Development Ghana

Revamping Ghana's water sector: Lessons from South Africa

2012-01-09T05:00:00.001-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, back from Pretoria, South Africa
Even with scarce water resources and an uneven rainfall pattern, South Africa provides 91 per cent of its 50 million citizens with improved drinking water and 77 per cent with access to improved sanitation.
The Department of Water Affairs (DWA), the national body that formulates and implements policies regarding water in South Africa, described the country as water scarce, as fresh water resources availability are almost equivalent to the demand for them. The country, therefore, prioritises water resources management and insists on reconciling demand with availability at all times. Ghana on the other hand has abundant water resources but with only 63 per cent of the population having access to improved drinking water and 13 per cent with access to improved sanitation. A team of professionals drawn from various sectors but with a direct impact on water issues embarked on a one-week study tour of South Africa to, among others, learn and share best practices with their counterparts in the water sector. More specifically, the team was interested in learning about urban and rural water supply management systems, and environmental sanitation management approaches, integrated water resources management and programme-based budgeting.
The tour, funded by the European Union through the Improvement of Water Sector Performance Management Framework (IWSPMF) project, according to the Director of Water, came at a time when Ghana was at the threshold of revamping the water sector to improve water resource management, production and delivery, and consequently accessibility to the larger population that are not yet served.

Evolution of Ghana’s water management system
The first water supply system in Ghana, then Gold Coast, was established in Accra just before World War I. Extensions were made exclusively to other urban areas among them the colonial capital of Cape Coast, Winneba and Kumasi in the 1920s.
However, there have been challenges hampering Ghana's effective water resource management, production and delivery since independence.
Institutional capacity
Like the DWA in South Africa, Ghana has the Water Directorate that is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies for the water sector. The difference, however, is that the DWA directly supervises implementation of programmes, whereas Ghana’s Water Directorate rather coordinates activities of several agencies that do the implementation. Unlike the DWA of South Africa, the Water Directorate is currently hugely under-resourced to play any effective role. The DWA with a workforce of 8,000 is one of the largest public institutions in South Africa, directly coordinating all water management, supply and research activities and appears to be in full control of policy and implementation of both water resources management and water supply issues.
Ghana's Water Directorate compared with the DWA is not strong enough in terms of staffing (only 15 workers over 90 per cent of who are short-term project staff and those on secondment from other agencies) and structure to take full control although Ghana on the other hand has a very strong institutional arrangement with agencies such as the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the Water Resources Commission (WRC) and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) playing specialised roles and with the PURC playing a regulatory role.

Taking financial control of the water sector
As delegates listened keenly to the various presentations, one issue that clearly came up was the fact that the Central Government funds the entire water and sanitation sector in South Africa upon advice from the DWA with little or no financial support from international donors.
According to officials, about 60 per cent of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant is meant for water and sanitation interventions. Most of their water supply agencies (the Water Boards), though government owned, are self-reliant and they hardly make losses. For this reason, the departments are able to draw clear plans and to implement the plans. Sanitation for instance is supply-driven and, therefore, little time is spent discussing models and concepts.
The opposite is, however, the case for Ghana, which currently depends heavily on foreign donors in pushing the agenda of the water sector.
Again, whereas South Africa has one major Water Act for both water and sanitation, which provides direction to all institutions in the WASH sector, Ghana has fragmented sub-sector specific acts, making coordination relatively more difficult.
In South Africa, all municipalities and the various Water Boards report directly to the DWA. In Ghana, though the agencies report to the MWRWH, local government institutions report to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development under the Local Government Act. Coordination would be easier if all WASH agencies and MMDAs were to report to one central institution (e.g. the Water Directorate).
Comparatively, South Africa has stronger private sector participation and stronger monitoring and enforcement of water use regulations. There is a monitoring task force (the Blue Scorpions) in place and are made up of staff from the DWA. They also have the Water Resources Tribunals to trial water use-related offences. These enforcement bodies are currently absent in Ghana. South Africa again has stronger data management systems in place as there is a functional Water Research Commission providing data collection and data management services. Waste water is usually treated and pumped back into catchments.
Water supply
In South Africa, responsibility for the provision of water and sanitation services lies with the districts and municipalities though they all report directly to the DWA.
There are Water Boards that supply bulk water to municipalities, who in turn distribute to households and collect the bills. This means that for both rural and urban water supply, municipalities play a direct role by buying water in bulk from the water supply companies (called Water Boards) and resell to households. There are no private water supply companies; all water boards belong to the public. Water tariffs vary between municipalities and even between localities depending on ability to pay and a programme of cross-subsidisation, decided upon at the municipal level. As a policy, every household receives the first six cubic metres of water per month for free (even though 75 per cent of the population, according to a research, can afford to pay). The policy was introduced gradually since 2000 within the means of each municipality. In 2010 the programme reached 86 per cent of all households.
South Africa also works a lot with the Private Sector in an effort to reduce Non-Revenue Water. A number of experts from the private sector are, therefore, engaged on contract basis to manage water leakage and illegal connections. Some of the major strategies applied are pressure control and routine physical checks in the field. To make this programme effective, metering is considered imperative.
Ghana can significantly improve its water delivery if some of these key lessons in South Africa could be considered. The 3rd Ghana Water Forum for instance recommended the breaking of the monopoly of the Ghana Water Company and promotion of either bulk supply to MMDAs or different companies providing specialised services in urban water supply. Ghana may also consider beefing up her pro-poor policies through cross-subsidisation or increased amount of free water to all or to the poor, as well as consider seeking private sector support in reducing the Non-Revenue Water, which was more than 49 per cent as of 2010.
Research and knowledge management
South Africa has a strong research and training infrastructure in the water sector. The Water Research Commission (WRC) supports water research and development, as well as the building of a sustainable water research capacity in South Africa. It serves as the country's water-centred knowledge ‘hub’ leading the creation, dissemination and application of water-centred knowledge, focusing on water resources management, water-linked ecosystems, water use and waste management and water utilisation in agriculture.
The WRC is funded by the government through levies on water bills and the Commission in turn provides grants to researchers based on the relevance of their research proposals to the country. The WRC then assembles all research reports and generates necessary information for the government and all stakeholders. The WRC has a unit that engages in dissemination of available research findings. By way of capacity development and provision of more researchers for the water sector, researchers are usually mandated to work with students through attachments among others so that they develop an interest and gain research experience in the sector.
Research is not harmonised in Ghana’s WASH sector as it is usually conducted by those who need information. Though there is a Water Research Institute (WRI) in Ghana there is currently too little interface between it and the WASH Sector. This is partly because the WRI is under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and does not report to the MWRWH or the MLGRD. It would be very appropriate if a similar unit is created at the Water Directorate to harmonise research in the WASH sector.
Conclusion
One thing evident after the one-week study tour was that selecting South Africa as the destination was a good decision as the Ghanaian delegation, led by the Director of Water, had a lot to learn and share with their South African counterparts.
Ghana’s economy may not match that of South Africa, whereby government may decide to fund the entire sector. However, a lesson from South Africa is that water is a top priority due to the realisation that the resource is finite, the lack of which will disrupt their economy.

Ebenezer Senior High chalks 70

2012-01-09T04:57:00.001-08:00

Article: Naa Lamiley Bentil
IT takes one man with a vision to change the lives of a whole generation and one such person is the late Robert Teiko Aryee, founder of the Ebenezer Secondary School in Accra, which is now 70 years old.
For him establishing a school was neither for profit nor fame but to see that hundreds of young children in deprived areas in Accra had access to education, which was completely missing in the populous Ga communities.
The late Aryee who died at the age of 78 on October 14, 1980 received his education by sheer luck and, therefore had an ambition to help his people have access to education, hence his decision to establish the Ebenezer Secondary School in January 1941.
From a small room at the Timber Market in Accra, the late Aryee started operating the institution with four pupils.
Soon, his class sizes began to increase and it became necessary to look for a bigger place. One was found at Korle-Gonno but another challenge was that not all the pupils could follow him that far, as it was not easy to come by transportation at that time.
Recounting the incidents that led to the naming of the school as Ebenezer, one of the 10 children of the late Aryee, Mr Samuel Aryee, told the Daily Graphic that his father had the long cherished dream of establishing a school after working as a pupil teacher at the Accra Bishop Boys’ School, the English Church School at Larteh, Akwapim, the Methodist School, also at Larteh and as a headmaster of the Krobo Odumasi English Church School in 1935.
His dedication and sense of duty led to the Chief of Manya Krobo, Nene Azu Mate-Kole, to ask him to help establish a Presbyterian Secondary School at Odumase in 1938, which is now the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School, PRESEC, Legon.
He explained that whiles at the Presbyterian Secondary School at Odumase, his late father’s room was engulfed in flames during which he lost everything.
“Everything burnt including his Holy Bible. But the only page that survived was a page with the prominent word ‘Ebenezer’ staring him in the face,” Mr Aryee recounted.
By this incident the late Aryee decided to return to Accra to establish a school with the name Ebenezer.
The school started with a primary school section but was expanded to include a middle and a secondary school when a larger piece of land was secured at Mamprobi in Accra.
As fate would have it, the late Aryee got dedicated teachers some of whom included Messrs Teye and Addy who helped shape the foundation of the school.
Unfortunately, however, the late Aryee began experiencing challenges with his sight and lost it in 1955 but even in that state, records show that he taught mathematics until he was very old.
“With his failing site, the late Aryee agreed for the school to be assisted by the government in 1956 and retired prematurely and he was replaced by Mr C.E.A. Mattison, the first government-appointed headmaster.
Having laid the foundation for what he set out to achieve, the founder of the Ebenezer Secondary School passed on October 14, 1980.
He is dead but the school is very much alive, having a student population of 1,586 made up of 904 boys and 682 girls, 69 staff members and 33 non-teaching staff.
“It is gratifying to note that hundreds of the products of the school have gained admission to tertiary institutions and other places of higher learning, both in and outside this country,” the Headmistress of the school, Mrs Elizabeth Addo, stated.
Mrs Addo conceded that although the school had chalked up a number of successes, “we still have a lot more potential educationists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, to unlock”, she stated, adding that it was the responsibility of the school, like other training centres, to provide industry-focused human resource who would provide service to turn the nation’s economy around.
She commended the founder and the school’s leadership for the high standards, stating that the school had remained a school of choice during the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Even though the general infrastructure situation has improved with the construction of a Home Economics Department, a dormitory and an 18-unit classroom block by the Ghana Education Service (GES), Ebenezer Secondary School still has some challenges which require immediate attention to address.
Among these challenges, according to Mrs Addo, include the poor lighting of the school, especially with regard to the street lighting along the roads to ensure security at night.
“Staff accommodation is also a major challenge to us for which we need immediate assistance,” she stated.
Students of the Visual Arts Department also needed a block where they could effectively and comfortably work as they were currently painting under trees, Mrs Addo stated, and also appealed to the GES to help it reconstruct its broken fence to check miscreants entering the school who posed security risk.
Despite the challenges, Mrs Addo stated that the school was poised to provide the best teaching as its contribution to society and appealed to students to learn hard and stay away from trouble.

Work begins on Ablekuma-Pokuase road

2012-01-09T04:55:00.001-08:00

WORK on the reconstruction of the GH¢77-million Ablekuma-Pokuase road has begun in earnest.
The project is being executed by Messrs China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation, an international road construction company, and is being funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
President J. E. A. Mills in March this year cut the sod for work to begin on the project but it was not until November this year that China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation started work on the section two of the project, which stretches from Ablekuma to Pokuase.
China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation has already constructed two out of the nine major culverts on the 15-kilometre road, stretching from Pokuase to Ablekuma.
The Project Manager for China Railway Wuju (Group) Corporation, Mr Tien Ming, told the Daily Graphic during a site visit by the Project Coordinator from the Department of Urban Roads, Mr Akwasi Nuamah, that work was progressing steadily because they had not encountered any difficulties, explaining however that they were excavating several kilometres of the road to refill it with crushed rocks as those portions were clayey, which was not good for road construction.
“We have four swampy areas along the stretch and we are currently removing the bad materials to fill it with crushed rocks,” Mr Tien stated.
The contractor has engaged 150 local workers, including masons, carpenters and steel benders, in addition to 21 Chinese expected to help execute the job within the scheduled time.
Workers of Kurtson Electricals, a local company that has been contracted to relocate the Electricity Company of Ghana (EGC) pipelines, were also on site excavating the area where the pipelines would be relocated to.
The Ablekuma-Pokuase road project forms the section two of the Awoshie-Pokuase Road Project.
The Department of Urban Roads has just awarded the contract for the first section of the project, which starts from Awoshie to Anyaa, to China Jiangsi Economic Corporation Limited at a cost of 16 million Euros, which is being funded by the Agence Francais Developement (AFD).
The total cost of the execution of both sections one and two of the project and the community development programme is 99 million Euros.
The road, which serves hundreds of commuters in the growing municipality and beyond, is now in a deplorable condition, slowing down economic activities along the stretch.
It is, however, expected that the road would be turned into an asphalted three-carriageway in three years.
The Awoshie-Pokuase road project is also in line with the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to enhance regional integration and co-operation between Ghana and its neighbours by facilitating cross-border international traffic, as it would link Tema and Quagadougou.
Mr Nuamah stated that the project comprised of several components aimed at not only improving the road network in the Ga West and Ga South districts but also enhanced the livelihoods of residents in and around the area through the Community Development Programme, which was part of the project.
The Awoshie-Pokuase road is urgently required to improve mobility and accessibility to the rapidly developing north-western corridor of Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), Mr Nuamah stated.

Work progresses on Spintex Road project

2012-01-09T04:53:00.001-08:00

WORK on the GH¢38.5 million realignment of the Spintex Road and other traffic management projects in and around the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange is progressing steadily.
The work, being executed by Messrs Usuya Ghana Limited, a local road construction company, started in August 2009 and is expected to be completed in July this year.
The work realigns the Spintex Road from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange onto the Airport Bypass through the Polo Court.
After the completion of the project, traffic will be diverted from theTetteh-Quarshie Interchange, as motorists will turn towards the Polo Court where a dual carriageway is being constructed.
It is, therefore, expected to considerably ease vehicular congestion, since motorists on the Spintex Road will no longer have to drive through the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange when moving towards Accra, and vice versa.
Inspecting the project, the Accra Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, indicated that work was progressing on schedule and that based on the contractor’s pace, he was hopeful the project would be completed on time.
“The main purpose of this is to realign the Spintex Road behind the Shangri La Hotel and take about 70 per cent of the traffic on the Spintex Road off the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange onto the Airport Bypass,” he said.
He explained that the bypass, a dual carriageway which will connect motorists going towards the Spintex Road or moving from the Spintex Road towards the Kotoka International Airport and beyond, would now be extended to the Airport Roundabout to make the new road more effective at addressing the traffic congestion in that part of Accra.
The bailey bridge constructed with technical support from the Ghana Railway Authority and which will be above the road is nearly completed.
Meanwhile, at the time of the visit, work on the retaining walls and roadside drainage systems was ongoing.
There are also remedial works ongoing from the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange towards the Tema Motorway which will allow motorists moving from Accra west, such as Tesano, to drive straight to the Spintex Road without using the interchange.
All that work, Mr Awolu explained, was aimed at decongesting the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange for faster flow of vehicular traffic.
The Project Manager for Usuya, Mr Gideon Appiah Amankwah, told the Daily Graphic that the main initial challenge was flooding, since the area was waterlogged, and explained that the situation slowed down the pace of work.
“We have been working to meet the target during this dry season,” he stated.
Usuya Ghana Limited, as part of the project, also undertook the rehabilitation of 40 kilometres of Adjirigano roads, the Freetown Road and selected roads at East Legon, including the Amanda Hospital area roads, the Jungle Road, the Naa Atta Mlitse Road, the Pawpaw Road, and the Nii Sai Street.

Zoomlion partners UK for carbon trading-to reduce global warming

2012-01-09T04:50:00.001-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Durban, South Africa. Courtesy- British Council
ZOOMLION Ghana Limited is entering into partnership with the UK government to sell carbon to the UK under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) developed as part of measures to reduce global warming and its consequent devastation on the environment.
Ghana will be the first country in Africa to have entered into such an agreement when the deal is finally concluded and sealed on December 15, 2011 with the Standard Bank Group (SBG) of the UK, representing the UK government.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of the ongoing Conference of Parties (COP) 17 meeting organised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the leader of the Zoomlion delegation to the COP 17 meeting, Mr George Kwesi Rockson, explained that the CDM was introduced in 1992 but Ghana had not yet benefitted and this would be its very first project.
The 10-year contract, according to Mr Rockson, was to enable Zoomlion to sell approximately 60,000 tonnes of carbon to the UK annually.
The SBG’s carbon trading division has nine years’ experience on international climate financing mechanisms, such as the CDM, and operates within the primary and secondary carbon markets. It has the track record of having traded 95 million tonnes of carbon, with 20 million tonnes of carbon emissions abatement last year.
The CDM was introduced to allow countries that are unable to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to the required amount under the Kyoto Protocol due to high industrialisation to buy them from developing countries that emit less. By such an arrangement, such developed countries are expected to balance their emissions with those bought from the developing countries.
“Zoomlion is the first company to put Ghana on this leverage. We are extremely enthusiastic about this and highly optimistic about the prospects,” he stated.
Explaining further, Mr Rockson stated that the project would take off in January 2012 when its compost plant at Adjen Kotoku began operations.
The Adjen Kotoku Compost Plant is the first modern plant for Accra expected to convert 900 metric tonnes of solid waste (organic waste) daily into fertiliser to boost agriculture.
Currently, Accra is not benefitting from its 2,000 tonnes of solid waste generated daily as it is merely dumped in final disposal sites and illegally into major and minor drains, which often results in flooding due to the fact that the drains meant for waste water carry garbage instead.
It is, however, expected that once the compost plant begins its operations next year, the chunk of this solid waste will be diverted to the plant to turn it into useful commodities such as organic fertiliser, the carbon trading, among others.
Other members of the Zoomlion delegation were Mr Yao Kuma Edem, George Owusu Afriyie, Mrs Rhoda Donkor and Lyndon Sackey, all working under various departments of Zoomlion.
Mrs Donkor told the Daily Graphic that Zoomlion had been participating in the UNFCCC conference on climate change to explore more business opportunities in other African countries, as the company was currently in various projects and programmes directly related to climate change.
Currently, Zoomlion is operating in Angola, Liberia, among others, and with the participation of 195 countries, including those from Africa, the company found it necessary to market some of its services, which include Zoil (cleaning of beaches and coastline) and solid waste management.

Zoomlion to be purposeful in election year — Coleman

2012-01-09T04:48:00.001-08:00

AS the year draws to a close and another one beckons, the Head of Domestic Waste for Accra at Zoomlion, Mr Robert Coleman, has expressed the company’s determination to be more purposeful in 2012, which is an election year.
“With so many projects and programmes, Zoomlion is positioning itself to deliver in the coming year and improve on what it has achieved as a waste management company in the last years,” he stated.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Coleman indicated that the arrival of 700 trucks, for instance, would enhance solid waste collection across the country.
This year, President J.E.A. Mills officially opened the Accra Compost Plant at Adjen Kotoku, which is the first modern plant in the country to convert solid waste, especially organic waste, into compost and others such as plastics to more useful items to be sold to local and international plastic manufacturing companies.
Mr Coleman stated that sanitation was expected to improve significantly once the plant began full operation next year, as waste contractors would have another place to dump waste, in addition to the three final disposal sites, some of which are nearly full.
Accra was tagged above ‘average’ in sanitation during the just-ended United Nations conference on climate change in Durban.
Mr Coleman said the news was as refreshing as it was encouraging, explaining that Zoomlion would not be complacent but ensure that environmental cleanliness was maintained in its areas of operation next year.
One of the major pillars that the company would fall on to improve sanitation in the national capital was public education, he stated.
Zoomlion, Mr Coleman said, had initiated the move to acquire 700 trucks, out of which 180 had already arrived in the country, for improved solid waste collection.
“Next year, we also intend to be more aggressive with our mosquito-spraying programme in all the 11 sub-metropolitan areas to reduce the incidence of malaria in the metropolis,” he stated.
This year, some parts of the metropolis were hit by cholera, a condition caused by poor sanitation, and that situation, according to Mr Coleman, must be avoided
in the coming years.
“We cannot afford to have cholera in this day and age. We must simply avoid it and we all have a role to play,” he said.
Zoomlion had a responsibility to collect waste in designated areas and residents also had same in ensuring that their waste was disposed of properly, not into drains when the clouds gather and on our streets under the cover of darkness, he stressed.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) contracted Zoomlion to dredge the Odaw canal, which was found to have contributed significantly to the floods that hit Accra last month.
According to Mr Coleman, work was progressing steadily and “we are hopeful that with the efficient execution of the dredging, flooding will not recur”.

