingab Aduna Nitiwul has said the real people who make better impact on peacekeeping are women, and sending more women to peacekeeping will improve the peacekeeping performance and operation.

According to him women are better placed to access children and women who are suffering during peacekeeping since they understand both children and women better who suffer the most during conflict period.

“Unless we want to engage in peace enforcing the real people to be sending to peacekeeping are our women as they represent fifty-two percent in our communities we should increase their peacekeeping representation from fifteen percent to forty percent”.

He further pointed out contributing towards a statement on the floor by his Deputy to mark the International Day for Peacekeeping that, when women are in action, it is more encouraging and was proud of Ghanaian women who served in peacekeeping operations.

“Ghanaians women show dedication and professionalism, they have made Ghana proud and receive a lot of praise as the UN Secretary General’s any time they talk about Ghana they talk about our ability to bring peace to the world, Ghana should be able to export peace to the rest of the world”.

He gave, the example of Ghana’s peacekeeping role in South Sudan, Lebanon, Congo and Liberia and added that in Liberia, Liberians preferred to identify with the Ghanaian contingent and further said the praise would not go to only women but all Ghanaians peacekeeping troops.

The United Nations celebrate Ghana because when they pulled out of Rwanda  the Ghanaian contingent stayed and made a lot of sacrifices despite the fact they knew the danger of staying behind.

Mr. Nitiwul emphasised the importance of peace in Ghana by pointing out the nation cannot be exporting peace by getting our troops to keep peace in the world when we do not have peace.

That is why I keep saying the Ghanaian troops are for everybody, the only time one would have problem with them is when one falls foul of the law  in that case they would do their work and do it effectively.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

Contractor mobilizing to start Asutuare Market project – Alimah

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs

The contractor to for the Asutuare market centre project, Messrs Nagmas Limited is mobilizing to move to site to start work, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Alima Mahama told Parliament on Tuesday.

The Assembly with support from the Ministry of Special Development Initiative is also undertaking the construction of 1-No rural market at Asutuare under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) aimed at constructing markets in some selected districts across the country.

According to the Minister the construction of the project started on the 22nd of July last year for seventy-two (72) open market sheds, two (2) warehousing facilities and four-seater toilet facility, at a cost of nine hundred and eleven thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine Ghana cedis, fifty-five pesewa (GHc 911,999,55) to be completed in seven calendar months. The project is currently 95 percent complete.

“Mr. Speaker, phase two of the Asutuare market in the Shai-Osudoku constituency has been awarded to Messrs Zegor Ltd with funding from the Costal Development Authority under the One Million Per Constituency Programme.

The cost of construction is one million, nine hundred and eighty-three thousand six hundred and forty-two Ghana cedis, twenty-four Ghana pesewa (GHc 1,983, 642, 24).

On the Doryumu market, the Minister noted that it is existing with limited space for expansion, as the Assembly has to develop the market as captured in its 2020 action plan.

The Minister told the House the project would start when funds are available.

Her response follows the Member of Parliament for Shai-Osudoku, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo’s request to know when the construction of the market would start.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com

“Planting for food and jobs position us better on impact of COVID-19”—Agric Minister

Posted on by Akumaa GhanaMPs
Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr.Akoto Afriye has said Ghana’s policy on planting for food and job  has positioned it better in fighting the impact of the novel coronavirus.

According to him the nation’s growth rate of was estimated at 6.1 percent this year but because of the impact of the pandemic the growth rate has been reduce to 4 percent as government is putting in measures to ensure that the new percentage is improved.

In a briefing to journalists in Parliament after he briefed the House on the impact of the pandemic on the country’s agriculture, he pointed out that one point two million small farmers holdings are being targeted this year.

“We have increase it to one point four million farmers we are going to provide them with more fertilizers, improve seeds and hoping to be rice sufficient to do away with import of rice in the next two years”.

Dr. Afriye further told members of the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC) government is on course with its planting for food and job programme, adding young men and women are flooding the forest regions to participate in the programme and he is impressed with what he saw after his recent tour.

On maize production, the Minister noted that the country has never had two million metric tons but three and half metric is being produced in a matter of three years.

And he is expecting that maize production would get to three and half metric tons and targeting six million metric tons and would need machineries to process them as the surplus would be supplied to the rest of West Africa.

“We are battle ready as a government to fight the COVID-19 on Ghana’s agriculture sector anyone who gives the impression that we are not doing well is not abreast and up to date with agriculture on the ground. Because we are doing well and being acknowledged on the African continent and world at large”.

And emphasized that given the intense interest shown by Ghanaian farmers in Ghana’s planting for food and job the country would increase in its growth even in the difficult period of COVID-19.

Again the small and large scale farmers have not been left out with the facilities we have gotten from Brazil. The thirty-three million dollars second tranche of two hundred and thirty-six tractors imported have gone to commercial farmers.

For small scale farmers hand held machines most suitable for three to five hectors operation have been given. He added that more are being imported including over a thousand unit together with hand held harvesters for rice farmers.

The Minister noted that the harvesters are in the yard of the Ministry and his Deputy last two weeks Friday distributed the machines to support farmers increase their yield for them to expand their farms.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com