MIDA project to be completed on time

2012-01-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
CONTRACTORS working on the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange-Apenkwa and Apenkwa-Mallam Junction roads are working under urgency to beat the January 31, 2012 deadline required for the completion of the projects.
The projects are being executed under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact at the cost of $165 million.
The compact requires the two contractors, China Railway (Wuju) Group, working from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to Apenkwa, and MSF of Portugal from Apenkwa to Mallam Junction, to complete the works by the end of January this year and hand them over to the government next month.
Failure on the part of the construction companies to do so will put the country at the risk of losing the funds for the project to the US government, which is funding the project.
With barely three weeks to the deadline, however, MSF of Portugal which is constructing the Mallam Interchange has so far done 89 per cent of the work, putting pressure on the company to deliver the much-awaited roads expected to ease traffic congestion at that place.
According to the Infrastructure Project Manager in charge of Transportation and Agriculture, Mr John Bernard Koranteng Yorke, the China Railway (Wuju) Group had executed about 98 per cent of its project.
There are five loops forming the interchange at the Mallam Junction and, according to Mr Yorke, those loops were currently at various stages of completion.
Loop One is from Awoshie towards Kaneshie, Loop Two from Kasoa to Awoshie, Loop Three from Awoshie to Kasoa, Loop Four from Kaneshie to Awoshie and Loop Five leads to the Gbawe community.
Construction of the retaining walls for Loop Three is ongoing, in addition to pavement works on Loop Five.
Some members of the public expressed scepticism about the ability of MSF of Portugal to deliver the project on schedule, but Mr York told the Daily Graphic, “We hope that by January 31, this year the remaining 11 per cent of the works at the Mallam Interchange would be completed.”
He explained that executors of MIDA projects did not have any window of opportunity to renegotiate for additional time and so “we have taken concrete steps to ensure that the contractors finish the work within the compact period”.
One of such steps, he stated, was a special dispensation secured for the contractor in November last year which allowed him to clear his goods from the ports swiftly to facilitate the smooth execution of the job.
So far, the four foot bridges at Nii Boi Town, the Kata Hotel, Abrantie Spot and Kwashieman have been completed, except for the guard rails that are yet to be fixed.
Work from the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange to Apenkwa, Mr Yorke stated, was nearly completed.
“What is being done now is the installation of street lights, traffic signals and road furniture which include directional signs and road markings,” he said.
The Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange-Apenkwa and Apenkwa-Mallam Junction projects are part of the $547 million US funded MiDA projects aimed at improving various sectors of Ghana’s economy, including transportaion and agriculture.

Traffic congestion in Accra worsens

2012-01-09T04:40:00.003-08:00

Article: Naa Lamiley Bentil
IF there is one item on life’s daily menu that motorists in Accra will give anything to avoid, it’s the gridlock that has brought the city to its knees and threatens to cripple it. From dusk to dawn, the obstacle metallic congestion has not only reduced the pace of vehicular movement but is also bleeding productivity.
Imagine spending four hours on a journey that should at most take 30 minutes. It is simply a nightmare but that is the reality that most commuters experience on Accra’s major roads- Kaneshie-Mallam-Kasoa, Achimota-Ofankor and Legon-Madina-Adenta among others.
There appears to be a common lyric on the lips of these commuters - “Enough is enough” - but are compelled again and again to join the stagnant queue daily to and from their various destinations.
Transport experts have attributed the depressing vehicular congestion to an increase in vehicular population on the city’s already inadequate roads. There are an estimated 1.2 million vehicles in Ghana, 60 per cent in Accra alone, and with a total road network of 1,632 kilometres, 1,310 of which are tarred, Accra’s roads appear woefully inadequate as heavy traffic congestion characterises travelling on most roads within the national capital.
So far, the worst affected commuters are those on the Mallam-Kasoa Highway but their counterparts on the Spintex Road, Adenta and Achimota contend that the situation is no better on theirs.
“These days, I leave the house at 6 a.m. and gets to the office by 9:30 a.m. because I realised that leaving home as early as 3 a. m affected my health and performance in the office. I used to sleep in the office because I left home too early and returned too late,” a commuter on the Mallam-Kasoa Highway, Mr Gerald Mensah, told the Daily Graphic.
“My sister, it is not easy at all. As a mother, I wake up at 3 a.m. to prepare the kids so I can leave home by 5 a.m. but even that, I always fall into the traffic jam and for the fact that where I live is my own house, I would have moved out of that place,” Madam Comfort Okran stated.
Statistics made available by the Metropolitan Roads Department (MRD) of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) indicate that the Winneba Road (Mallam-Kasoa Highway) registers about 4,000 vehicles every hour during peak periods and it is currently considered the most congested road in Accra.
Similarly, the Achimota (Nsawam) road also records 4,100 vehicles every hour during peak hours of the morning and evening, followed by Adenta with 3,500 vehicles per hour. The Spintex Road, which is also considered congested, however, registers a vehicle population of 1,500 per hour followed closely by the High Street, located in the Central Business District of Accra, with 600 vehicles per hour.
“ For 10 days that I was in Namibia, I never saw traffic but I felt sorry when I got back yesterday (Wednesday 23, 2011) and found myself caught up right in the jam. It’s a very bad situation and we cannot take it for granted. The situation is very bad”, The Commander of the Motor, Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ag......??????? Awuni expressed his frustration during an interview with the Daily Graphic.
For him, the issue of ongoing construction works contributes to the problem but the reconditioning and creation of alternative routes to absorb some of the traffic on the main highways cannot be overlooked.
“So far the ongoing construction works on all our major roads is the major cause of the congestion but when alternative routes are opened by contractors working on such projects, it will help to ease the situation,” he stated.
ACP Awuni said there were currently 312 MTTU personnel managing the traffic flow, adding that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) had promised to release 300 more personnel to augment its number to reach more traffic-prone intersections.
He observed that the situation where some motorists, out of indiscipline, drove on the shoulders of the roads compounded the problem, stating that the MTTU had already taken steps to prosecute offenders and warned others to desist from the practice.
In trying to control the traffic congestion, Mr Awuni explained that the MTTU had targeted intersections with vehicular flow challenges for which the personnel were sometimes compelled to over-look the traffic lights to allow traffic to flow.
He advised residents to take extra measure to protect their lives and properties against criminals, who usually stepped up their operations during the Christmas festivities and added that although the MTTU would do its best to help motorists, they also ought to play their role to make the work easy.

ECOWAS funds redesigning of Tema-Ashaiman roundabouts

2012-01-09T04:28:00.001-08:00

Story: NaaLamileyBentil
THE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has made available to the Ministry of Roads and Highways $2 million dollars for the design of a three-tier interchange on the Tema Motorway and Ashaiman roundabouts.
The redesigning of the two roundabouts has become necessary as their current capacities have been exceeded, creating traffic congestion in and around the two roundabouts.
Mr Gidisu, who stated this at the meet-the-press in Accra yesterday, also indicated that the current vehicular pressure around the two roundabouts was a source of worry to many motorists as they were often caught up in heavy congestion, leading to delays.
He said the money for the project covered feasibility studies and design of the road from Nkwanta to Yendi and part of the Eastern Corridor Roads, which had already been done.
As part of measures to increase revenue for the Ghana Road Fund, Mr Gidisu also announced that the number of toll booths would be increased on selected trunk roads.
He explained, however, that some temporary toll booths had already been placed on the Abuakwa-Bibiani-Sefwi-Benkyema Junction section at the Benkyema Police Barrier, the Accra-Cape Coast-Takoradi-Elubo road corridor at Moree Police Barrier and another one on the Accra-Kumasi road.
The others are located on the Kumasi-Techiman-Kintampo-Tamale-Paga corridor at New Offinso and the Techiman-Wenchi-Wa-Hamile road at Sawla.
Mr Gidisu stated that exemption of tolls covered vehicles of the Ghana Police Service, Army, Prisons Service, Ghana National Fire Service, the Red Cross Organisation, the government, mission ambulances, and diplomatic missions and not staff members of such organisations.
He consequently warned against non-payment of tolls, stressing that “ the penalty for non-payment of toll is 100 times the actual toll rate and motorists must therefore pay at all times”.
The Ghana Road Fund was established in 1985 to provide a secure source of funding for the preservation of the nation’s road network.
The various road agencies — the Department of Urban Roads, the Ghana Highway Authority, the Department of Feeder Roads — had budgeted a total amount of GH¢326 million this year to undertake major and minor rehabilitation road projects, but the road fund was only able to allocate GH¢94 million to the three agencies leaving a gap of GH¢232 million.
“This shortfall, which is significant, and the ever-expanding network, are hindering efforts at providing adequate maintenance for the road network,” he stated.

Effort to deal with Pirated Textiles

2010-08-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A 16-member multi-sectoral task force charged with the responsibility for seizing and burning pirated textiles on the Ghanaian market has been inaugurated in Accra by the Minister of Trade and Industry, (MOTI), Ms Hannah Tetteh.
The influx of cheap textile products into the country has contributed significantly to the collapse of many local textile producing companies and further threatens to bring down the few existing ones.
The task force will be expected to visit the various markets in Accra and impound all pirated textiles being offered for sale in a bid to discourage traders from engaging in the illegal activity.
The committee is chaired by the acting Director of the Import and Export Division of the MOTI, Mr Appiah Donyina. It has representatives from the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, (AMA), the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Standards Board.
The rest are from the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries, GTMC, Printex, Importers of Textile and Distributors Association, the Textile and Clothing Industry in Ghana, (TGLEU), ATL and the Tex-Styles Ghana Limited.
Ms Tetteh, in her inaugural address, cautioned members of the task force against divulging information on its activities to non-members.
She stressed the need for confidentiality, saying that “if the information is leaked, then people will take steps to avoid the task force. Members whose actions will undermine the work of the task force will face the consequences,” she warned.
“These are stolen intellectual properties of Ghanaians and that is why we want to make the punishment stiffer. We will burn them to serve as a deterrent to others who deal in such illegal textiles,” she stated.
Administering the oath of office and secrecy on members of the committee, Ms Tetteh said the pirating of Ghanaian textiles by foreign companies affected not just textile companies but also cotton farmers and a chain of others who dealt directly or indirectly in textiles.
Mr Donyina accepted the challenge and pledged the commitment of the task force to reduce the incidence of pirated textiles and ensure that dealers were brought to book.
“ We see this as a national exercise and we will do our best. Our results will show our commitment to this programme, ” he stated.
Earlier, Mr Donyina and the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, had met with textile dealers and producers to warn them of the impending exercise.

Achieving MDGs on water and sanitation-dev. to provide toilet in homes

2010-08-12T04:31:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SPEAKERS at a sanitation and water forum have made a strong case for developers to include places of convenience in their building plans to fast track the nation’s efforts at achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on sanitation.
The participants maintained that metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) must ensure that all emerging buildings contained toilet facilities, since they were basic and necessary amenities, while efforts were made to upgrade those in existing structures.
The MDGs require that the country covers half the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.
However, a director at the Sanitation Directorate of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Naa Demedeme Lenason, has said “Ghana is off track in achieving these goals”.
In a presentation to more than 100 participants on the second day of the 21st Mole Conference in Accra, Naa Demedeme explained that progress being made in the sector was inadequate to meet the MDG target and that players must double their efforts at improving the situation.
The Mole Conference is an annual programme which brings players in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) together to deliberate on issues affecting the sector, with the hope of charting a new approach for a more efficient and equitable sanitation provision.
This year’s conference is on the theme: “The Global Climate Change: A challenge for the WASH sector in Ghana”.
Access to basic sanitation facilities, such as places of convenience, is a luxury to many, including urban dwellers, who are compelled to join long queues on a daily basis in order to attend to the call of nature, creating a situation of open defecation, popularly referred to as ‘free range’ along the beaches and in bushes.
Naa Demedeme stated that 26 per cent of Ghanaians today relied on pan latrines which had been described as dehumanising and had, therefore, been banned by the Supreme Court.
Ghana's sanitation challenges go beyond the provision of places of convenience and sanitary sites.
Indeed, the national average for sewage coverage, according to Naa Demedeme, was as low as 4.5 per cent.
Tema and, to a limited extent, Accra are the only municipalities with a sewerage system. Only seven out of the 44 sewerage treatment plants in Ghana work.
Touching on the effects of climate change on environmental sanitation, Naa Demedeme observed that flooding and heavy rainfall might lead to the contamination of water bodies with chemicals, heavy metals or other hazardous substances, either from land fills or chemicals such as pesticides already in the environment.
“Flooding of land fills may furthermore result in the breakdown of leachate collection systems and control systems for greenhouse gases,” he stated.

KOSMOS faces fine

2010-08-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
the government has imposed an unspecified penalty on Kosmos Energy, an international oil and gas exploration and production company, as compensation for an oil spillage in the Jubilee Fields in the Western Region.
The six-member committee tasked to investigate the spillage, which occurred in December 2009 and May this year, during which more than 698 barrels of low toxicity oil-based mud was spilled, attributed the incident to negligence on the part of Kosmos Energy.
"Management lapses, coupled with negligence on the part of Kosmos Energy, were responsible for the Aban Abraham incident," the committee stated.
It further explained that the first Atwood Hunter incident occurred because Kosmos deferred its preventive maintenance schedule.
"Kosmos Energy is liable, as due care was not taken to avoid such a huge discharge at this early stage of the commercial drilling in Ghana,” it added.
The committee, however, did not disclose the nature of the penalty, nor the amount involved.
Presenting a copy of the findings to the Minister of Environment and Science, Ms Sherry Aryittey, the Chairman of the committee, Dr Edward Omane Boama, stated that after four months of investigations into the cause of the spillage, it concluded that Kosmos was responsible for the incident.
Following a series of spillage by Kosmos Energy, Ms Aryittey constituted a committee, chaired by her deputy, Dr Omane, to determine the possible cause of the spillage and appropriate sanctions.
Members of the committee included officials from the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice.
Others were from the Ghana Environmental Conventions Co-ordinating Authority.
Ms Aryittey said she would study the report and determine the next line of action.

Water begins to flow in western Western

2010-08-12T04:26:00.001-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
TAPS have started flowing in the Western part of Accra, after five days of acute water shortage.
“The Weija Treatment Plant has begun full scale production and taps in all households in the affected communities should be flowing by now”, the Communications Director of Aqua Vitens Rand Limited, Mr Stanley Martey, said in an interview to explain the water shortage in parts of Accra.
Severe water shortage hit communities such as Dansoman, Mamprobi, Banana Inn, Korle-Bu, Achimota, Tesano, Adabraka, Alajo among others.
For almost a week, taps did not flow in those areas, compelling residents to travel long distances in search of the scarce commodity.
Most residents described the situation as a crisis, having to depend largely on sachet water for their domestic chores such as cooking, washing and even bathing.
Madam Agnes Appiah of Banana Inn said her tap stopped flowing more than a week ago and had to depend on the little she had stored for about two days.
“Ever since, I have been buying sachet water for almost every domestic chore in this house,” she complained and appealed to the Ghana Water Company to rectify whatever problem was causing the shortage.
“We are hoping that with the work done so far, there should not be any unfortunate situation, ” Mr Martey stated.
He explained that the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had to shut down its Weija Treatment Plant to enable it complete the installation of a 36-inch pipeline on the motorway extension.
Mr Martey stated that the existing 36-inch pipeline had to be replaced for a more efficient service delivery to residents in the national capital, Accra.
Actual works on the installation started about three months ago, he stated and added that the company needed about four days to complete concrete works for the installation.
“The concrete work took longer to dry than we expected,” he stated and explained that it was very important for the company to allow the concrete to dry adequately.

Confusion at Odawna

2010-08-12T04:25:00.001-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
DIVISIONS within some traders’ associations in the national capital are said to be affecting business at the newly opened Odawna Shopping Mall near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
From afar, all may seem well but underneath the smiles and beckons of traders to prospective clients are volatile undercurrents that are threatening the peace and prosperity of the three-month old market. Scores of women selling all manner of foodstuffs are now in brisk business at the new market.
These undercurrents allegedly crept into the market prior to the relocation of the traders from the Novotel Park in Accra to their present location recently and seem powerful enough to collapse the original Odawna market built by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for the displaced hawkers.
A few of the traders left in the rather ghost market have warned that they will move out if their leaders failed to address the situation.
A cursory look into the main market showed empty stalls which were hitherto occupied by some traders but who have had to move outside for lack of patronage.
“I am losing my capital because patronage is very poor and that is why some of my colleagues have moved out to sell outside,” a trader commented.
“We were very hopeful when we moved into this market but this outside market has eroded any hopes we had in growing our business because our customers prefer to just buy outside,” another trader stated.
At the time of the visit, a visibly agitated trader who complained of poor patronage of her wares, said: “Nothing will stop me from bringing my table outside tomorrow. Even if I have to sell in front of the main gate, I will.”
Some observers, including traders, have described the recent impasse between some members of the associations as volatile; one that requires the immediate attention of the city authorities to resolve before it degenerates into violent clashes amongst the groups.
There are now three different groups at the Odawna market: The Odawna Novotel Market Association (the mother association), which now seems weak as its traders clamour unsuccessfully for patronage in the main market.
The Millennium Foodstuffs Traders Association, which is gaining grounds, partly due to its strategic location which is outside the main market and Peace Market, whose leadership said they were determined to tow an independent line, not wanting to be caught in between the two warring associations.
As the situation stands now, the AMA is also losing a quantum of revenue as it is unable to collect daily tolls from the few traders left in the main market.
Consequently, the assembly has set up a nine-member market management committee to help in resolving the challenges in all the 30 recognised markets in the metropolis, including the Odawna market.
According to the Chairman of the committee, Mr Albert Amenku, traders of the Millennium market have occupied an area which was designated as an offloading bay for the main market, a situation which has further aggravated agitation between the two associations.
The Odawna foodstuffs market was built to accommodate some 1,490 traders but as it is now, the market now hosts an unconfirmed 3,000 traders, creating congestion.
“What we intend to do now is to demarcate the area for the loading bay so that the trucks carrying foodstuffs from various parts of the country can have somewhere to conveniently offload these foodstuffs,” he stated.
The Assembly Member for North Adabraka, Mohammed Norgah, expressed worry about the prevailing situation but said the assembly was taking steps to resolve the matter.
He attributed the confusion to the Millennium Foodstuffs Traders Association’s forceful occupation of the offloading bay which was meant for the Odawna Novotel Market Association.
The President of the Millennium Foodstuffs Traders Association, Ms Rita Adjeley Adjei, discounted claims that they had occupied an area meant for an offloading bay, alleging that that portion of Odawna was given to them by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Madam Valerie Sawyer.
She further explained that they were part of the traders selling at the Novotel market but had to breakaway due to what she described as financial misunderstanding with their former leadership.
The president of the Odawna Novotel Market Association was not available to comment on these allegations when the Daily Graphic visited the market on Thursday. A few of the executives were available though but insisted on their president speaking instead.

Rehabilitation works begins on Dansoman Highway

2010-08-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

Story and picture: Naa Lamiley Bentil
WORK on the rehabilitation of the Dansoman highway has begun with new designs to turn the deplorable single lane road into a dual carriage with lay-bys, walkways and medians.
Three traffic lights would also be provided at the Shell Filling Station, Alpha Beta and Mama’s Inn intersections to improve road safety on the corridor.
The work, being undertaken by the progressive Modern Construction (PMC) begins from the Exhibition to the Keepfit roundabout.
The construction of the 2.5 kilometres highway under the Accra Emergency Road Project by the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has been divided into three phases and it is scheduled to be completed by January 2011.
The contractor has, consequently, began working on the first 500 metres which begins from the Exhibition roundabout to the Shell Filling Station, just before the Dansoman Police Station.
In a routine inspection of the project, the Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, expressed satisfaction with the pace of work.
Workers of PMC, at the time of the visit, were busily excavating the old drain to pave the way for the widening of the road.
Dansoman is arguably one of the biggest estate in Ghana with a growing population and increasing commercial activities.
The estate, built decades ago, has seen enormous rise in population as well as commerce. Most banks in the country now have a branch within this community, attracting scores of people in and around Accra to Dansoman on daily basis.
The rehabilitation of the road, according to Mr Awolu, is to improve on the commercial activities of the area and give comfort to motorists who have hitherto had to drive through the numerous pot holes and sometimes “manholes” to and from their destination on the highway, a situation which most residents, especially motorists, found uncomfortable.
As the situation stands now, most of the shops dotted along the highway will lose their parking space since their existing parking lots are in the road reservation.
There are three transformers located near the Total Filling Station, Mr Bigs and the Alpha Beta School which would have to be relocated but “ fortunately the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is cooperating and personnel have already visited the site to assess the amount of money that would be required for the relocation,” he stated.
With regard to water, Mr Awolu said the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) had also sent one of its personnel to assist in the interconnection of its pipelines.”
To facilitate the smooth completion of the first 500 metres, traffic has been diverted and motorists from the Keep Fit roundabout will make a detour from the Goil Filling Station, using the road behind the Dansoman market to the Exhibition roundabout and vice versa.
The Executive Director of PMC, Alhaji Abdallah Ahmed-Abdallah, appealed to motorists to comply with the road diversions to give unimpeded access to its personnel for a smooth construction work.
He explained that most times, motorists found their way into the section of road under construction; “a situation which is very dangerous since heavy duty equipment are working.”
He expressed the hope that the ECG transformers would be relocated on time to facilitate the early completion of the project.
Some residents, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, expressed their appreciation to the government for the project.
“We are very happy that our road has finally been considered for rehabilitation,” Mrs Adjoa Mends stated.
She, however, expressed concern that no work was taken place on the road that spans from the Exhibition roundabout to the Dansoman Last stop which was in an equally bad condition.

AMA begins construction of 42 water-closets

2010-08-12T04:19:00.001-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SIXTEEN contractors have been engaged by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to provide 42, 20-seater water closet toilet facilities in all the 11 sub-metros of the national capital, to help ease the pressure on the rather inadequate places of convenience in the city.
The construction work, which is under the Accra Sewage Improvement Works, is scheduled to begin this month, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Consequently, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, assisted by the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasah Namoale, and the La Mantse, Nii Tetteh Kpobi Tsuru has cut the sod for work to commence.
Obaakwaa Enterprise Limited, the contractor scheduled to work on the construction of the three 21-seater places of convenience at La, where the sod-cutting ceremony took place has given the assurance that the work will begin in earnest on August 2, 2010 and will be completed in November.
One 20-seater place of convenience is estimated to cost GH¢300,000.
Places of convenience, though a basic facility, are inaccessible to most people in the metropolis, and some of them therefore, attend to the call of nature along the beaches, scrubs and bushes, a situation which is worsening the city’s environmental woes.
It is expected that after the completion of the 42 facilities, the incidence of long queues by residents to attend to nature’s call in several parts of the city, especially the densely populated areas, will ease.
Mr Vanderpuije urged landlords, shops and other commercial entities to make provision for places of convenience a priority since it was a basic right.
“We are looking at a highly hygienically managed facility to meet the health needs of the people, ” the metro chief executive said.
He deplored the practice where places of convenience were converted into bedrooms and urged such landlords to desist from that as they would be dealt with severely when caught.
Nii Amasah Naomoale, who is also the Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon, recounted the struggle that they had to go through in order to secure land for the construction of the facility.
Nii kpobi Tsuru urged the assembly to carry on with its decongestion and demolition exercises, stressing that buildings on watercourses and other illegal areas must be pulled down for public safety and beautification.
“The way and manner in which buildings are springing up is unacceptable”, he stated.

Pix on Metro Pix (Desktop) as Sod-cutting.

Cap. The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije ( middle) assisted by the La Mantse, Nii Tetteh Kpobi Tsuru, ( in cloth) and the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Nii Amasa Namoale ( 2nd from left) cutting the sod for work to begin.

Relocation of Novotel Market fail to boost trading at Odawna

2010-08-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

Story and Picture: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE relocation of the Novotel foodstuff market to the Odawna Pedestrian shopping mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle has failed to boost trading activities in the four-year-old shopping mall as expected.
Many traders in the rather ‘ghost’ market expected business activities to improve significantly once the relocation exercise was completed.
More than three months after the relocation, about 3,000 stalls, located near the Sahara Park have remained empty, a situation which the traders described as very disappointing.
Ironically, these stalls were constructed by traders themselves after securing space leased to them by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at a cost of GH¢250 following the completion of the mall in 2006.
Since the inception of the market, trading activities have been concentrated around the Ghana Commercial Bank area, which is closer to the main Kwame Nkrumah Circle road and consequently attracts scores of patrons to that section.
The Pedestrian Shopping Mall was constructed by the AMA for displaced hawkers and petty traders in the assembly’s 2005 decongestion exercise of the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Kaneshie.
As the situation stands now, most of these traders are plying their trade around the CMB area, Katamanto, CBD, Kaneshie and other commercial centres in the metropolis.
The market, the first of its kind, boasts of adequate places of convenience, urinals and a lorry park.
Madam Agnes Bonsu, a textile trader told the Daily Graphic that until steps were taken by the AMA to ensure that all those who acquired spaces at the mall came to occupy, “ the situation will remain the same”.
“We are happy here. Our only challenge is that patronage is too low”, she stated.
“We had hoped that our colleagues will join us to boost our business once the Novotel park foodstuff market is here”, another trader, Silas Mensah stated.
“I have heard that the AMA is planning to re-allocate the stalls to other people, I think it will be the best thing to do,” he said.
“ I believe that the inactivity in the mall is also causing a huge revenue loss to the AMA, ” he further stated.

pix on the Metro Desktop (Metro pix) as empty stall and empty stall 1

Caption: Some of the empty stalls at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra.

Sanitation blue-Residents concern-Action Underway-AMA

2010-08-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Spread of Friday August 6,2010
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A MAJOR sanitation crisis looms in Accra as some waste management companies engaged by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) under its new Fee and Performance Based Solid Waste Collection Services are struggling to cope with garbage collection in the metropolis.
Refuse containers at the central business district of Accra and Kaneshie, as well as other densely populated areas, are overflowing with garbage, creating an unsightly scene and endangering public health.
Some pedestrian walkways and lay-bys on roads in the city are dotted with garbage wrapped in polythene bags and other waste containers.
Barely two months into the introduction of the new system under which the AMA has contracted the waste management companies to work in specific areas, some of the contractors are complaining that the shift was too harsh, unsustainable and not conducive for business.
Consequently, overflowing skips, as well as incidents of indiscriminate dumping of garbage along the city’s roads, have become a common practice among residents, some of whom claim they have not been registered by their solid waste service providers and are, therefore, not being served.
The AMA has to rely on the services of Zoomlion Company Limited to evacuate heaps of garbage within the Ablekuma South, Ablekuma North, Okaikoi South, Okaikoi North, La and Osu Klottey Sub-Metros recently.
The Domestic Waste Manager of Zoomlion, Mr Robert Coleman, told the Daily Graphic that a few weeks into the new waste management system, Zoomlion was engaged by the AMA to evacuate overflowing containers at Agbogbloshie Galoway, Mudor, Mamprobi, Odorkor market, Dakuman Cable and Wireless, among other areas.
These areas, he said, were not under Zoomlion’s jurisdiction, adding that the AMA had restricted them to the Ayawaso West, Ayawaso Central and Ablekuma Central Sub-Metros.
The city’s sanitation woes are further compounded by the growing number of “Kaya Bola” boys (itinerant refuse collectors who cart garbage from homes, offices and shops to central container sites) who sometimes dump the refuge at unapproved places.
Over the years, shop owners and even some residents have had to depend on these "Kaya Bola" boys who transport their garbage to the central container sites at a fee.
The trade, although lucrative for these boys, as some charge between GH¢1 and GH¢2 depending on the volume of garbage, is now a major headache to city authorities.
"These boys collect the money and instead of dumping the garbage at the container sites, they just dump them anywhere, especially at night, so they do not have to pay at the container site," the Head of Waste at the AMA, Mr Andrew Kpodo, complained to the Daily Graphic.
Areas worse affected are Ashiedu Keteke, Ablekuma South and Ayawaso East Sub-Metros.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, conceded that there were challenges with solid waste management in those areas and that the AMA was doing its best to improve on the situation.
In an interview, Mr Vanderpuije acknowledged that waste management companies did face some challlenges in the discharge of their duties “but that should not be an excuse for them not to perform”.
Some operators, however, maintained that the new waste management system was responsible for the current insanitary conditions prevailing in parts of the capital and that the AMA must review some of the conditions, which included adjusting dumping fees of a ton of garbage from GH¢1.20 p to GH¢12 per ton.
“One 23 cubic metre refuse container can load about 12 tons and this means that we are paying about GH¢144 for dumping the garbage at the landfill site alone. The cost of lifting one 23 cubic metre container is now GH¢185,” an official of J. Stanley Owusu told the Daily Graphic.
Currently, the AMA does not have a disposal site of its own. The management of these sites is now in the hands of three solid waste companies, namely, J. Stanley Owusu (located at Ablekuma), Meskworld (Anyaa) and Zoomlion (Saba at Gbawe).
The official of J. Stanley Owusu said it was not prudent for the AMA to offload all its waste managment financial obligation on the contractors, adding that “this could have been done gradually while residents were educated to adjust to the new system”.
He said the company had so far registered about 4,000 households out of a population of about 7,000 households. “We have purchased 400 litter bins for distribution to our clients. One litter bin costs GH150,” he stated.
According to him, it would be very difficult to operate in the low-income areas, such as Avenor and Alajo, because “with just GH¢3.30p, we just cannot recover our cost of haulage”.
An Executive Member of the Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA) who shared some perspectives on the issue on condition of anonymity, expressed misgivings about the new management system.
The AMA on Tuesday, June 1, 2010, introduced a new waste management system to relieve it of any obligation in the payment of fees to solid waste contractors.
According to the Head of Waste of the AMA, Mr Anderson Blay, the assembly spent GH¢1 million every month to manage solid waste.
Under the new system, residents are now required to register with the waste management company that has been assigned to their communities to whom they will pay a fee approved by the AMA.
Mrs Martha Janey, a resident at Mamprobi, said no company had so far come to register her although she believed the new system was good if the contractors would stick to their schedule of lifting their litter bins.
"There was a time when our litter bins overflowed because the service provider (name withheld) did not lift it regularly.
Instead of once a week, they were coming almost once every two weeks," she stated.
Many contractors, however, indicated that they were faced with resistance from some residents because they were used to dumping their garbage free of charge.
Residents in densely populated but low-income earning areas, such as Maamobi, Nima, Luga, James Town, Bukom, Ayalolo, Banana Inn, Russia and Chorkor, will be required to pay a monthly fee of GH¢3.30p.
Those in the middle-income areas, such as Adabraka, Asylum Down, Tesano, Abeka, Fadama, Apenkwa and Abelenkpe, will pay GH¢9, while those in areas tagged as first class, such as Dzorwulu, Airport Residential Area, East Legon, Ridge and Lartebiokorshie, will pay GH¢14 every month.
The contractors involved are Yafuru, Almanuel and Catrol, Aryeetey Brothers Company Limited, Asadu Royal Waste Limited, Dabeng Cleansing Limited, J. Stanley Owusu and Company Limited, Jekora Ventures, Lib Waste Limited, Meskworld and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
Solid waste experts indicate that the nation’s environmental sanitation challenges can best be managed with the introduction of a sanitation fund, which will require that resources were pooled from various sources to support the sector.

Use of pan latrines outlawed in Accra

2010-01-19T05:57:00.001-08:00

Back page of Jan 6, 2009

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says effective January 1, this year, the use of pan latrines in the metropolis has been outlawed.
Consequently the assembly has warned that it will begin prosecuting offenders, since it has given enough public education for residents to convert their facilities to approved ones.
The move is part of attempts to comply with a Supreme Court order which directed the assembly to completely phase out the use of the pan latrines in the metropolis by 2010.
It has been two years since the Supreme Court ordered the assembly to stop the use of the facility across the national capital due to its environmental and health implications. But the AMA admits that by the January 1, 2010 deadline as many as 5,294 households are still using this type of facility.
A coalition of some human rights organisations took the issue to the court, arguing that the carrying of human excreta in containers by human beings was a violation of their human rights, based on which the Supreme Court ruled that the assembly should phase out the facility, beginning this year.
Statistics made available by the Metropolitan Public Health Department of the AMA indicated that 5,002 residences, three industrial and 243 hospitality joints, as well as 46 schools in various parts of the city, were still using the pan latrines as of last year.
It further revealed that 70 per cent of residents in the metropolis did not have access to their own places of convenience and, therefore, relied on public ones including the pan latrine facilities to attend to the call of nature, a situation which made a complete phaseout of the facility by the deadline, unattainable.
Those who are unable to endure the long queues find their way to the beaches and bushes to engage in “free range”, a practice which is common along the coast and also comes with dire environmental implications.
According to the Director of Metro Public Health, Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, pan latrines were being used all across the city though very common at areas such as Nima, Avenor, La, Nii Boi Town and Lapaz.
“Insignificant numbers of the facility can also be found in all the eleven sub-metros of the AMA,” he said.
In the Ablekuma North sub-metro alone, a total of 50 households were still using the facility, he said.
The use of the facility, according to Dr Anim Boateng, was against the AMA bye-law and gave the assurance that the AMA would begin prosecuting offenders, since it had given enough public education for residents to convert their facilities to approved ones.
Aside the Supreme Court order, the Head of Environmental Protection and Standard Enforcement, Mr Daniel Kofi Opare, also explained that under the Ghana Environmental Sanitation Policy, all pan latrines nationwide are expected to be phased out this year.
Under the Urban Environmental Service Project (UESP), there are interventions for households who wish to convert their pan latrines to approved facilities.

BRT will benefit existing transport operators- DUR assures

2010-01-19T05:14:00.000-08:00

Metro page of Fri. Jan. 15, 2010
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has called on the nation’s transport unions to support Ghana’s implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as they would benefit immensely once the scheme became operational.
The Project Manager, Mr Odarteye Lanquaye, called for the support at a meeting with some members of the 35-member delegation that visited Lagos recently to understudy its BRT scheme.
According to him, the DUR did not intend to take anyone’s job away from him. “ What we rather hope to do is to improve the lives of these commercial drivers through a better mass transportation system which is faster and cheaper”, he said.
“We need the operators to be part of this project; it is you the existing operators that we will use”, he assured the delegation.
Mr Lanquaye, who is also a Deputy Director, Planning and Development at the DUR, explained that the DUR was not going to recruit other people to operate the BRT.
A slogan “Today’s operator, tomorrow’s operator” has been couched by the DUR to reassure the existing unions that the BRT is not meant to drive them out of business.
Ghana has received $95 million from various stakeholders to undertake a comprehensive Urban Transport Project (UTP) in Accra, Kumasi
The BRT is a component of the project under which dedicated lanes would be created on the selected routes in the project areas for the BRT buses.
The Chairman for the Odorkor branch of the GPRTU, Mr John Kwesi Ortsin, described the BRT as a laudable idea but said there was the need for more consultations and dialogue with the existing public transport unions in order to make the project a success.
According to him, existing transport owners must be given a level ground to compete favourably with BRT service as exists in Lagos, Nigeria.
In Lagos, for instance, the commercial public transport operators are not restricted to any road but compete on the same roads with the BRT except that they are allowed to use only the service lanes whilst the BRT buses pilot on the dedicated routes.
Commuters are, however, given the alternative to choose whichever means of transportation they desire.

Keep Accra clean-Vanderpuije

2010-01-19T05:11:00.000-08:00

Metro page of Mon. Jan. 4,2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
Keep Accra Clean- Vanderpuije
A clean and healthy Accra awaits the world’s renowned Development Economist, Dr Jeffrey Sachs, who is expected in the country next week to give meaning to Accra’s adoption as a Millennium City.
To ensure that this happens, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, at a meeting tasked heads of the 11 sub-metros to ensure that their areas of jurisdiction remained clean during and after the visit of Dr Sachs and his team.
The AMA is partnering the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the United States to address some of Accra’s urban and environmental challenges.
Dr Sachs is leading researchers and scientists from the Columbia University to Ghana next week to identify practical solutions to some of the most pressing problems and challenges facing the city of Accra.
Activities scheduled for the programme include a courtesy call on President John Evans Atta Mills, meeting with officials of the AMA, a jamboree, durbar for proclamation and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a tour of the city of Accra.
Dr Sachs and his team of experts are expected among other things to examine the prevailing conditions in the capital and design ways to modernise it and as the name suggests bring it to the standard of a millennium city.
Currently, Accra is faced with poor infrastructure in the area of education, health and roads among others and according to Mr Vanderpuije, these would be some of the areas where Dr Sachs would focus on.
Accra’s problem, however, also extends to challenges in waste management and human and vehicular congestion.
These challenges notwithstanding, Dr Sachs is expected to declare the nation’s capital a millennium city on January 15, 2010 and hopefully set it on the path to recovery of former glory through “The New Accra for a Better Ghana” campaign.

New waste management programme for Accra

2010-01-19T05:10:00.000-08:00

Metro page of Jan.4, 2009

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will begin a new waste management programme on January 15, this year in an effort to better manage the estimated 2,000 metric tonnes of garbage generated daily in the metropolis.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, who made this known at the first meeting with newly elected sub-metro chairpersons, explained that the move was part of efforts to implement the Waste-to-energy concept to be executed by Environmental Waste Solutions (EWS).
Under the programme, new refuse contractors will be assigned to specific areas for a probationary period of three months, after which the programme will be reviewed.
According to him, the successful implementation of the Waste-to-energy concept will save the AMA hundreds of Ghana cedis which it sunk into paying private waste contractors who transported the waste to the final disposal sites.
Currently, the AMA, he stated, owed the 14 waste contractors GH¢ 10 million but if the assembly was able to ensure the successful implementation of the concept, that amount could be channelled into other development projects and programmes.
The new contractors, he explained, would operate on the of Pay-As-You-Dump basis; a concept which works like the Polluter-Pays Principle where residents pay before they are allowed to dump their solid waste at communal sanitary sites.
The AMA, he said, was keen in ensuring that the concept, which is operated in other parts of the world, successful in Accra.
Mr Vanderpuije further explained that the Waste-to-energy concept itself would begin in four months time with the construction of the plant at the old Teshie Composite Site which would take nine months to be completed.
“The AMA will benefit immensely from this project because EWS, under our agreement, is expected to provide all the needed equipment and finance for the project”, he stated.
Some officials of the EWS and their financiers were present at the meeting to enable them be introduced to the newly elected chairpersons since they would be working closely for the successful implementation of the Waste-to-energy concept.
Mr Vanderpuije urged members of the assembly to support the programmes lined up for the New Accra concept in order to transform the national capital into a modern city befitting its status; gateway to Africa.
He urged the sub-metro chairpersons to work at the grass roots level to enable the people to accept with the vision and mission of the AMA for a faster development of the capital.
“We are committed to ensuring that development is brought to the doorsteps of all residents in the metropolis”, he stated, and added that illegal structures such as containers and kiosks were sometimes erected with the connivance of some members of the assembly.
“But this has to change and because you have been part of the problem, you must also be part of the solution”, he said.
Touching on education, Mr Vanderpuije gave the assurance that the AMA was taking steps to eliminate the shift system by September this year.
“This will happen with no excuse”, he stated.
An estimated 71,000 schoolchildren in the public schools are currently in this system, which Mr Vanderpuije said did not facilitate sound academic work.
He said by October this year, the assembly’s revenue went up to 64 per cent more than the previous year’s of less than 40 per cent. “Our goal this year is to shoot it to 90 per cent’, he stated.

Koajay determined to keep hawkers away- From Achimota Terminal

2010-01-19T05:08:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Jan. 19,2010 on metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
The Management of the Achimota Terminal, Koajay Company Limited, says it is determined to keep the GH¢1.2 million terminal in a good condition and conform to international standards, hence its resolve to keep hawkers and petty traders at bay.
Reacting to allegations that hawkers and petty traders had besieged the terminal, the administrator, Nana Tufuor Antwi, discounted those allegations, stressing “ we will never allow hawkers and petty traders to sell here. We want to ensure best practices in the management of this terminal”, he stated.
He explained that such a move would only plunge the terminal into filth, as prevails in other places in the capital.
That decision notwithstanding, a satellite market has developed around the terminal where petty traders and hawkers sell all manner of items.
Nana Tufuor Antwi, however, explained that they did not have the mandate to stop the development of the market around the terminal since their responsibility was limited only to the main terminal and its entrance.
Virtually all the lorry stations in the Accra Metropolis such as 37, Tema Station, Neoplan, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Aflao Station, Kaneshie and Odawna have been turned into markets where traders and drivers compete for space.
Beside the congestion that this creates, managers of these stations are unable to keep the stations tidy and people litter indiscriminately.
“This is the kind of situation that we want to avoid; we have to keep the hawkers away in order to keep this place clean”, he stressed.
Nana Tuffour Antwi said management was keen in ensuring that a sound sanitation and security prevailed in the terminal.
The 24 cleaners employed to keep the place tidy have been working very hard because when the Daily Graphic team got to the place, the main entrance to the holding area was clean.
Nana Antwi further explained that there was 24-hour security and razor coils had also been mounted on the walls to ensure maximum safety from theft and avert any security threat.
The company, he explained, would also fix Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras there, in a bid to maximise safety.
“ We do not want to compromise on the safety of our commuters, drivers and staff”, he stated.
He, however, added that they had not faced any security threat since they started operations and rather commended some passengers for their sincerity in willingly returning lost items to their office.
Some recalcitrant commercial drivers have still been picking commuters along the main Achimota road and that, according to Nana Antwi was not good for the terminal.
Consequently a 10-member task force comprising officials of the Okaikoi North Sub-metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and the Tesano Police have been formed to arrest these drivers.
Currently, the terminal is operating at about 60 per cent of its capacity, according to Chairman of Koajay Company Limited, Mr Kwame Owusu-Antwi.
The terminal and its holding area has the capacity to accommodate 800 vehicles, but now 350 permanent and 300 floating vehicles are using the place.
Other facilities like a clinic, police post and canteens have been functioning but the fire post is not yet ready, he said.

Accra now a Millennium City

2010-01-19T05:07:00.001-08:00

Saturday 16-01-10 on Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
ACCRA has been declared a Millennium City by the Earth Institute of Columbia University, New York.
The Millennium Cities initiative is a project aimed at helping selected cities in sub-Saharan Africa to design effective and viable strategies towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The idea is also to enable developing nations such as Ghana to forge local and global partnerships for a speedy and sustainable economic development.
It is a project of the Earth Institute, a research and education centre, dedicated to the pursuit of sustainable development and the eradication of poverty through timely achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Dr Jeffrey Sachs, who is also a world renowned development economist, made the declaration at a ceremony in Accra.
Consequently, he stated that the university, which has more than 800 experts in various fields, would partner the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to help address some of the city’s development challenges to bring the city closer to the standards of millennium cities.
“We are here to provide expertise, we are on the ideas side, we are not politicians,” he stated.
The city of Accra is currently beset with challenges including sanitation and environmental issues, traffic congestion, inadequate infrastructure for schools and clinic, among others.
At the declaration ceremony, which was attended by the First Lady, Mrs Ernestina Naadu Mills, Dr Sachs explained that Accra as the gateway to Africa had enormous potential and business opportunities, which must be harnessed for the speedy development of the national capital.
“We will work together in partnership with the AMA towards the alleviation of sicknesses and poverty,” he said.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, stated that “today’s ceremony would not remain a mere declaration”, adding that the AMA’s vision for the city of Accra was that of a clean, safe and beautiful one where businesses would thrive under conducive environment.
Declaring Accra as a Millennium City was strategic in that it would provide an avenue for the AMA to source for both private and donor funds to enable it to transform the city, the chief executive said.
“The opportunity of being declared a Millennium City presents great advantages for Accra, especially in terms of accessing professional advice, transfer of expertise and forging of local and international partnerships,” he stated.
"The AMA is fully aware of the challenges facing the capital and we have resolved to surmount these challenges to realise the dream of A New Accra for a Better Ghana,” he said.
As part of the programme, a cornerstone to symbolise Accra as a Millennium City was unveiled by Mrs Naadu Mills and a memorandum of understanding signed between Dr Sachs and Mr Vanderpuije.

Rehabilitation work progresses on Dansoman roads

2010-01-19T05:04:00.001-08:00

Friday Jan 15, 2010 on Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
WORK on the rehabilitation of Dansoman roads, which is being executed by Messrs Progressive and Modern Company Limited (PMC) as part of the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) Emergency Road Works, is progressing steadily.
Under the GH¢4.7 million project, the 2-kilometre Dansoman Highway, spanning the Exhibition Roundabout to the Keep Fit roundabout which is now in a deplorable condition would be rehabilitated and given asphalt coating.
It is envisaged that the completion of the project, which also includes rehabilitation works on the 1.5 kilometre-Oblogo Road, the eight kilometres Guggisburg Avenue Extension, the one-kilometre Wowoti Road and Hansonic Road, will bring enormous relief to motorists and boost economic activities.
The Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, made this known when he, accompanied by the Executive Director of PMC, Alhaji Abdallah Ahmed-Abdallah, inspected the progress of work which began in November last year.
Dansoman is one of the largest estates in Ghana which has in recent times seen an increase in commercial activities but these activities are often hampered by the poor condition of the roads.
The inspection team, which also included other officials of the Metro Roads Department and PMC, inspected the Guggisburg Avenue Extension.
Earthworks for that site is almost completed and, according to Alhaji Ahmed-Abdallah, prima seal would be applied on that road by the end of February this year.
Earthworks for the Wowoti Road, located adjacent the Alfa Beta School and which also connects Dansoman Highway to the Town Council Line is completed and would be given an asphalt coating.
He gave the assurance that earthworks for all the five service roads would be completed in two months time to pave the way for an early completion of the project.
“By end of February, we will have the prima seal on most of the roads”, he stated.
Work on the service roads, according to Mr Awolu, would have to be completed to create alternative routes for motorists whiles PMC tackles the rehabilitation of the main Dansoman Highway.
Despite the alternative routes that would be created, Mr Awolu said work on the Dansoman Highway would take place mostly at night because of the volume of traffic on that road.
He expressed satisfaction with work done so far and urged PMC to strive towards meeting the August deadline for the completion of the project.
He said he was particularly happy that PMC had equipment such as graders, excavators and bulldozers, as well as three water tankers at its disposal and consequently, expressed confidence in the contractors’ ability to complete the project on time.

Accra under siege with noise pollution

2010-01-19T05:03:00.001-08:00

Monday jan. 18, 2010 on Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
INCREASINGLY noise pollution has become a major problem facing many residents in the national capital, Accra overwhelming city authorities who seem helpless at addressing the rising menace.
The situation which has assumed alarming proportion in recent times is attributed, by worried residents, to the growing numbers of social services centres such as churches, drinking spots, spinners, night clubs and other noise related joints in residential areas.
Although the 2009 statistics on reported cases of noise pollution by residents at the Metro Public Health Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was not ready, officials of the department conceded that noise related nuisance dominated complaints for last year.
“Noise nuisance has become a major problem facing Accra today”, the Director of the department, Dr Simpson Anim Boateng told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
While noise pollution remain unabated in many areas, the increasing number of churches, drinking spots and night-clubs seem to be aggravating the situation and making any effort at the fight against excessive noise a difficult one for both the AMA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Somehow, noise pollution has engulfed every corner of the city, even areas which are regarded as first class areas such as Cantonments and Ridge.
Though cases in these first class areas are minimal, residents in areas such as Dansoman, South La Estate, Adabraka, La, Abeka have had to endure enormous noise pollution over the years.
The Metro Health Department estimates that there are about 1,500 churches of all denominations and over 2,000 drinking spots in the metropolis.
Unconfirmed report indicated that many of these churches and spots do not have the requisite permit from the assembly to operate.
There were for instance 162 drinking spots and 128 churches in the Ablekuma North
sub-metro alone as at last year.
Having been overly inundated with excessive noise coming from a church near his house, Mr Seth Kotei Afutu has petitioned the Metro Public Health to relocate the Faith Demonstration Ministries International at Darkuman as residents in the area could no longer bear the excessive noise from members of the church and instruments during their church services.

Permissible noise levels
Obviously, many residents are ignorant of the permissible noise levels for their areas. The Accra metropolis has been zoned into categories of seven with specified levels of noise allowed for each area.
The permissible noise decibel (dBA) for people living in residential areas rated A, areas with low or infrequent transportation disturbances, is 55 dBA during the day and 48 dBA at night.
Similarly, areas rated B1 which comprise educational and health facilities are also expected to have noise dBA of 55 during the day and 50 at night.
Again, areas rated B2 which is a commercial or light industry are allowed a noise dBA of 60 during the day and 55 at night while that of C1, which comprise of areas with some light industry, places of entertainment or public assembly, and places of worship are allowed only 65 dBA during the day and 60 at night.
Predominantly commercial areas are required to have noise levels of 75 during the day and 65 at night and a light industrial areas, 70 during the day and 60 at night.
Finally, predominantly heavy industrial areas are also required to have noise levels of not more than 70 dBA during the day and the same at night.

Effects of noise pollution
Noise pollution as stated by Mr Daniel Kofi Opare, the Head of Environmental Protection and Standard Enforcement at the Metro Public Health Department of AMA can have dire implications on the health of an individual.
“First and foremost, excessive noise can create tension and as such conflict among residents in neighbourhoods”, he stated and added that research had shown that noise pollution could have negative effect on one’s ability to sleep well, a situation which could also result in fatigue, stress, psychological and mental disorders.
Others who get exposed to excessive noise pollution also risk hearing lose, especially for people above the age of 60 years.
Children who wish to study and even adults who desire to read may not be able to concentrate in an atmosphere of excessive noise as these mental activities require a somehow serene environment for maximum concentration.
Further, Mr Opera explained that in situations of excessive noise, it was also difficult for people to converse on their normal voice or have a relaxed conversation and consequently shout during casual interaction instead of just talking. “ This will definitely affect the ears overtime”.

AMA Handicapped in dealing with noise
There are eleven sub-metros within the AMA and even though noise pollution is now widespread affecting every sub-metropolitan area, the AMA has just six noise metres with which it calibrates noise when they are reported.
Aside this logistical complaints, security for personnel after calibration is also a major issue for the assembly.
An officer in charge of noise pollution last year, Mr Sampson Asare Boadu told the Daily Graphic that noise calibration took place mostly at night, beginning from 10:00 pm onwards.
According to him, although the task has been daunting, the department managed to handled some cases which resulted in the relocation of some churches and spots that were a nuisance to residents.
“Giving the logistics and the security we need, we can handle these cases easily” , he stated.
Mr Asare Boadu who is now the Metro Public Health Information and Education Officer expressed worry about the increasing numbers of noise pollution adding that the department would work harder to ensure that they levels were abated.

What does the AMA Bye-law say, is it deterrent?
The increasing noise pollution in Accra is not as a result of lack of Bye-laws to regulate it. Indeed, the AMA and the EPA, both have guidelines and Bye-Laws for the abatement of noise.
Unfortunately, many residents are clearly, flouting these laws, exhibiting gross disregard for the well-being of their neighbours.
Section five of the AMA abatement of noise Bye-law of 1995 states “ No person shall play or cause to play any recorded music in public for advertising purposes so as to cause a nuisance to the public. Clearly, the mobile CD and cassette vendors who move on the principal streets of Accra to sell their wares are flouting this law with impunity whiles the AMA looks on helpless.
Similarly, Section 6 clause 1 also states ‘ No proprietor or person in charge of a night club, restaurant or drinking bar or other place of refreshment or entertainment shall play music at the place so as to cause a nuisance to the public or residents in the area. (2) “Any music played in any place under sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall be played in such a way that it be heard only within the confines of that place.”
Further, section 8 clause 1 also states “ a person conducting a religious service shall not play or cause music to be played so loudly so as to cause a nuisance to the public and residents in the area”.
Section 10 (1) indicate that “ Any person who contravenes any provisions of these Bye-laws commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding GH¢20.00 or in default to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both. (2) In case of continuing offence, the offender is liable to an additional fine of GH2.00 in respect of each day on which the offence continues.

Nigeria assures support for Ghana's BRT

2010-01-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

News page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, back from Lagos
Nigeria has assured Ghana of its technical support for the implementation of its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), soon to be piloted on the Graphic Road through to Kaneshie, Odorkor, Mallam all the way to Kasoa in the Central Region.
At a stakeholders forum organised by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), regulators of the BRT for Lagos, for a 35-member Ghanaian delegation, Mr Tayo Orekoya, the Permanent Secretary for the Lagos Governor of Transportation, stated that the decision by Ghana to visit Lagos to learn the BRT system was in the right direction.
“We are ready to come to Ghana when you start this project to give you all the support and advice that you would need,” he stated
Lagos is the first city in Africa to have successfully implemented the BRT scheme.
With a whopping population of an estimated 18 million people, the impact of the BRT is already significant, transporting some 8,000 commuters on a daily basis.
Outside Africa, the BRT is a major public transport in cities such as Bogota in Colombia, Port Alegre and Curitiba in Brazil.
The 35-member delegation was made up of some members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), officials of the Department of Urban Roads and heads of the Urban Transport Project for the Accra, Kumasi and Ga West/Weija Metropolitan and Municipal assemblies.
“Although you have visited other countries, I believe that choosing Lagos is a step in the right direction, since the two cities share similar aspirations and challenges,” Mr Orekoya stressed.
The four-day trip was organised by the Department of Urban Roads on the heels of some resistance from transport operators, especially the GPRTU, which feared that once the BRT became operational, its members would lose their jobs.
The Member of Parliament for Ketu South, Mr Albert Zigah, who was also the leader of the delegation, expressed appreciation to officials of LAMATA for the warm reception accorded the delegation and also for the willingness of the authority to share freely its experience over the few months that it had operated the BRT.
“We have been to other countries but I must say that this reception has been exceptional, we are very grateful for the enormous information you have given us,” he said.
“With the population of Accra pegged at just five million, Mr Zigah expressed the hope that Ghana’s implementation of the scheme would be smoother “having learnt the strengths and weaknesses of LAMATA,” he said.
“I hope that our implementation of the BRT would be more perfect than yours,” he further stated.

Scrap dealers risk lives

2010-01-04T01:48:00.000-08:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SCRAP dealers engaged in the dismantling of electronic waste such as computers, popularly referred to as e-waste, are exposing themselves to various forms of diseases, including cancer and respiratory disorders, as a result of the lead in those materials.
This has become an environmental nightmare for traders and others whose offices are located on the Old Fadama Road, because the health implications for those engaged in the practice is dire, according to officials of the Public Health Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
Consequently, the department, in conjunction with Green Peace, a non-governmental organisation, has met with those engaged in the illegal activity at the Agbogbloshie market in Accra in a bid to sensitise them to the implication of their actions.
Electronic waste can be defined as electronic equipment or products which operate on electric power or batteries but have become obsolete due to advancement in technology, changes in fashion, style and status and neared the end of their useful life.
Agbogbloshie has become a hub for obsolete and disused electronic gadgets such as computers, servers, television sets, cellular phones, fridges, scanners, fax machines, air-conditioners, and microwave ovens.
Currently, there are hundreds of youth and adults engaged in the dismantling of these electronic waste at the Agbogbloshie market but one activity that has become a menace to traders and offices around the area is the burning of the electronic gadgets in search of silicon.
In his presentation at the sensitisation programme, the Head of Public Health, Mr Wisdom Aditsey, said some of the waste such as batteries, switches, thermostats and florescent lamps contained mercury, which, when not properly handled, could also result in severe brain and liver damage.
According to him, the burning of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is one of the most widely used plastic, could cause respiratory disorders as it contained 56 per cent chlorine, which, when burnt, produces large quantities of hydrogen chloride gas.
“This is hazardous because it can lead to respiratory problems when inhaled,” he said.
For those engaged in the soldering of electrical and electronic items, they risk constant vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsions, coma or even death.
For others, they can suffer minimal effects such as appetite loss, abdominal pain, constipation, sleeplessness, irritability and headache.
The continuous exposure to lead, however, can cause nervous connections, as well as blood and brain disorders.
“It can also affect the kidneys and is particularly dangerous for young children as they may have problems with reading or learning,” he stated.
He said this electronic waste also contained cadmium components, which may also have serious impacts on the kidney when burnt.
Because it can be accumulated in the body for a long time cadmium can easily cause symptoms of poisoning, he said.
Acute exposure to cadmium fumes causes flu-like symptoms of weakness, fever, headache, chills, sweating and muscular pains. The primary health risks of long-term exposure are lung cancer and kidney damage. Cadmium also is believed to cause pulmonary emphysema and bone disease.
The burning of electronic cables and other electrical components in order to melt off plastic and reclaim the copper wires negatively affects the environment as toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere.
Some of the scrap dealers, who expressed their appreciation to the team for sharing the information with them, promised to be more careful with their work.
Others, however, said they depended on that work to take care of their families and it would, therefore, be difficult to stop immediately.
Mr Aditsey said there was the need for constant education on the matter to reduce the impact it would have on both the scrap dealers and the environment while a solution was found to stop the practice altogether.

*Pix: Scrap dealers dismantling electronic waste on the Old Fadama Road

Achimota Terminal to be operational soon

2010-01-04T01:43:00.004-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Achimota Terminal has been completed and will be inaugurated in the second week of December, 2009.
The facility, which has been designed to accommodate about 800 vehicles at the main terminal and its holding area was funded by the Government of Ghana and the International Development Agency (IDA) at the cost GH¢1.2 million.
The Accra Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, who made this known during a visit to the site on Thursday, indicated that a management team had been put in place by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to see to the efficient running of the terminal.
During the visit led by the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, Mr Awolu said an electronic destination notification device would be installed at the terminal to assist commuters to identify their various loading points.
Additionally, a fire post, canteen, police post, places of convenience, among others, had been provided to ensure that drivers and commuters derived maximum comfort from the use of the facility.
Work on the terminal started on January 13, 2003 as part of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle-Achimota road expansion project but later, the client, the Department of Urban Roads, decided to include the holding area in order not to create congestion at the terminal.
Currently, utility services such as water and electricity have been provided and the loading area for vehicles marked.
The entire 23-acre terminal has also been neatly paved and a number of passenger sheds provided.
Mr Awolu said close circuit television (CCTV) cameras would be installed prior to the opening of the facility to ensure maximum security for drivers and commuters.
Mr Vanderpuije commended the contractors for a good job done and gave the assurance that the Government would complete all projects which had been designed for the benefit of the people.
The terminal will serve as a major public transport facility for the Kwame Nkrumah Circle-Achimota road.
Meanwhile, the construction of six service roads to the Achimota market, Tesano Extension to Alajo, Police Depot, Alajo Bypass/bridge and the Avenor service roads which are expected to be constructed to complement the terminal are yet to take off.
Earlier, Mr Vanderpuije and his team, including the acting Coordinating Director and his deputy, Messrs Tuffuor and Ben Armah, had inspected ongoing development projects at James Town and Dansoman.
Mr Vanderpuije also visited the ongoing Community Upgrading and Chemu Storm Drainage Project at 205 at Agege, a suburb of Accra, under the Ablekuma South Sub-metro of the AMA.
The AMA, he assured, would continue with the demolition of structures which had been sited along the project course.
The project, which is being wholly funded by the French Government, involves the construction of 275 metres of concrete-closed rectangular drains, 2,325 metres of concrete trapezoidal drains, including inlets from main tributaries of the Chemu Lagoon, and a 350-metre open unlined trapezoidal drain into the lagoon.
In addition, two concrete culverts spanning six metres will be constructed at Mamprobi crossing to Old Dansoman and environs; 10 solid waste containers, including 15 cubic-metre sized skips provided for Chorkor and three toilets for Karikari and Gbegbese schools.
Also, 14 kilometres of road and traffic management accessories will be constructed and 250 solar-powered street lights installed in the community, concrete foot bridges mid-stream, near the Zammrama Line Station, and at the end of the drain near the Atoh Quarshie area, all located within the Ablekuma South Constituency of the Greater Accra Region.
He appealed to residents to support the project to ensure its early completion.

Pix on Mr Osei’s destop as Achimotal Terminal and Achimota Terminal 1.
Caption:
A section of the completed Achimota Terminal.
Inset: The Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije (middle) and the Accra Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu ( 2nd left) and some assembly members and heads of department of the AMA interacting with members of the media during the inspection.

Zoomlion spraying exercise on course

2010-01-04T01:43:00.001-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE Greater Accra Regional Vector Control Officer of Zoomlion Company Limited, Mr Abel Djangmah, has said efforts at reducing the breeding of mosquitos and consequently malaria are still on course, as the company partners more assemblies to embark on disinfestation exercises.
Accordingly, the mosquito control team of Zoomlion has intensified the bio-larvisiding exercise in parts of the Accra metropolis at Dzorwulu, Okponglo, Roman Ridge, American House and West Airport.
The Adentan Municipal Assembly and the Dangme East District Assembly, in collaboration with the company, have also embarked on disinfestation exercises in the two assemblies, during which personnel from the three organisations sprayed refuse dump sites, container sites, sanitary sites and public cemeteries in an effort to rid the areas of flies and especially mosquitoes.
The spraying exercises were closely supervised by the Environmental Health departments of the two assemblies.
Mr Djangmah explained that Aqua Reslin and Pynosect 10, a synergized permethrin formulation, were separately applied on refuse tips, walls, public toilets and cemeteries to get rid of flies, ants and other vermin.
He observed that people who had built so close to cemeteries risked contracting diseases and urged the assemblies to discourage the practice.
He also attributed the breeding of mosquitos to vegetable farmers who, he said, depended on water from dugouts for watering their vegetable farms. The wells, he explained, often became breeding grounds for mosquitoes and stated that there was the need for the farmers to collaborate with the assembly and Zoomlion for a solution to be found to help reduce larval sources to help prevent mosquito breeding.
Similar exercises were carried out in the Ga West municipality, where Mr Djangmah attributed the high mosquito incidence in the area to the way some road contractors blocked water ways to pave way for smooth construction work.
“All these serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he said, and explained that despite those challenges, the mosquito control team would continue with the fight against the breeding of mosquitoes in the country.

Awoshie roads to be constructed

2010-01-04T01:41:00.000-08:00

Metor page of November

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Department of Urban Roads (DUR) is to embark on a comprehensive development of Awoshie with the construction of the Awoshie-Pokuase and Community Development Project scheduled to begin next year.
The project, which will be funded by the government through a loan it received from the African Development Fund (ADF), is part of an integrated programme for the development of Ghana’s urban areas.
Under the project, the 15-km Awoshie-Pokuase road, secondary roads, health centres and lorry parks will be constructed.
The Awoshie-Pokuase road, when constructed, can serve as a strategic link between western Accra and the northern parts of the city.
“As such, this road will improve access to and from the capital city and enhance productivity, thereby contributing to poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth,” the acting Director of the DUR, Dr Daniel Darko, said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
Under the project, there will also be community upgrading infrastructure during which the construction of 13.8 km of secondary roads, schools, two health facilities, sanitation facilities (18 public latrines), water supply works (33 km of pipelines and 10 boreholes), storm drainage works (4 km of lined drains), designed and supervision of community upgrading components will be carried out.
According to Dr Darko, the capacity of local contractors would be built, while feasibility and detailed design studies for north-west Accra roads would be carried out.
The budget for the project also covers project management, co-ordination, project impact monitoring and evaluation, as well as financial and technical audit.
Compensation and resettlement for residents whose livelihoods and homes would be affected by the project has also been worked into the budget.

Contractors engaged for emergency roads

2010-01-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

Metro page of December 1
Story and pix: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Department of Urban Roads (DUR) has engaged 11 contractors to undertake emergency works on selected roads within the national capital, Accra, and the Tema metropolitan areas which were destroyed as a result of this year’s heavy rains.
The conditions of some of the roads were so deplorable that travelling on them became rather tedious and dangerous.
Consequently, the DUR, immediately after the rains, initiated emergency works to rehabilitate the affected roads before expected rains next year render them impassable.
Few months after the initiative, significant rehabilitation works have been carried out on the 19.3 kilometres Spintex Road, starting from the Accra Mall at the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout to the Flower Pot Junction by Sonitra, a road construction company, making driving on that road more smoother and safer.
Similarly, considerable work has also been carried out on the 3.6 kilometres Adjirigano Road, which spans from the American House Junction to the Islamic University, while work has been completed on the 1.6 kilometres Garden Street and the one kilometre Christian Service Centre Road, all at East Legon, by Ussuya Ghana Limited.
An official of the DUR inspected the project last week. At the time of the visit, about three kilometres of the Adjirigano Road had been surface-dressed with an outstanding six metres yet to be done.
Ussuaya Ghana Limited is continuing the Spintex Road rehabilitation work from the Flower Pot Junction all the way to Lashibi Junction.
Due to the volume of traffic on that corridor, the Technical Officer for Ussuya, Mr Stephen Zah, said his men did the ground work at night to avoid creating congestion.
He, however, explained that other major works such as the application of chipping and bitumen must be applied during the day time.
Consequently, the company, at the time of the visit, had created road diversions from the Manet Junction for motorists coming from Accra to Spintex, while those from Spintex to Accra used their original route.
There was some confusion, however, as some of the drivers failed to observe the diversion posts, interrupting and, in some cases, destroying sections of the newly rehabilitated road.
So dire was the situation that the company had to call for the assistance of the Sakumonor Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service.
The Sakumonor MTTU Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Reginald Osei, released six personnel to assist the company to manage the traffic situation and direct motorists onto the diverted routes.
He appealed to the motorists to co-operate with the company in order for the work to be completed on schedule.
Mr Zah later explained that once the chipping and bitumen were applied, it would need at least, two hours to cure (to settle) and thereafter, it would be safe for motorists to use it without causing damage to the road.
“Anything less than that will destroy the newly rehabilitated road,” he stated.
Mr Zah stated that Ussuya was rehabilitating the road in sections, with the first 1.5 kilometres starting from the Kasapreko Junction to Kpogas.
“We will complete this work by the end of the week,” he assured.
Messrs Oswal Contractors Limited, also engaged by the DUR to construct local drains and upgrade the Calvary Road, known as 60-40 at Lashibi, has also undertaken a substantial work at the time the Deputy Director of Maintenance and Operations of the DUR, Mr Frank Agbanator, visited the site on Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Thirty workers of the company, including masons, carpenters and artisans were busy at work under the supervision of the contractor, Mr Humphery Williams.
In all, the company, which started its work six weeks ago, has constructed 1.4 kilometres out of the 2.2 kilometres of the contract work.
Mr Williams said although the company was scheduled to complete the work in August, 2010, he was determined to finish by February next year, so he could quickly work on the upgrading of the roads.
One challenge facing Oswal, however, is the massive encroachment on sections of the road where the drains are to be sited.
In one instance, the encroachment was so bad that the drains could not be constructed there.
At another section, Mr Agbanator advised the contractor to reduce the size of the drain, since its absence could cause flooding in some homes in the area. The Tema Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Stephen Attipoe, who was on site to supervise the work, commended the contractor, saying that “ this is a good job and I am very happy with it”.
He explained that the quality of work was high, and it was also refreshing that the contractor was working at a good pace.
Messrs Progressive Modern Construction Limited is to work on the rehabilitation of the Dansoman main road and selected collectors, Nima Highway, Dadeban Road and Palace Street at North Kaneshie.
Frandesco International Group Limited is also working on the Dansoman Link, which starts from the Keep Fit to the Exhibition Roundabout. Work on this road, according to Mr Adgbanator, started on October 21, 2009 and is expected to be completed in August 22, 2010.
The company would also work on the asphalt overlay of Tema Beach Road and Old Ada Road, and rehabilitation of Teshie Link and Kpeshie roads.
Messrs PW Ghana Limited is to work on the rehabilitation of Ashaiman-Zeenu Road, Afariwa Road, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Road and Kpone Main Road and Messrs Altep Limited, Hansas Limited and Mawums Limited.
Altep is to work on minor rehabilitation of Signboard Road at Klagon, Hansas and Mawums to work on the upgrading of the Toni Love Road at Lashibi and His Presence Road at Lashibi respectively.
Mr Agbanator stated that additional two packages had been added onto the Tema projects to rehabilitate the central business district of Tema and part of the Industrial Area at Community Two, due to the deplorable nature of those roads.
As part of the emergency works, Messrs Angel Data and Telecom Services has also been engaged to rehabilitate selected traffic signals within the two metropolis which had not worked for years.
The total road network for the 16 cities of the DUR, according to Mr Agbanator, is 12,417 kilometres “and this is quite large”.
Unfortunately, most of our roads are allowed to deteriorate before rehabilitation works are carried on them, because of inadequate funds for the periodic maintenance of the roads, he said.

Re-allocate stalls-traders appeal to AMA

2009-11-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME petty traders and hawkers at the central business district (CBD) of Accra and other commercial centres have appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to re-allocate the stalls at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall so that they could have a safer place to carry out their businesses.
While a large portion of the mall, located at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, remains empty, the shoulders of roads and pavements at the various commercial centres in Accra are choked with hawkers and petty traders.
The AMA began an exercise this year to decongest those centres but the success chalked up by the assembly is gradually been eroded as more traders find their way back onto the streets.
The exercise, which was described by many residents as largely successful, could fail if the assembly does not take immediate steps to re-allocate the more than 3,000 empty stalls at the mall and compel traders to sell there.
Currently, some recalcitrant hawkers have ignored AMA warnings and are still plying their trade along the shoulders of roads and pavements in the commercial centres where the exercise took place, with the excuse that they do not have anywhere to sell.
“We have families; we also need food and shelter. Circumstances are pushing us to sell on these pavements,” a trader on the foot bridge at Kaneshie said.
The decongesting exercise, which started at Kaneshie after severe floods had swept through the area and destroyed lives and properties because underground channels were filled with garbage, continued to the CBD and finally to the Nkrumah Circle.
Other areas which were decongested included the shoulders of roads leading to La and Achimota.
A visit to the CBD on Monday indicated that although the AMA had managed to get some of the traders and their structures off the streets, more work was needed to completely keep them at bay.
A few weeks after the exercise, the traders, mostly women, kept their wares in large plastic bags and beckoned passers-by to patronise them.
Now many of these traders openly display their wares.
Maame Joyce, a petty trader who sells second-hand clothes on the Derby Avenue, told the Daily Graphic that after the decongestion, she stayed at home for nearly two months but she began experiencing financial difficulties and had to come back onto the street.
“I wish I had a stall at the Pedestrian Mall; I would have gone there to sell. I think it is safer there than standing for hours in this scorching sun,” she said.
The AMA, she stressed, must give the stalls to those who needed them, since they had been empty for too long. .
Madam Agnes Odame, who sells jewellery at the CBD, said she would be happy if she was given space at the mall.
She explained that she had not been successful at getting space there during the first allocation.
“As for me, I need a decent place to sell my jewellery and I will be very happy if the AMA can give these stalls to those of us who need them,” she said.
She explained that she had been to the mall on several occasions and felt that the traders who had abandoned it were being unfair to both themselves and the government.
“I do not see why I should use money to buy space and fail to make use of it,” she said.

ECG contractors destroy road/pavements

2009-11-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME walkways and portions of roads at Adabraka are still in disarray several months after contractors working on the installation of new cables for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) completed their work.
Investrade International Company Limited and its sub-contractor, New Ideas Electricals have failed to fix the blocks that were removed from some pavements during the installation, while rehabilitation works on the Brewery Close, located near the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Liberia Road and others at the central business district (CBD) of Accra, that were damaged, have been poorly done.
The installation of the cables, which was part of an estimated $65 million Government of Ghana-funded project, was described by officials of the ECG as vital.
The project, aimed at upgrading uninterrupted electricity power supply to residents and industries in the Accra Metropolis, was completed last year.
Some of the badly affected roads at Adabraka have developed potholes, and now pose danger to motorists and pedestrians.
While installing the cables, Investrade had to excavate the walkways and cut through some of the roads to lay the cables from the ECG Sub-station E on the Graphic Road to the Control System at Makola at the central business district (CBD) of Accra.
Although the companies claimed to have fixed the blocks on the pavements and rehabilitated the road about six months ago, some of the pavement blocks are still scattered on the walkways, while the roads have developed potholes.
The Roads Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) which has an oversight responsibility for the area stopped the contractors at the initial stages of the project because they failed to produce the names of sub-contractors who would carry out the rehabilitation works after the completion of the project.
The move as explained then by the Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, was to ensure that the sub-contractor restored the roads to their original state to prevent them from deteriorating, but that has not been done and the size of the potholes continue to widen daily.
Mr Awolu in a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic explained that the department had already written to Investrade to express its dissatisfaction with the work done and also requested them to carry out another reinstatement of the roads and walkways.
After the completion of the project and the consequent reinstatement of the road and pedestrian walkway, Mr Awolu said an official from the department would examine it and sign, when it was satisfied that the work had been properly done.
“We are not happy with the quality of work done”, he stressed and explained that if the company failed to heed to the advice of the department, the department will reinstate the roads and walkways and surcharge Investrade with the cost.”
“What this will, however, mean for the company is that we will not allow them to do any work on our roads”, he stated.
Asked whether the department certified the first reinstatement works and also if the six months defect liability period was still valid, he explained that once the department did not certify the work, the liability period had not even started.
He expressed concern about reinstatement works on the South Liberia Road and other ones at the CBD near the Public Works Department (PWD) and stressed the need for the company to take immediate steps to reinstate the roads to avoid further disintegration.
Meanwhile, another contractor working on an ECG project on the Obasanjo Highway has also dumped excavated materials unto the walkways, compelling pedestrians to walk on the shoulders of roads.
Mr Awolu expressed dissatisfaction with other ECG contractors over the indiscriminate manner in which they excavated the walkways and the roads, saying that such acts led to the destruction of the roads.

e-waste dealers endanger their health

2009-11-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

Asylum Down, Adabraka gaining commercial status

2009-11-17T08:33:00.001-08:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
RESIDENTIAL areas in the Accra metropolis are becoming more commercial in character, with Adabraka, Asylum Down and Dansoman taking the lead.
Ironically, these areas are but one of the few planned residential places in the metropolis.
Offices and shops are rapidly taking over structures that were hitherto residential apartments for hundreds of residents in those part of the city.
Along the streets and pavements of these areas are boutiques, shops trading in food items and cooked food vendors with the numbers increasing by the day.
As businessmen and women rush for office space and shops within these areas, the number of people who live there also decreases.
In some cases, however, offices and shops share a common compound with the residents, a situation which some of the occupants, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said was not a bother to them at all.
Adabraka and Asylum Down are two surbubs in the metropolis which are close to the Central Business District, and due to their proximity to the city centre, many businesses rather prefer to site their offices or shops in this locality to give easy access to their customers.
The offices and shops that have sprung up at Adabraka over the years include Daniads Insurance Brokers, located on the Brewery Close, S. nak Company Limited, which deals in artificial flowers, pots, among other things.
The Ghana Labour Commission, Stratscom, Amalbank, Trust Towers are some of the companies and organisations operating at Asylum Down.
Although these areas were originally designed for residential purposes, concerns now are that facilities such as access roads, car parks and other amenities may not be able to support the demand of a commercial setting.
Asylum Down in particular, which in the past served a purely residential purpose, is now a commercial hub as more businesses relocate to the area.
A Resident of Adabraka, Ms Vivian Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that the presence of the companies provided security for them as most of them had security men around them.
She was, however, quick to add that the activities of some drinking spots in the area were a sheer nuisance as loud music was played even late into the night.
“As for this area, one of the major problems facing us is the loud music. Sometimes, it is difficult to converse or even sleep,” she said.
Mr B. K. Ampofo, another resident who said he had lived at Adabraka for more than 20 years, recounted the days when only a few companies operated in the area.
Taysec Construction Company, the Graphic Communications Group and the Ghana Publishing were some of them, he said.
“Almost every house in Adabraka now has one or two business entities operating within it”, it stated.
These developments are good for us, he said, and explained that as residents, it was easy for them to get access to some services, whereas in the past, they had to travel long distances to access those services.
Mr Ampofo, however, indicated that activities of drinking spots posed a nuisance to the residents.
He, therefore, appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to do something about the situation.
“I am not a technical man, but I know that the noise levels emanating from these spots are above the acceptable decibels,” he said.
“Unfortunately, these drinking spots operate at night and make sleeping and learning rather difficult, especially for the elderly and our children,” he further stated.
Since most of these spots operate into the night, they hardly affect the work of the shop owners and other businesses.
For Ms Juliet Bamfo, a shop attendant at S.nak, business at Adabraka was good.
“Patronage is encouraging,” she said, explaining that because they displayed some of their wares, including decorated flower pots, vases and artificial flowers, motorists caught in traffic got attracted, and most times, stopped to buy something.
Ms Bamfo stated that the cost of renting shops at Adabraka could were relatively cheaper compared to those at Osu.
An interview with Nene Narteh Otibo, a resident, discounted claims that shops at Adabraka were rather cheaper.
Nene Otibo, who also runs an advertising company in the area, said fairly large office space could cost as much as $1,000 a month.
The rush for office space in the area, he said, was having an unfavourable effect since Adabraka had now been tagged a business hub.
“As a result of these high costs of office space, even those renting for residential reasons are compelled to pay high rents,” he stated.
Dansoman, a community with a population of about 500,000, has since its establishment in 1957 also developed rapidly to accommodate a great number of offices and shops, including banks, mini marts, boutiques, non-governmental organisations and many more.
However, the difference between Adabraka, Asylum Down and Dansoman is that whereas the first two places seem to be losing their residential status, Dansoman, in spite of its rapid commercial boom, has also been able to maintain its residential status.

Remove debris after demolition exercises-AMA advised

2009-11-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME residents in the Accra metropolis have lauded the recent move by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to clear the national capital of illegal structures, saying it is a step in the right direction.
They, however, raised concern about the fact that the debris of some structures cleared during those exercises had still not been removed, making the areas in question more unsightly.
The AMA began clearing Abuja, the Graphic Road, Abbosey Okai, Agbogloshie, among others, of illegal structures about two weeks ago and up to now the debris of some structures are yet to be collected.
“I am very happy with the exercise but I think that the destroyed items must be collected”, a resident at Adabraka, Mr Raymond Benson, told the Daily Graphic.
He advised that the areas cleared must be monitored by the assembly to ensure that owners of the affected structures did not rebuild them.
The AMA, he said, should have started such exercises long ago since the prevailing conditions in Accra did not befit a capital city.
“Some of these structures, called shops and offices, are an eyesore and, indeed, death traps and need to be destroyed”, he said.
He conceded that many Ghanaians depended on trading to care for their families but he was quick to add that “ the right thing must always be done. If we want our city to develop like others, then we must begin doing the right thing, including selling at the right places”, he explained.
Mr Benson, who is also an artisan, further called on the AMA not to relent in its efforts at keeping the city tidy, adding that similar exercises were needed all across the city to bring alive the dream of making Accra the gateway to Africa.
“As a nation we have come a long way but we cannot progress if we keep doing things the old way. We must move away from petty politics and tackle those issues that negatively affect us and our economy as a people”, he stressed.
He expressed regret at the retrogression taking place in Accra, and stressed that if the AMA did not work hard, it would be extremely difficult to turn the fortunes of the city around.
“I do not see how a city as old as Accra should have choked drains, overflowing skips, containers and kiosks dotted all along the walkways, a generally unsanitary condition”.
Mrs Emelia Addo, whose office is located at Abbosey Okai, also commended the AMA but said more work needed to be done to transform the city from its current chaotic nature into a more peaceful and clean one.
“We acknowledge that we as residents have a role to play but it is the duty of the city authorities to guide and shape us through the strict enforcement of its bye-laws”, she stated.
She expressed optimism that when the AMA began enforcing its bye-laws people would be more careful not to litter and to dump garbage indiscriminately.
Other residents who pleaded anonymity expressed similar concerns stressing that once the debris were removed, the city would look much tidy that it was today.

Early treatment of Treat Buruli Ulcer Avoids deformity

2009-11-11T03:51:00.000-08:00

Health page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Bishop T Foundation has been launched in Accra with a seed money of GH¢4,000 to support the fight against the increasing incidence of Buruli Ulcer in the country.
The foundation led by Mr Titus Evans, a radio presentor in the United Kingdom is to assist in the dissemination, diagnosis and treatment of Buruli Ulcer, a delibitating skin disease which can affect any part of the body and leave patients with enormous deformity such as paralysis, if not properly treated.
Available statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that some 6,000 Ghanaians have suffered from the disease.
Speaking at the launch, a public Health Physician, Dr Eben Ampadu stated that the cost of treatment was very high, hence people’s inability to seek early diagnosis and proper treatment.
In other African countries such as Benin and Cote d’Ivoire, the figures were even higher with 15,000 and 12,000 people respectively suffering from the disease.
A documentary produced by the WHO and screened for participants titled ‘The Mystery Disease’ showed the agony that patients, mostly rural dwellers have to go through when affected with Buruli Ulcer.
One of the sad parts of the documentary showed a lactating mother who was suffering from the disease and on admission. Whilst screaming in pain with a dejected look, her babies (twins) were seen lying helpless on another bed, obviously waiting to be fed.
If this is not sad enough then what about another scene that showed a four year old girl who had been paralysed by the disease and had to be carried by her school teacher to write on the board.
The cost of treatment according to Dr Ampadu is between $700 to $1,000 and this discouraged a lot of patients who only “report to the health facilities at the advanced stages of the disease”.
Buruli Ulcer, he said was most common in sand winning and mining areas with the severest cases coming from Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region.
In Ghana, the disease can be found in six out of the 10 regions and they are Greater Accra, Central, Ashanti, Western, Eastern and Brong Ahafo regions.
Dr Ampadu said attempts were being made to increase the use of antiboitics for treatment and consequently reduce surgery but added that, some of the cases reported at the health facilities called for surgery.
Some people associate the disease with withcraft and that, according to Dr Ampadu, was another major challenge since it discouraged patients from seeking early treatment.
“Early diagnosis is key to significantly reducing Buruli Ulcer in this country”, he said.
Buruli Ulcer is a disease caused by a germ which affects mainly the skin and is found mostly around water bodies.
The exact mode of transmission of the germ from the environment to humans is not yet known but it can affect anyone and at any stage with children being mostly affected. Buruli Ulcer normally affects the arms and legs but WHO indicates that it can also affect any part of the body.
In order to make significant strides in the reduction of the disease, intensive public awareness would be needed to diabuse the minds of those who mistake the disease for a curse, withcraft or punishment, Dr Ampadu stated.
WHO information also indicate that Buruli Ulcer can be found in 30 countries today but “ little attention is giving to this disease that threatens the very livelihoods of its patients”.
Coming in four stages, Buruli ulcer can appear as a nodule, a small painless swelling under the skin of about three centimetres in diameter.
This is often the begining of the disease but only few affected people go to hospital at this stage though treatment for the nodule is simple and prevents deformities.
The second stage of the disease comes in the form of a plaque which is described by the WHO as a large painless swelling of more than three centimetres in diameter with clearly marked borders.
At this stage, the skin becomes hard like cardboard and treatment can be difficult.
Stage three of the disease is reffered to as Oedema, a large painless swelling, often involving the arms or the legs. Treatment of this stage of the disease is difficult, according to the WHO.
The ulcer advances to the forth stage and often have whitish-yellowish slough in the centre.
The WHO said with good treatment, small ulcers can heal with no deformity. “Unfortunately, most affected people do not go to the hospital at this stage, but wait till they develop large ulcers which often led to serious deformities making treatment at that stage very difficult” according to the WHO.
Dr Ampadu emphasised that with early diagnosis, Buruli Ulcer could be treated without any deformity and encourged people who lived by water bodies to always visit a health facility anytime they suspected the development of one.
Mr Evans said his foundation was born out of the need to assist people living with the disease but who were unable to seek medical treatment because of the high cost involved.
The support of all, he said would be needed to make this a reality.

*Pix:
If not treated early and properly, Buruli ulcer can lead to serious complications, causing deformities.

Agbogbloshie under decongestion exercise

2009-11-11T03:49:00.004-08:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has begun clearing the streets and walkways at the Agbogbloshie Market of illegal structures and traders to ensure the free flow of both human and vehicular traffic at the biggest market in Accra.
The exercise, which started on Monday, November 2, 2009 is being carried out with the full support of the market queens and leaders to ensure its sustenance.
The market queens have formed their own taskforce to support the exercise.
The Sub-metro Director, Mr Maxwell Nana Gyimah, told the Daily Graphic that the aim of the exercise was to improve commercial activities in the market since most Accra residents found the Agbogbloshie Market too congested and, therefore, did not go there to shop even though food items were relatively cheaper.
The illegal structures of traders who operate between the premises of the Domod Company and Sikkens have been cleared.
“We will keep working until we see a significant impact at the market”, he said.
The Agbogbloshie Market is arguably the biggest market in Accra where food items including yam, tomato, cassava, assorted fruits, vegetables, fish and meat are sold.
Other household items such as cooking utensils and buckets are also sold at this market.
Over the years, the market has grown in leaps and bounds and now includes second-hand clothes sellers, dealers in jewellery and artisans.
The proximity of the market to one of the biggest slums in Ghana, the Sodom and Gomorra, which is currently home to an estimated 45,000 squatters, has worsened the congestion at the market, thereby discouraging some residents from patronising goods there.
Large trucks from the hinterlands which come to unload foodstuffs also make the cleaning of drains by staff of the sub-metro and Zoomlion Ghana Limited difficult.
Nana Gyimah explained that when the relocation of the bulk-breaking markets at Old Fadama Road (where items such as yams, onions and tomatoes are sold) to Amasaman in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region was completed, the sub-metro would be able to carry out a thorough decongestion of the market.

Ashiedu Keteke clears illegal strucures

2009-11-11T03:49:00.001-08:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
All illegal structures behind the Ghana National Fire Service Training School at James Town have been cleared by the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
The mainly wooden structures, which served as temporary accommodation for some traders at the London and Katamanto markets in Accra, obstructed the smooth construction of the second phase of the central business district (CBD) of Accra roads.
The exercise, which was carried out by a 12-member taskforce comprising all sectional heads and led by the Sub-metro director, Mr Maxwell Nana Gyimah, took place on Monday, November 2, 2009.
About 12 structures were cleared during the exercise which affected some 30 people.
Nana Gyimah explained that apart from facilitating the smooth completion of the road, the exercise was also aimed at decongesting the place of all illegal structures which had been sited indiscriminately and consequently affected the aesthetic beauty of the metropolis.
The area, he said, would be monitored regularly to ensure that the owners of the demolished structures did not rebuild them.
He further explained that the exercise was also to prevent the development of yet another slum within the sub-metro.
Sodom and Gomorra, a sprawling slum located on the Old Fadama Road, is within the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro, and according to Nana Gyimah, the sub-metro was very vigilant to prevent more slums from being created.

Educate your children- Ga Mantse

2009-11-11T03:48:00.002-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
The Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III, has identified indiscipline and low levels of education among some Ga youth as the bane to the development of Accra.
Consequently, he has charged parents who have neglected their children to take care of them to ensure a brighter future for those children and the Ga State.
“The hope of the Ga State is in the hands of this present generation,” he said.
King Tackie Tawiah stated this when members of a seven-member Child Panel Committee called on him at his palace in Accra.
According to him, there was also the need for the government to construct more schools to enable all children of school age within the state to enrol.
To support education and build the future of children, the Ga Mantse said the Ga Education Trust Fund which now had seed money of GH¢200 would soon be launched to give financial support to needy, intelligent children.
Even before the launch, the King said, an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) school, Dignified Life International (DVL), had agreed to sponsor 300 students to study ICT in the school located at East Legon.
King Tackie Tawiah, who pledged the support of Ga chiefs to the development of children, reiterated the need for parents, particularly fathers, to support the upbringing of their children to ensure the proper development of the future leaders.
Welcoming members of the committee, the King charged them to work selflessly to deal with child truancy, irresponsible parenting and other cases that negatively affected the health, growth and education of children.
He also advised them to liaise with all other chiefs within the Accra metropolis for a more effective dispensation of their mandate.
Act 560 of the Children’s Act mandates every assembly to form a child panel and in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly this is the first time that the initiative has been taken.
The aim of the meeting, according to the Secretary of the panel, Ms Mariam Mensah, was to strike an acquaintance with all collaborators, including chiefs, the media, ministries, the Judiciary and related child right agencies and organisations.
According to her, the panel had the mandate to deal with civil cases such as child non-maintenance, juvenile theft, truancy, school absenteeism and refer criminal cases to the appropriate authorities such as the police.
“We have not been mandated to handle criminal cases”, she stressed.

Houses on path of drain project demolished

2009-11-11T03:48:00.001-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has begun an exercise to demolish about 100 structures constructed on water courses from Chemuanaa to Sakaman in the Ablekuma South sub-metro.
The demolition of the structures is to pave the way for the Mamponse Community Upgrading and Chemu Storm Drainage Project.
The exercise, which started in the early hours of Tuesday, is expected to affect about 1,000 residents within Chemuanaa is home to about 36,000 people, mostly fishermen and traders with low levels of income.
Though most residents were aware of the exercise, others, especially tenants, had not been told by the assembly that they would be affected, according to the Member of Parliament for Ablekuma, Mr Fritz Baffour.
Consequently, he said, “It will have a negative impact on them; some people are going to suffer.”
He said although the exercise was necessary, the AMA should have done more work to know the number of people who would be affected and how the impact could be mitigated.
But the AMA has justified the action, saying it gave the affected residents of the area ample time to relocate and, therefore, they must not feign surprise at the demolition.
Though there had been some hue and cry over the exercise by some residents who claimed they had not been informed, some of the affected residents expressed their support for the project and indicated that they would temporarily stay with relatives and friends while they looked for an alternative accommodation.
Officials of the AMA were accompanied by heavy security, obviously in anticipation of possible resistance from residents, but the policemen had very little to do as there was no resistance.
“Though this is difficult for us and our families, we believe it is a well intended exercise which will eventually benefit us,” a resident, Madam Eugenia Mensah, said.
There was severe flooding in some parts of Accra during this year’s rainy season and this was largely attributed to the construction of structures on water courses.
The Second Urban Environmental Sanitation Initiative is a project which includes the upgrading of the water supply system for Mamponse, which covers seven kilometres of water distribution ancillaries, as well as 28 kilometres of U-Type drains along the roads and outlets to the lagoon.
The Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, explained that the due process for the exercise had been followed and explained that each affected resident had been given enough time to relocate.
He explained that the project, estimated to cost 8.3 million-Euro, must be carried out to improve on the lives of residents in that part of the city, as well as open up the community to business opportunities.
President John Evans Atta Mills cut the sod for the two-year project at the Karikari Brobbey Park at Dansoman in the Ablekuma South Sub-metro on October 21, this year.
The project, which is wholly funded by the French Government, involves the construction of 275 metres of concrete-closed rectangular drains, 2,325 metres of concrete trapezoidal drains, including inlets from main tributaries of the Chemu Lagoon, and a 350-metre open unlined trapezoidal drain into the lagoon.
In addition, two concrete culverts spanning six metres will be constructed at Mamprobi crossing to Old Dansoman and environs, 10 solid waste containers, including 15 cubic-metre size skips for Chorkor and three toilets for Karikari and Gbegbese schools.
Again, there will be the construction of 14 kilometres of road and traffic management accessories, with 250 solar- powered street lights in the community, including four eight-32 metre concrete foot bridges at the mid-stream, near Zammrama Line Station, and at the end of the drain near Atoh Quarshie area, all located within the Ablekuma South Constituency of the Greater Accra Region.
Mr Baffour said he was in discussion with the ministries of Women and Children’s Affairs, Water Resources, Works and Housing, among others, to help reduce the impact of the exercise on the affected residents.

Tuesday Market on verge of collapse

2009-11-11T03:47:00.005-08:00

Story and Picture: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Tuesday Market, one of the oldest community market in Accra located at Korle-Gonno, is on the verge of collapse.
The market was established during the colonial era to serve residents of Chorkor, Mamprobi, and Korle Gonno, then new communities.
During its initial stages, traders of food items from the rural areas arrived at the market with their goods on Saturdays and trading started on Mondays, picking up on Tuesdays.
This earned it the name, Tuesday Market.
This once vibrant market is, gradually becoming a relic, as more than 70 per cent of its stalls are now empty and serves as residential places for hundreds of people in the Korle-Gonno community.
The Tuesday Market was rehabilitated six years ago, and now has about 800 stalls.
Ironically, all the empty stalls have names of their owners written on the walls, an indication that they were duly allocated after the completion of the rehabilitation.
Names written on the walls which are visible to any visitor are Mawutor, Odarkor, Akua, Beatrice,Dede among others.
The few remaining traders including Madam Margaret Atiogbey, who has been selling salted beef in the market for more than 20 years, raised concerns with inadequate security and attributed it to the steady reduction of traders in the market.
According to her, the market is not lighted at night because there was no electricity connection.
The gates, she said, had also been destroyed, exposing their goods and structures to thieves who she said had taken full advantage of the situation.
"Stealing is very high in this market and I am appealing to the AMA to repair the gates and provide us with lights", she stressed.
The lack of lighting in the market compels traders to close by 6:00 p.m., whilst those outside continued to sell because the streetlights provided adequate illumination for them.
An area allotted to secondhand cloth sellers, like most of the stalls in the market, is empty and had only names written on the walls.
"They are all selling outside", Mada Atiogbey said, adding that something must be done either by the AMA or the market leaders to get all those who own stalls in the market to occupy them at least, every Tuesday.
While the main market with stalls which has decent places of convenience remained virtually empty, the adjourning streets are congested on market days.
The Tuesday Market, has enormous potential as the market is well demarcated to accommodate many traders.
Traders insisted it was better to sell along the streets since patrons of the market found it convenient to buy there.
For others such as Ms Eunice Benson, "selling on the streets is not the best, but we are forced to do so because some of us did not get stalls during the allocation".
The Tuesday Market as the name suggest, is only vibrant on the said day and slightly vibrant on Monday's when traders from the Ga villages bring in their goods including cassava, onion, fresh pepper, Nkontomre , oranges among other food items.
Over the years, traders who sell fruits including pineapple, water melon and oranges have also found the market lucrative, as residents from Korle-Gonno and nearby communities such as Mamprobi, Agege, Banana-Inn and Kamara, retail the fruits to be sold in their respective suburbs.
A trader, Madam Emma Setsofia who sells onions at the market only on Mondays and Tuesdays, described patronage as encouraging.
Madam Setsofia who has been selling in the market for close to a year, said she was happy selling at the Tuesday Market because there was a decent place of convenience with constant water supply supported by a water tank.
According to her, the full potential of the market was yet to be explored, as most of the stalls were empty even on Tuesdays.
She alleged that most of the owners of the stalls had deserted the market because they found other places at the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra.
The Market Queen, Madam Elizabeth Akrong, confirmed that most of the traders selling outside the market had stalls.
Fortunately, the market she said had no challenge with the disposal of solid waste as workers of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, a waste company were always at hand to clear the garbage.
"My main problem is with the empty stalls and although I have tried to get the owners to occupy them, they have proven difficult", she said.
She, however, stated that although there was no proper security, the leaders of the market had engaged four young men to guard the market at a fee.
She requested that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in its effort to decongest the CBD area, relocate some of the bulk breaking markets such as yam, onion, pepper on the Old Fadam Road to the market to make it more vibrant.
"There is plenty of space in this market and we would be very happy to have them", she stated.

Ashiedu Keteke promises improved health insurance scheme

2009-11-11T03:47:00.001-08:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE government is committed to improving on the gains of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Administrative Director of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Nathaniel Otoo, has said.
Consequently, Mr Otoo, who was speaking at a community durbar on the NHIS organised by the Ashiedu Keteke Mutual Health Insurance Scheme, called on members of the public who had not yet registered to do so.
The NHIS, he said, was one of the most important government programmes aimed at improving the health of all Ghanaians, irrespective of gender and age.
“The government has committed itself to improving the implementation of the NHIS by undertaking a number of initiatives,” he said, and explained that they included a reform of the policy and its legislative framework and the implementation of a one-time premium payment for members of the scheme scheduled to begin next year.
The Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro is bordered at the south by the Gulf of Guinea, the west by the Korle Lagoon, moving northwards to hit the Graphic Road and then turning to the right along the Graphic Road to the Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) area and further eastwards along the road in front of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Kinbu School and then moving southwards along the road in front of the Rex Cinema through the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum to meet the Gulf of Guinea again.
With a population of 88,717 and a floating population of 200,000 daily, according to the 2000 population census, residents of Ashiedu Keteke, of which Ga Mashie is part, are mainly fishermen and traders.
Due to a reduction in income-generating activities, as a result of the relocation of the main harbour from James Town to Tema some years ago, a good number of the residents live in poverty and are, consequently, unable to access quality medical care.
The introduction of the NHIS, therefore, became a life saver for the people, most of whom said they registered immediately when it was introduced in October 2004.
Mr Otoo said public participation would be needed to ensure the success of the reforms and appealed to residents to support the NHIA to prevent impersonation by playing a watchdog role over the scheme to ensure its sustainability.
The NHIA, he warned, would deal drastically with anyone whose actions undermined the success of the scheme.
The Ashiedu Keteke Mutual Health Insurance Scheme was established in October 2004.
Since then, 100,454 clients had registered with the scheme, paying GH¢2,829,451 since November 2005 when claims administration began, according to the Scheme Manager, Mr Harold Kalevo.
The NHIS has so far benefited some 223,041 clients within the sub-metro since its inception.
Additionally, 23,417 pregnant women have also benefited from free maternal care since it started in July last year.
Mr Kalevo said the scheme currently had 15 service providers who extended medical care to those under the scheme within the sub-metro, adding that to ensure that more people benefited from the NHIS, “we have strategically established 15 registration centres across the sub-metro for easy registration”.
“Some of the clients have concerns and we felt the need to reach out to them through this durbar so that they can tell us what their problems with the scheme are and a solution found to them,” he explained.
Residents who participated in the durbar were screened for malaria, hepatitis B, diabetes and high blood pressure.

DeDeplorable places of convenience now death traps

2009-11-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME public places of convenience within the Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro of the Central Business District (CBD) of Accra are in deplorable states, thereby posing danger to both public health and lives of residents who depend solely on the facilities to attend to the call of nature.
The facilities, located at James Town, Korle Woko and Ayaalolo and constructed more than 50 years ago, have become more of death traps than places of convenience.
Some of the residents have consequently appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to replace the facilities before a tragedy occurred.
The sorry state of these facilities has rather increased the "free ranging" syndrome along the James Town beaches at Ga Mashie by some of the residents, ostensibly because of the stench and the inconveniences they had to endure before they could attend to the call of nature.
Ashiedu Keteke is a densely populated sub-metro, and according to the last 2000 Population Census, there are 88,717 people living in the area, with a floating population of about 200,000 daily from other parts of the metropolis and the country.
The Makola Market, which holds sway commercial activities in the entire Accra metropolis, is located within this area.
These facilities are very important, especially for women, since most homes do not have individual places of convenience .For some of the residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic in an interview, they were compelled to use the facilities because there was no alternative.
When contacted to comment on their concerns, the Sub-metro Director of Ashiedu Keteke, Mr Maxwell Gyima, said when he took over in May this year, he took a tour to various places, including those places of convenience and realised that they needed to be pulled down and a modern one constructed.
Describing the facilities as a nuisance and, indeed, an eyesore, Mr Gyimah said discussions were held with some private developers to pull down all the old facilities before constructing new ones.
"I am also very worried over the bad state of these facilities, but as it were, we can only replace them gradually,” he said.
He, however, assured the residents that the sub-metro was seeking for financial support to replace all the facilities by the middle of next year.
Construction work to replace some of the facilities have already begun, he said, and explained that an ongoing project to replace the one at Ayalolo had already been roofed and would soon be open to the public.

Cap. One of the six places of convenience located at James Town in the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro.

London market tidied up

2009-11-11T03:45:00.005-08:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has cleared the London Market in Accra of all illegal occupants who converted the once vibrant market into a residential place.
The exercise which followed the Daily Graphic's publication on the poor state of the market, saw the clearing of beds, mattresses and other domestic items used by the squatters.
Prior to the exercise, the market located at Ga Mashie in Accra, was sitting on an environmental time bomb because of the poor sanitary condition that prevailed there.
Following the eviction of the illegal occupants, sanitation conditions has significantly improved but it was obvious that more work needed to be done to transform the market, and make meat and other items sold there safer for members of the public.
The clearing of the squatters notwithstanding, the negative activities of butchers who use dirty water to wash the carcass of meat, continue to be a big source of worry to patrons of the market who insisted in an interview with the Daily Graphic that the AMA must ensure that clean water was used at all times.This is to safeguard the health of the people.
Madam Juliana Okai, a food vendor said she sometimes found the environment at the London Market repulsive, but was compelled to buy meat from there because it was close to her house.
The London Market is now home to affordable meat and serves residents of Korle Gonno, Mamprobi, Agege, Banana Inn and Kamara, all suburbs in the metropolis.
"I think that this market is a good one because it serves both the needs of residents of Ga Mashie and people outside this community. My appeal, however, is for the sub-metro in charge of this area to do something about the manner in which the butchers handle the meat”.
During a visit to the market recently, a few young men were busily washing the carcass of an animal in a basin filled with dark water, but they were not bothered by their action. Some of them even beckon this reporter to patronise their meat displayed on the floor or dirty tables.
Mr Gyimah said the sub-metro had taken some steps to address the poor handling of meat by instructing the butchers to use clean water, and environmental health officers have been visiting the market regularly to ensure compliance.
The butchers, he said, had also been asked to provide net over the tables to prevent contamination with houseflies as well as paint their structures to improve on the atheistic beauty of the market.

AMA set to achieve revenue target

2009-11-11T03:45:00.001-08:00

Metro page

Story. Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has embarked on an emergency revenue mobilisation exercise to retrieve about 60 per cent of its internally generated funds (IF) which have been locked up since the beginning of the year.
The exercise was preceded by a stern warning to revenue collectors of the assembly not to see it as an opportunity to enrich themselves.
Carbon shifting and other practices to divert funds of the assembly into individual’s pockets is still common, and this, according to some officials of the assembly, was only denying the AMA the much-needed funds to carry out development projects.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, issued the warning at a brief meeting prior to the exercise.
The exercise, according him, was scheduled to take place simultaneously in all the 11 sub-metros of the AMA.
Although the AMA budgeted to collect a total sum of GH¢ 40.4 million for this year, information from the Accounts Department of the assembly indicated that the performance was rather low as the assembly was able to collect just 34.9 per cent of its IGF at the first two quarters of this year.
A total of GH¢5.5 million was expected to be collected from property rates, but only GH¢2.5 had so far been collected.
The assembly also estimated to collect GH¢8.6 million from BOP and GH¢5.1 million from fees and fines, but with just two months to the close of the year, it had been able to collect only GH¢2.3 million for BOP and GH¢3.1 for fees and fines.
The AMA was expected to collect a total of GH¢22.2 million from BOP, property rates, fees and fines, which are collected from lorry parks and market tolls.
Members of the task force, assisted by police personel, moved from shops to demand receipts of business operating permit (BOP) paid for 2009.
The first shop visited was Amargos Enterprise, where shoes, shirts and other male items were sold.
The shop attendant who refused to mention her name said she had already paid up, but could not trace the receipt.
The AMA boss insisted that once she did not have receipt to prove payment, the shop would be locked up unless she made another payment.
The money, according to Mr Vanderpuije, would be refunded if she was able to produce the receipt for the first payment.
Other shops located on the Pagan Club Road of the central business district (CBD), including Musaid Sonic Enterprise and Glamour stores, claimed they had paid the owners of Musaid Sonic Enterprise who could not trace his receipt and had to pay again.
A request by one of the revenue collectors who said he had paid a 30 per cent penalty on the amount, which resulted in a scuffle.
On the first day, the team visited eight shops, which also included Maple Leaf Chemist, also located at the CBD.
Mr Vanderpuije explained that the exercise had become necessary, in view of the huge unpaid Moines in the system.
The AMA, he said, needed a lot of funds to undertake critical development projects for the Accra metropolis.
"The exercise will go on till December, and we will ensure that every penny due the assembly is collected,” he said.
He stated, for instance, that the assembly needed money to sustain the ongoing decongestive exercise of the CBD, Kaneshie and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Further, the assembly, he said, had also needed funds to undertake infrastructural projects, including building new schools, clinics as well as pay private waste contractors for the collection of solid waste from the city to the final disposal sites.

Korle Lagoon siltation reaches crisis point

2009-11-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE siltation of the Korle Lagoon has reached a crisis point and urgent measures are required to prevent the collapse of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP).
“Failure to address the current situation would cause the inability of the lagoon to serve as the main drainage route for floodwaters in the Odaw River basin and lead to the eventual destruction of aquatic life in the lagoon,” the Resident Engineer for the KLERP, Ms Theresa Aidoo, has said.
Currently, approximately one third of the lower lagoon (part of the lagoon close to the beach) is silted.
Further, a large portion of the lagoon near the Sodom and Gomorra slum is also silted with garbage to the extent that no water is seen at all.
Ms Aidoo told the Daily Graphic in Accra that Accra risked losing the lagoon if urgent measures were not taken to salvage the situation.
The problem, according to her, is compounded by the narrowing of the unlined part of the Odaw drain behind Sodom and Gomorra, which makes it nearly impossible for any form of desiltation of the upstream canals.
The continuous use of sawdust in stabilising the banks of the drain by residents of the slum to enable them to construct their wooden structures is also seriously affecting the condition of the lagoon.
Ms Aiddo said it was now ideal to carry out any form of dredging and desiltation works on the Korle Lagoon and its tributaries as the rains had stopped.
Dredging of the Korle Lagoon was completed in February 2009, she noted, adding that the prevailing condition of the lagoon required that it was dredged again without any delay.
The KLERP project commenced some 10 years ago and it was aimed at restoring the Korle Lagoon to its former state when aquatic life was abundant and consequently was a source of livelihood for fishermen living in and around the lagoon such as James Town and Chorkor.
Unfortunately however, the government has not been able to achieve this feat even though millions of dollars has already been expended on it.
The situation is largely attributed to the negative practices of squatters at Sodom and Gomorra who are illegally occupying a four-acre land on the Old Fadama Road.

Plight of Accra Mall traders

2009-11-09T04:43:00.000-08:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil)

THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has failed in its recent decongestion exercise to move hawkers and petty traders operating illegally at the central business district (CBD) of Accra and other commercial centres within the metropolis back to the pedestrian shopping mall at the Kwame Nkrumah circle in Accra as anticipated.
Consequently, traders operating at the mall are becomig desperate as patronage of their wares, keeps dropping daily.
According to them, patronage at the shopping mall was dropping because the hawkers who joined them after their eviction from the CBD had all gone back to their original locations.
They consequently called on the AMA to enforce its bye-laws against street hawking to get all the illegal traders off the streets of Accra into the mall to encourage more patronage.
When the Daily Graphic visited the mall on Tuesday, the section close to the main Kwame Nkrumah circle road was a little busy but of course not comparable to the heckling and presure felt at the CBD and Kaneshie.
Traders without customers to attend to, were seen chatting amongst themselves whilst a few others bargained with their clients.
With the exception of food stuffs, one can purchase all manner of items including new and second-hand clothes, textiles, jewelry, shoes and cooking utensils.
Traders plea to AMA, colleagues
Auntie Ataa is a 43 year old trader at the mall. She started selling after she got her allocation from the AMA some three years ago.
She is one of those few traders who have not yet given up hope on the market and is still displaying her wares in the midst of empty stalls at the side of the mall popularly referred to as ‘Tuobodom’.
For more than three years, Auntie Atta has been selling her textiles in the most desolate part of the market along with two others who also sell second-hand underwears and polythene bags.
There are nearly 4,000 stalls at ‘Tuobodom’ but beside Auntie Ataa and her two friends and two other traders who had occupied that part of the mall, all the others are empty.
Meanwhile, the construction of a warehouse and police post was still ongoing at the time of the visit.
“Sales are bad but I have no where to go. There are times when I do not even sell a piece of textile in a whole month”, she said, adding that the only consolation for her was that she had some people who bought the textiles in large quantities on wholesale basis. “That is what is keeping me going”, she said.
Like Auntie Ataa, many of the traders this reporter spoke to expressed similar sentiments and appealed to the AMA to force traders to use the market which was built with the tax payers money.
Auntie Ataa, Naa Anorkor and Ms Leticia Annor are currently the three trio who have braced the storms and kept faith with the AMA by selling continuosly at Tuobodom area since the opening of the market.
Ironically, Ms Anorkor said she did not get an allocation although she applied for one and suggested that the AMA should re-allocate the stalls to people who had the desire to sell their wares there.
For Naa Anorkor sales were not that low since she was able to sell GH¢35 of her wares on the average everyday.
She discounted claims that the market had been turned into a haven for criminals who had converted sections of it into their place of residence.
“We have enough security personnel here, anytime they see people resting in any of the sheds, they sack them”, she stated.
How it started
The AMA having evicted hawkers and petty traders at the CBD of Accra and Kaneshie in its first decongestion exercise in 2005, decided to provide an alternative market where the traders can convieniently and safely sell their wares.
Severally, the AMA searched for a suitable land which could accomodate the thousands of these traders who sold rather dangerously on the streets, shoulders of roads and pavements.
They finally settled on Odorna because the land was big enough but they had to clear heaps of garbage since it was used as a sanitary site.
After Zoomlion Ghana Limited had cleared the heap, work on the construction of the mall started in 2006 and was completed early 2007.
Facilities at the mall estimated to cost hundreds of Ghana Cedis included an open spa ce for 1,000 hawkers, a sanitary site, places of convinience, a shower, a lorry park and a large market to contain stalls.
The market was also planned to have a fire post, a warehouse, a creche among other facilities under the second phase of the project.
Additionally, the mall was also to be extended by 400 metres to accomodate traders who sold food items at the Salaga market.
The irony of the situation is that, traders at the time were ready to part with as much as GH¢500 although they were just required to pay GH¢200 to get a space. Further more, they also financed the mounting of their stalls.
Conditions at the mall
Today, the stalls are decaying with no one to sell in them whilst traders are playing hide and seek with AMA guards who have been postioned at the CBD and Kaneshie to arrest recalcitrant traders.
Apart from the risk of getting arrested and prosecuted, traders also inhaled on daily basis, dust from fast moving vehicles not to talk about fumes, while the health implications from selling directly under the sun is also another issue that these traders have not yet assessed.
After three years of operations, toilet facilities at the mall are still clean, compared to the situation in Accra and Kaneshie where these traders do not have any convinient places to attend to the call of nature or urinate.
But for a few empty sachet wrappers that had been littered on the floor around the lorry park at the time of the visit, sanitation conditions in the mall was also very good.
Warning Signal
A section of the fence wall near the Sahara park side of the mall has caved in, a situation which is dangerous for both traders and patrons of the mall. The traders, therefore appealed to the AMA to, as a matter of urgency rehabilitate the wall before any tragedy occurs.
The Way Forward
According to Naa Anorkor, the AMA must remove the lorry park and sanitary sites which isolate their part of the market and make it more accessible to patrons of the mall.
“When this is done, I believe more of the traders will come and then we will have a vibrant market”.
The assembly must also be resilient in getting the traders off the CBD of Accra, Kaneshie and other illegal areas where they were currently selling, she said.

Ultimatum to squatters expires

2009-11-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Front page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE ultimatum issued by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to squatters at Sodom and Gomorra to provide evidence of legal occupation or vacate the area expired yesterday with none of the residents complying with any of the directives.
According to the Head of Metro Works of the AMA, Mr Carl Henry Clerk, none of the squatters had been able to produce a permit for the concrete structures they had constructed in the slum nor proved ownership of the land they were occupying.
He told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday that consequent to that, the AMA would advise itself on the next step of demolishing the illegal structures at the place formerly called Old Fadama.
This is the second time this year that the assembly has served notices to the squatters to remind them of their illegal occupation of the area and the need for them to voluntarily vacate the place before the intended demolition exercise.
“Take notice that you are hereby required on or before the urgent day of September 30, 2009 by a statement in writing under your hand or the hand of some person duly authorised in that behalf by you and served upon the metropolitan chief executive to show cause why you have constructed a concrete block building without authorisation from the city authority,” the notice said.
According to the notice, signed by the Metropolitan Engineer of the AMA on September 22, 2009, “the structures have been constructed in contravention of the Local Government Act 462 of 1993, Section 64 Subsections two and three and should, therefore, be demolished”.
Some workers of the assembly, including officials at the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro, had served occupants of the area living in concrete structures with notices, daring their owners to produce their permits or peacefully vacate the area before the deadline.
An exercise to mark the illegal structures in the area on Monday, September 28, 2009, however, failed as some opinion leaders led by Mr Razak Salifu, pleaded with the officials to engage in further dialogue before any demolition exercise was carried out.
Workers of the AMA had stormed the area at 10:20 a.m., with police escort, armed with red paint and brushes to mark all the structures, Mr Razak said, adding that after several pleadings with the officials, they went back to their office “without even entering the slum”.
A resident of the area, Mr Abdulai Wumbe, who has stayed in the slum for 18 years, having fled the Nanumba and Kokomba War in the 1990s, pleaded with the government to restore peace in the north so that they could go back.
“When there is peace, I will go back. I have a wife, seven children and two grandchildren and I cannot take them back to a region that is not peaceful,” he said.
A People’s National Convention (PNC) parliamentary candidate in the last general election, Baba Imoro, also resident at Sodom and Gomorra, indicated that economic circumstances had brought most of them into the capital and that “we all have homes back in the north. If anybody says he or she has nowhere to go, it is a lie”.
These statements notwithstanding, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, is optimistic that the exercise will be pulled through soon, noting that the notices and markings are initial steps being taken by the assembly to sensitise the squatters to the exercise.
“We know they do not have permits but it is a procedure which we must follow,” he said.
Squatters of the slum, however, insist that the government must find them an alternative place before any demolition is carried out.
Mr Vanderpuije stated that if the people failed to move voluntarily, the assembly would be compelled to forcibly evict them.
“The AMA says the place must go and the government has not said otherwise,” he answered when this reporter tried to find out whether the assembly had the government’s support for the exercise.
He explained that officials of the assembly served ‘vacate’ notices on the people some two months ago.
The notices were aimed at preparing them for the exercise, he said.

PRAIRIE Volta Limited introduces new rice variety

2009-10-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Back page lead of Oct. 19, 2009

Story. Naa Lamiley Bentil
PRAIRIE Volta Limited, a local rice production company at Aveyimi in the Volta Region, has harvested 500 tons of Presidio, a long grain variety from the United States of America, which is expected to be on the local market now.
At the moment, the company was in the process of harvesting Jasmin, another long grain perfumed rice variety, also from the USA, on an 80 -acre land with "incredible results", the Chief Operating Officer of the Company, Mr John VanDyke-Mensah stated in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
New planting on 300- acres is also expected in December, to be followed with another planting on 150-acres in January, next year.
The company, according to Mr VanDyke-Mensah, is deploying all resources, financial and human, into land development to increase its acreage in order to produce more rice for the local market.
Praire Volta, since its commencement, has cleared 875 acres of land, rough- plowed 800 acres, while 600 acres is at various stages of development.
It managed to plant 400 acres of rice in its first planting and 200 in the second season and has so far harvested 250 acres.
It is estimated that Ghana imports about 400,000 tons of rice at the cost of about $600 million annually.
Mr VanDyke-Mensah, who was full of optimism, stated that, "there is incredible potential within our reach. All we need is just a little push".
So far, Prairie Volta Limited, a subsidiary company of Prairie Texas of the USA has injected $12.4 million into revamping equipment which had been left untouched since 1990.
That notwithstanding, Mr VanDyke-Mensah said it had become critical for the company to aquire new tractors, as the six Jondier and Kase tractors it inherited from the previous company broke down constantly, delaying the clearing of fields and consequently planting.
The Jondier and Kase tractors, according to him, did not exist in the sub-region and so getting experts to maintain and rehabilitate them has become difficult.
" We need at least four new tractors to be able to clear our fields rapidly and plant enough rice to make an impact on the market", he said.
An agricultural aircraft which was bought by the previous managers had broken down when Prairie Volta Limited took over and although it had so far spent some $250,000 to rehabilitate it, Mr VanDyke-Mensah said there were still technical problems that had to be resolved before it could be used.
Prairie Volta Limited has 3,177 acres of land strategically located near the Volta Lake for easy irrigation and has also negotiated for another 4,400 acres at Animle in the Ga Dangme area of the Greater Accra Region.
It now owns 40 per cent shares in the one year-six month old company while the government and the Ghana Commercial Bank , (GCB), have 30 per cent shares each.
The decade- old abandoned rice plantation project bounced back to life into the hands of Prairie Texas of the USA in May, 2008, but it was not until February, this year that the company planted its first seed on an 85- acre land.
Mr VanDyke-Mensah expressed confidence in the quality of Aveyimi rice and said so far 175 tons have been sold.

Aveyimi Rice on the market at last

2009-10-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

Special Feature

The much-awaited perfume rice from the Praire Volta Limited at Aveyime in the Volta Region has finally arrived on the local market.
The quality of the rice which is comparable to that of imported varieties, is catching on with consumers and the situation has put pressure on the company to increase production.
So far 14,000 bags of 25 kilogrammes of the rice have been released on the market.
The Finance Manager of the company, Mr Richard Amoasi-Andoh, who spoke to the Daily Graphic in an interview at Aveyime said although the Praire Volta rice hit the Ghanaian market just this year, the demand was very high and there was pressure on the company to increase production to meet the demand.
"Ot of the forty registered distributors, we are currently only able to supply to six distributors in Accra and Tema in Greater Accra, Ho in Volta and Takoradi in the Western" Region, he said, adding that the there was now a distributor for Kumasi but the person was yet to take off.
The Aveyime rice project was started by the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government under former President Rawlings with a US$20million fund at a time when Ghana's rice import stood at US$100million annually.
The maiden production described largely as successful yielded 10,000 bags of 25 kilogrammes of Jasmin, an aromatic rice from the United States of America (USA).
"Yield was very good. We anticipated six metric tonnes per hectare but we got 6.5 instead," Mr Amoasi-Andoh said.
Praire Volta Limited has a 3,177 acres of land strategically located near the Volta Lake for easy irrigation but officials of the company says, they would require about 20,000 acres of land to produce 100,000 metric tonnes of rice annually if they are to make an impact at reducing Ghana's rice importation.
It is estimated that Ghana imports about$600million worth of rice annually. The decade old abandoned rice plantation project bounced back to life into the hands of Praire Texas of the USA in May 2008 but it was not until February this year that the company planted its first seed on an 85 acre land.
Explaning the delay in planting, Mr Amoasi-Andoh said "taking off was very difficult because the facilities had been left untouched for nearly ten years."
Praire Volta Limited, a subsidiary company of Praire Texas of the USA, injected some $13 million to revamp the decayed, rusted equipment which had been left untouched since 1990, he said.
An agricultural aircraft which wa b ought by the previous managers had broken down when Praire Volta Limited took over and had to spend some $250,000 to rehabilitate it.
The company has produced 350 metric tonnes of rice over the last three quartrs of this year but that nothwithstanding, officials including expatriats from the USA are optimistic of producing 15,000 metric tonnes of rice in the next five years to capture a sizeable number of rice eating Ghanaians through the efficient cultivation of its 3,177 acres of land located near the Volta Lake.
Praire Volta Limited now owns 40 per cent shares in the one year-six month old comapny while the government and the Ghana Commercial Bank(GCB)have 30 per cent shares each.
To ensure variety, the company has undertaken trial test of some foreign rice including the Jasmin and Presidio, both long grain rice from the USA and Ciera. Trial test have also been carried out on seeds from Brazil, Asia and Ghana.
Praire Volta is presently negotiating for yet another 5,000 acres of land also located along the Volta Lake to increase its production, Mr Amoasi-Andoh said.
The country, he said, would need about five, the capacity of Praire Volta Limited to totally end its rice importation.
He described their current impact on the local market, as just a drop" We are aware of the demand and are working very hard to meet those expectations," he said.
The Field Operations Manager of the company, Mr John Paul confirmed that the aircraft had been repaired and would be used to spray the next rice filed with fertiliser.
The Praire Volta has eight rice fields and according to Mr Paul, two of the fields would be harvested next month, another two had jest been plated and the remaining four, were at various stages of preparation for planting this year.
When the Daily Graphic tema visited the rice fields, located 17 kilometres away from the production plant, two tractors were at work, preparing a 75 acre field for planting.
Government intervention is also needed in the areas of fuel and fertiliser subsidy since the cost of preparing the land for planting was vey high, Mr Amoasi-Andoh said.
"We spend about 34,000 to clear the land for planting," he said.
Another major setback to our effort to expand is land litigation, he said and appealed to the government to acquire lands on their behalf to make the acquisition much simpler.
The Praire Volta Limited rice looks and smells just like the imported rice.
Although it grows brown, it is polished at the mill because according to Mr Amoasi-Andoh, most Ghanaians preferred the refined rice even though the brown rice is much healthier," he said.
Indeed the operations of the company has offered job opportunities to the local people some of whom have been employed as millers, masons, carpernters, welders, farmers, mechanics and administrative staff.
Praire Volta has a total of 89 permanent staff and 111 casual labourers recruited locally and six expatrites.
Its assets inherited from the previous managers include an agricultural aircraft, threee mack trucks used to car the rice from the farms to the mill, 52 pumps used to irrigate the farms, three combined harvestors and different sizes of silos which could store up to 70,000 metric tonnes of rice annually.

7 Upgrading courses for practising engineers

2009-10-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

News page of Wed Oct. 14, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SEVEN modular courses have been designed by the College of Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, for practising engineers who desire to further their education to the Master’s degree level.
Consequently, a stakeholders forum has been organised to collate ideas for the introduction of the programme.
The programme, which has a management training attached to it, has its modules as Energy System Engineering, Industrial Operations, Building Services, Electrical Power System, Petroleum, Maintenance and Railway Transportation.
The Provost of the College of Engineers, Professor Francis Momade, who listed the modules when he addressed stakeholders, emphasised that the programme was meant for practising engineers who wished to broaden their knowledge and skills to enhance their capabilities.
He said the programme would provide a blend of technical and managerial content designed to prepare the engineers for leadership positions.
To qualify, Professor Momade said, applicants must be holders of Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in engineering from a recognised university with at least four years post-graduate work experience in an engineering or a related field.
Mr Momade said one of the objectives of the programme was to help the engineers to understand and apply modern management concepts and entreated stakeholders who had practised for several years in foreign countries to contribute objectively to the discussion to come up with a solid programme.
The Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Omane Boamah, lauded the university for the initiative, saying that it would save the country the huge sums of money used to train similar engineers abroad.
Dr Boamah said, however, that the Master’s programme must be designed to include Environmental Sanitation and Waste Management to deal with the myriad of waste problems confronting the nation.

Sodom and Gomorrah will go-Vanderpuije

2009-10-02T08:38:00.001-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says it intends to carry out its planned demolition and eviction of squatters at the Sodom and Gomorra very soon.
“ The decision to demolish illegal structures and evict squatters at the Sodom and Gomorra has not changed”, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije stated this in an interview with the Daily Graphic after an assembly meeting on Friday.,
The AMA’s confirmation of the exercise is, however, contrary to an earlier government directive that the assembly should make provision to either relocate or pay compensation to residents in the squalor, believe to be the largest slum in Ghana with a population of about 45,000.
“I cannot start something that I know that I cannot finish. Paying compensation or relocating squatters is out of the question”, he said.
According to him, the Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa did not speak on behalf of the AMA and the assembly reserved the right to undertake projects and programmes that would speed up the development of Accra, the national capital.
Briefing members of the assembly, departmental heads and other officials of the assembly, Mr Vanderpuije described conditions at the slum as simply unacceptable which required an urgent action to deal with it.
The population in the slum he said had doubled over the last few years and indications that “ it will keep growing if we do nothing about it now”
“I am not calling anybody at the Sodom and Gomorra a criminal”, he said but quickly added that police reports which was made available to the assembly indicated that there were criminals who lived in the slum.
At the meeting, members expressed misgivings over the government’s directive and described the decision as an interference in their work and insisted that the strides made so far towards the eviction exercise must be allowed to go through.
“Further delay may jeopardise the chances of the AMA ever removing the squatters”, they conceded.
“ Government decision is in bad taste”, a member of the assembly, Mr Philip Lamptey said and added that “ the conditions under which the people live is against human rights”.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the AMA has spent close to one billion cedis towards the eviction exercise.
“Work has already started and about one billion spent on the preparation towards the exercise, an assembly member stated”.
Representatives of various committees in the assembly including those of education, environmental sanitation and health endorsed the decision and appealed to Mr Vanderpuije to be resolute in the decision to remove the squatters.
“We are in full support of this exercise”, they said in unison.
Government on Friday announced that it had decided to relocate or compensate squaters at the Sodom and Gomorra prior to an eviction exercise.
It consequently directed the AMA and the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordating Council to engaged the squaters to identify those eligible for relocation or compensation.

Fuel crisis hits Ghana

2009-10-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Front page story in Sept.
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
From the national capital, Accra, to regional capitals and some urban centres across the country, there were reports of widespread shortage of fuel yesterday, compelling some drivers to cash in on the situation.
Drivers formed long queues at some fuel stations, waiting impatiently for supplies, while many commuters became stranded as means of transport was difficult to come by, especially in areas where there was no fuel.
Some fuel filling stations visited by the Daily Graphic had indicated that there was no petrol, while others said they expected fuel.
In Accra, Naa Lamiley Bentil reports that most filling stations across the national capital did not have the product at the time the Daily Graphic visited them on Monday.
At the Tesano Shell Filling Station, for instance, the supervisor, Mr Prosper Segkuu, in an interview, stated, “There is no drop of Super in our reserve.”
According to him, the station had not had supplies for nearly four days, although its tankers had been dispatched to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) last Thursday.
As of last Friday, Mr Segkuu said, the station had about 6,000 litres of Super and 4,000 litres of V-Power but that had all been sold.
“We are only able to sell Diesel,” he said.
“An unofficial feedback we have received from TOR indicates that there will be supply by the close of today,” he added.
The supervisor at the Apenkwa Total Filling Station, opposite Papaye Fast Foods, Mr Paa Kojo Yankson, also stated that his station had not had supplies for about three days.
“We have dispatched two tankers to TOR since last Thursday but we still do not have any supply,” he said.
The filling station, he said, received 36,000 litres of petrol a week but for about three weeks now “we have only been receiving 9,000 litres instead and now nothing at all”.
Prior to the shortage, Mr Yankson said, it had about 15,000 litres but that was sold over the weekend.
“Without any information from TOR, the situation could get bad if it continues like this,” he stated, adding that the station was losing its customers.
The Manager at the Mallam Filling Station, Mr Samuel Yeboah, expressed worry over the regular fuel shortage, saying, “This is serious because without the product, we are not in business.”
“We sold the 3,000 litres we had in our reserve and now it is empty. We made our orders last Thursday but we have not had any supply yet,” he said.
The Total Filling Station at Adabraka, however, had about 20,000 litres of petrol at the time of the visit, the supervisor, Mr Huebert Naani, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
According to him, the station had not yet experienced any shortage and was currently awaiting the supply of 36,000 litres this week.
From Sunyani, Samuel Duodu reports that there is fuel shortage in many parts of Sunyani.
The situation has compelled users of the product, especially commercial vehicles and particularly taxi drivers, to park their cars at home, a situation which has affected the movement of people and goods in the municipality since last Friday.
Almost all the filling stations visited had the inscription “NO PETROL” boldly written on wooden boards.
As a result of the notices, there were no queues of vehicles or gallons waiting in anticipation of petrol.
However, the situation was different at the Oando Filling Station at Kotokrom on the Sunyani-Techiman road where a worker at the station who refused to mention his name said there was petrol.
According to him, the station was a new one and it was scheduled to begin operations yesterday.
As of the time of filing this report, there were long queues of vehicles and gallons formed at the Goil Filling Station at Sunyani Zongo and, according to some of the filling station attendants, their station had a limited quantity of G-Plus.
“Looking at the trend, the limited quantity we have could get finished by the close of day,” they stated.
According to some of the fuel station managers who spoke to the Daily Graphic team that visited their stations to confirm the shortage on condition of anonymity, requests for the supply of petrol were made two to four weeks ago but they had only rather been supplied with Diesel by TOR.
They said there was abundant supply of Diesel, as well as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), in the system but what was not in supply and on sale at their various stations was petrol, which majority of vehicles, both commercial and private, used in the municipality.
Meanwhile, commercial drivers, especially taxi drivers, in the municipality have appealed to the government to ensure adequate supply of the product.
Enoch Darfah Frimpong reports from Kumasi that the situation is similar to the one prevailing in Accra and Sunyani.
Visits to many filling stations revealed widespread shortage of fuel in parts of the metropolis.
The situation has also resulted in panic buying in the metropolis.
The few stations which had fuel yesterday had long queues of vehicles looking for some of the product to buy.
Out of the 20 fuel stations visited by the Daily Graphic in the metropolis, only the stations at Akwatialine, Airport Roundabout and Kentinkrono had petrol.
Fuel stations such as the Asafo Goil Filling Station, the Total Station at Labour, Unity Oil at Stadium, Ahodwo GOIL, Sofoline, Amakom Traffic Light Shell and Akwatialine Total had all run out of petrol at the time of the visit.
The managers complained of insufficient and irregular supplies in recent times and said the situation was impeding their services.
From Koforidua, A. Kofoya-Tetteh reports that almost all the petrol filling stations in the New Juaben municipality had been without premium petrol since Friday, September 25.
That had compelled motorists, especially taxi drivers, to switch to Super Plus petrol, popularly referred to as V-Power, which is more expensive than ordinary petrol.
The situation worsened yesterday because the V-Power and diesel were also virtually been sold out.
Filling stations such as the three Total stations had all their stock of ordinary petrol and the V-Power run out at noon yesterday and the salesmen who were idling did not know when new deliveries would be made.
An attendant at the Total Filling Station near the main lorry park said the station had taken delivery of only 1,000 gallons of premium petrol yesterday so it had to ration it at four gallons per buyer, which also sold out within three hours.
At the Shell Filling Station at Betom, the only station within the centre of Koforidua which had some suppliers, a long queue had been formed by drivers of commercial vehicles, especially taxi drivers, to buy the commodity.
According to Mr Richard Owusu Poku, the Cluster Business Manager for Shell filling stations in the Eastern Region, his outfit had petrol which it was selling at its stations.
However, in spite of the shortage of petrol, commercial activities seemed not disturbed because many taxis use gas.
One taxi driver, Richard Owusu, said the situation had made him to make more money so he had no problem rendering a daily account of GH¢14.5 to the owner of the vehicle.
From Takoradi, Kwame Asiedu Marfo reports that most filling stations in the metropolis have run out of fuel.
Those fuel filling stations which have little in stock are likely to run out of supplies if the situation is not improved shortly.
The situation has created panic buying of fuel in the metropolis because of fears that the shortage will go on for a long time.
At the Marshall of Our Lady Star of the Sea Cathedral Church Shell Filling Station, Mr James Grant said there was fuel at the station at the weekend but it ran out of stock yesterday.
He said the station had placed an order for supplies and was expecting fuel yesterday.
A supervisor at the Total Filling Station near the Takoradi Central Market (Market Circle), Nana Owusu Afriyie, said the station had 7,000 litres of fuel but said that was likely to run out of stock because of panic buying.
Most of the petrol filling stations in the Wa municipality either had little stock of fuel or did not have at all when the Daily Graphic visited them, reports Chris Nunoo from Wa.
At the Allied Filling Station close to the Upper West Regional offices of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), for instance, many people trickled in to fill the tanks of their motorcycles when they heard about the lack of stock at many stations, especially the major filling stations.
Mr Francis Kuatsikor, the Station Manager of Wa Total Filling Station, however allayed the fears of residents when the Daily Graphic visited his station.
“I am aware that some of the stations have more and we are also expecting some stock in the course of the week,” he noted.
He blamed TOR for the problem and expressed the hope that the situation would normalise in the shortest possible time.
Meanwhile, many motorists in the municipality have expressed disappointment at the frequent fuel shortage and urged the government to rise up to the task.
They said they were fed up with the shortage, since it did not only affect motorists but the country’s economy as well.
“The government must do something immediately to correct the situation before it gets out of hand,” they told the Daily Graphic.
The fuel shortage crisis in Ho started last Friday morning when vehicle owners went to the various fuel stations only to meet boards with bold inscriptions that said “NO PETROL”, reports Victor Kwawukume from Ho.
The shortage occurred at the time of the Asogli Yam Festival which drew people from near and far to the regional capital to witness this year’s occasion.
The situation persisted throughout the weekend but did not affect the jubilant mood that prevailed in Ho as vehicle owners parked their vehicles and joined in the various street carnivals that went on at various parts of the city.
Observers said the fact that most taxi drivers in the Ho municipality had switched to gas could account for the absence of anxiety and commotion that usually accompanied such situations.
As of the time of filing this report, the various station managers that the Daily Graphic had spoken to gave the assurance that they had consignments on the way and that the situation should normalise by the close of the day.

Ultimatum to squatters expires

2009-10-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

Front page story in Sept. 1, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE ultimatum issued by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to squatters at Sodom and Gomorra to provide evidence of legal occupation or vacate the area expired yesterday with none of the residents complying with any of the directives.
According to the Head of Metro Works of the AMA, Mr Carl Henry Clerk, none of the squatters had been able to produce a permit for the concrete structures they had constructed in the slum nor proved ownership of the land they were occupying.
He told the Daily Graphic in an interview yesterday that consequent to that, the AMA would advise itself on the next step of demolishing the illegal structures at the place formerly called Old Fadama.
This is the second time this year that the assembly has served notices to the squatters to remind them of their illegal occupation of the area and the need for them to voluntarily vacate the place before the intended demolition exercise.
“Take notice that you are hereby required on or before the urgent day of September 30, 2009 by a statement in writing under your hand or the hand of some person duly authorised in that behalf by you and served upon the metropolitan chief executive to show cause why you have constructed a concrete block building without authorisation from the city authority,” the notice said.
According to the notice, signed by the Metropolitan Engineer of the AMA on September 22, 2009, “the structures have been constructed in contravention of the Local Government Act 462 of 1993, Section 64 Subsections two and three and should, therefore, be demolished”.
Some workers of the assembly, including officials at the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro, had served occupants of the area living in concrete structures with notices, daring their owners to produce their permits or peacefully vacate the area before the deadline.
An exercise to mark the illegal structures in the area on Monday, September 28, 2009, however, failed as some opinion leaders led by Mr Razak Salifu, pleaded with the officials to engage in further dialogue before any demolition exercise was carried out.
Workers of the AMA had stormed the area at 10:20 a.m., with police escort, armed with red paint and brushes to mark all the structures, Mr Razak said, adding that after several pleadings with the officials, they went back to their office “without even entering the slum”.
A resident of the area, Mr Abdulai Wumbe, who has stayed in the slum for 18 years, having fled the Nanumba and Kokomba War in the 1990s, pleaded with the government to restore peace in the north so that they could go back.
“When there is peace, I will go back. I have a wife, seven children and two grandchildren and I cannot take them back to a region that is not peaceful,” he said.
A People’s National Convention (PNC) parliamentary candidate in the last general election, Baba Imoro, also resident at Sodom and Gomorra, indicated that economic circumstances had brought most of them into the capital and that “we all have homes back in the north. If anybody says he or she has nowhere to go, it is a lie”.
These statements notwithstanding, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, is optimistic that the exercise will be pulled through soon, noting that the notices and markings are initial steps being taken by the assembly to sensitise the squatters to the exercise.
“We know they do not have permits but it is a procedure which we must follow,” he said.
Squatters of the slum, however, insist that the government must find them an alternative place before any demolition is carried out.
Mr Vanderpuije stated that if the people failed to move voluntarily, the assembly would be compelled to forcibly evict them.
“The AMA says the place must go and the government has not said otherwise,” he answered when this reporter tried to find out whether the assembly had the government’s support for the exercise.
He explained that officials of the assembly served ‘vacate’ notices on the people some two months ago.
The notices were aimed at preparing them for the exercise, he said.

World Water Week opens

2009-10-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

August story
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden
Sponsor: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
PLAYERS in the water and environmental sanitation sector the world over have met in Stockholm in Sweden for this year’s World Water Week.
The World Water Week is a global conference which focuses on major issues affecting the Water, Sanitation and Hygeine, WASH, with a view to annex practical solutions to them.
The week which started on Sunday, August 16, 2009 and organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) brought under one roof organizations, businesses, experts and politicians in the WASH sector.
The World Water Week which was first held in 1991 and has since become a platform where people in water and sanitation related fields from across Africa, Europe, Asia, America among others meet every year to share ideas, find partners and funding for water and environmental sanitation related projects..
There are some 2,400 registered participants who are taken part in this year’s conference on the theme “Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good”.
With hundreds of participants and exhibitors, the week provides a fertile ground for building partnerships and networking geared towards a more sustainable water resource management across the world.
Among participants at this years week are representatives of the Gobal Water Partnership which is chaired by Madam Letitia Obeng of Ghana, the IRC Internatioal Water and Sanitation Centre, which is also running a live online tv programme in collaboration with SIWI and Akvo, an IT based organization

Naa Lamiley attends World Water Week

2009-10-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

August story
A senior reporter with the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Naa Lamiley Bentil, has been selected by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre to participate and provide coverage for this year’s World Water Week at Stockholm, Sweden.
Mrs Bentil, who specialises in environmental sanitation reporting, and is a member of the Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (WATSAN), currently being supported by WaterAid Ghana.
IRC, which is also participating in this year’s week, is an organisation that aims at bridging the knowledge gap for improved, low-cost water supply, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries and consequently desires a comprehensive report of the issues that would be discussed at the water week.
World Water Week 2009 began from Monday August 16, 2009 and will end on Friday August 21, this year during which special attention would be given to the issue of transboundary basins for a co-ordinated policy development and co-management of such water bodies.
Participants from across the globe are also expected to discuss, among other things, issues pertaining to the environment, sanitation and their impact on global water resources.
The week which is being organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) “is an annual meeting place for the planet’s most urgent water-related issues”, the Mayor of Stockholm, Mr Sten Nordin, has said.
It brings together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the world to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions.
The theme for this year is: “Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good.”
According to a report issued by SIWI, sections of this year’s programme would analyse specific cases to evaluate policy mixes in different settings.
Other issues that would be discussed during the week-long programme includes Wise-use of Land and Water Resources: Balancing Competing Claims for Water, Food, Energy and Ecosystems, Unite for Children – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools and Dialogue on Transboundary Waters – structured approaches would be used to realise the benefits for all.
While discussing solutions to the world’s pressing water and its related problems, participants are also expected to celebrate the accomplishments of those whose outstanding efforts were already improving the water environment by bringing water and basic sanitation to those in need as well as increase people’s knowledge of water.
Such personalities and organisations would consequently be honoured through various awards that have been planned as part of the World Water Week 2009.
Some of these awards are the Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Junior Water Prize and Stockholm Industry Water Award.
Around the globe, access to water is becoming ever more constrained by the dual problems of growing demand and more erratic availability. According to the organisers, participants would explore the circumstances that would promote access to water for various populations in different contexts bringing onboard other factors such as goods and services produced or sustained from water, as well as the sensitive ecosystems.
“Water crosses boundaries both within and between nations. A policy for the common good entails approaches that generate positive outcomes for different entities, such as developed and developing countries and diverse social groups”, the organisers stated.
Similarly, the media across the globe are pitching their camp at Stockholm in anticipation of disseminating issues that affected the world most - water with the rest of the world’s population.

World Water Week ends

2009-10-02T08:29:00.004-07:00

August story

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden
African leaders including Ghana will have to double their efforts to provide 30 million people on the continent with safe drinking water annually for the next six years in order to offset a deficit of some 320 million people who do not have access to water today.
This is crucial if they are to meet demands of the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs).
Statistics indicate that half of Ghana’s population today do not have access to water.
The Executive Director of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), Mr Bai-Moss Taal said this at a gathering of water and sanitation experts for the closing ceremony of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
According to him, Africa and Asia were the two countries who risked not meeting the MGDs with a large number of its population still struggling to have access to basic sanitation and water.
African leaders, he said must stop the talking and begin to back promises and pledges made in the past with action in order to improve the living condition of their people.
“Its time to walk the talk”, he said.
“We must begin to close the sanitation and access to water gap but we cannot achieve this if we continue with the business as usual attitude. This attitude will not help Africa and Asia to meet the MDGs”, he said.
Other speakers indicated that the current effects of climate change which was making water stressed nations more dry and floods in areas with water must be addressed with urgency.
Earlier, the First Vice-president of the Pan-African Parliament, Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi told a group of European Unions that Africa desired to have a compensation package from the developed nations that would improve the living conditions of its people and not just enrich the pockets of few greedy leaders.
Compensation from the developed world must come in the form of special projects and knowledge sharing to improve on the lives all Africans and “not funds that would be later stashed in Swiss accounts”, he said.
Africa’s contribution towards Green House Gas (GHG) emission is very little and yet it suffers from the effects of the negative climatic changes which include drought and floods.
Mr Amadi called on African parliamentarians to begin to spearhead the campaign against climate change before it was too late.
“Africa is already vulnerable, lakes, rivers and streams are dying up”, he said and explained that the situation had caused strife among trans-boundary countries due to migration.
“The situation has gone beyond poverty. It is now an issue of water, food security and strife”, he stated further.

Dr Pathak, a sanitation ambassador for Indian

2009-10-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

August story
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden

Forty years of devotion to the environmental sanitation sector has earned Dr Bindeswar Pathak of India the enviable Stockholm Water Prize for 2009, presented to a personality whose work has impacted positively on lives. Dr Pathak’s achievement is a win for all Indians as by his sheer intervention, more than ten million Indians now have access to public places of convenience daily. Hitherto, most men, women and children had to defecate in the open, which came with its own environmental problems.
Of even greater achievement is the fight he won for young women who were enslaved to serve as scavengers cleaning bucket toilets manually. The plight of the scavengers, mostly women, was so dire that it became a burden for Dr Pathak, establishing the Sulabh International Social Service Organization as a solution to end the inhuman activity.
“The human scavengers were treated as untouchables and they were hated, humiliated and insulted by the people for whom they used to work, the untouchables caste died as an untouchable”, he said.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview after the opening ceremony of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Dr Pathak recounted the shabby treatment that the scavengers were subjected to and his desire to reverse the trend.
Establishing the Sulabh is aimed at addressing three key problems Dr Sulabh identified. These are the open defecation, the manual cleaning of buckets toilets by scavengers and providing adequate toilets for the populous India.
“To stop defacation in the open and to end the practice of manual cleaning of human excreta by scavengers, a technology was needed. Ideas have to change the world”, he said.
Dr Pathak intervened with a breakthrough technology, the Sulabh Shauchalaya twin pit, pour-flush toilet system which is currently being used in more than 1.2 million residences and buildings built by Sulabh.
The United Nations (UN) Habitat and Centre for Human Settlements has declared the technology a Global Best Practice.
The Sulabh public toilets and bath facilities are located at some 7,500 sites serving more than 10 million people daily.
Women and children use the Sulabh toilets and bath for free whilst men pay one dollar to use them for a whole month.
Born to Brahmin family in 1943 and raised in the India state of Bihar, Dr Pathak attended Patna University where he earned an M.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in English, a Ph.D. in ‘Liberation of Scavengers through low cost sanitation” and a Doctorate of Literature in “Eradication of Scavenging and environmental sanitation in India: a sociology study”.

New Shopping Mall for Accra

2009-10-02T08:17:00.000-07:00

August Story

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE four acres near the Tema Station, which has been turned into a market, is to be developed into a modern eleven-storey shopping mall and offices, estimated to cost $70 million.
In addition to the mall, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will also have a new office and a city hall for the first time since its establishment in the 1800s. This is also estimated to cost about 4.5 million dollars.
The project, which is to be executed by Babisoti Construction Company Limited, the company that is currently building the new Ambassador Hotel in Accra, will take two years to complete after its commencement later this year.
Officials of Accra City Management Company Limited, told the Daily Graphic that all was set for the project to take off before the end of the year.
According to them, the necessary documentation with regards to the acquisition of a development permit and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) had already been completed.
When completed, the mall will be the second in Accra after the Accra Mall located at the Tetteh Quarshie Roundabout.
It will have offices, shops, cinema halls, food courts and other facilities found in modern shopping malls across the world.
The officials said they had completed work to fence the land, and appealed to the AMA to assist in the removal of the illegal structures, traders and squatters currently occupying the land.
The mall will be built on three acres while the AMA facility is built on the remaining one acre.
The existence of the market and lorry park is in sharp contrast to the facilities and buildings surrounding it.
Indeed, the nation’s only theatre is located a stone’s throw away, while guests, both local and foreign at the Novotel Hotel, will look through their windows only to see the filth and the tattered umbrellas that are used by traders to shield them from the sun.
The new Ambassador Hotel under construction is also located a few metres away from this sprawling market and lorry park.
Ministries such as the Roads and Highways, Tourism, Environment, Science and Technology are all located near the piece of land.
It is expected that the existence of such a shopping centre and offices in the commercial hub of Accra will significantly enhance business in the Central Business District of Accra and its environs, and also give new opportunities to business men and women.

‘Don’t interfere in work of AMA, GARCC’

2009-10-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

August story
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A pressure group, the Ga Dangbe Renaissance Union has cautioned the government against what members described as undue interference in the work of the Greater Accra Regional Co-ordinating Council (GRCC) and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), in their efforts at beautifying Accra.
According to them, a counter statement by Government to the effect that squatters at Sodom and Gomorra be paid compensation or relocated before an eviction exercise was a drawback to the development of Accra.
At a press conference in Accra, the group, which has membership both in Ghana and abroad, endorsed the decision to evict squatters at Sodom and Gomorra.
The Research and Planning Officer of the union, Mr Rashad Ofei Dodoo commended Mr Nii Ashietey and Mr Alfred Vanderpuije for their bravery, and urged them to be resolute in their decision.
Mr Dodoo enumerated some of the Ga lands which were taken by Government for relocation purposes in the past as Newtown, Sukura and Anyaa and added that the union would no longer allow such activities to continue.
“Some of these people who were relocated at these places have become landowners whilst we struggle to even get parcels of land,” he said.
The people of Sodom and Gomorra are welcomed to stay in Accra because we are all Ghanaians, he said, but added that their present location and activities was having a negative impact on the Korle lagoon, which used to be a source of livelihood for some fishermen at Korle Gonno and its environs.
He further said that President Atta Mills nominated Mr Vanderpuije and was confirmed overwhelmingly by members of assembly because he was found to be capable of improving the fortunes of Accra.
“We will not allow the same interference that disabled former metropolitan chief executives of Accra from working effectively to improve the image of Accra to happen again,” he said.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey and the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije announced that an exercise would be carried out soon to rid Old Fadama, now referred to as Sodom and Gomorra of illegal structures and squatters without compensation or relocation of squatters.
Their decision, according to Nii Ashietey, had become necessary because the activities of some of the squatters posed a threat to national security.
He also cited the unsanitary conditions under which the squatters lived and its consequent negative impact on the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP) as other reasons for the decision.
Shortly after, a deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa held a press conference during which he directed the two to engaged the squatters at the slum to come up with a compensation package for them.
“It is very unfortunate that a deputy minister should make such serious statement,” the leader of the group, Nii Dzaleh Manso, stated, and described the decision by a substantive minister and metropolitan chief executive as an attempt to criminalise Sodom and Gomorra”.

Zoomlion controls flies at two dump sites

2009-10-02T08:06:00.001-07:00

August story

Story: Naa Lamiley Benti
Zoomlion Ghana Limited has embarked on an exercise to reduce flies at two disposal sites in Accra and Abokobi.
The exercise is aimed at controlling the stench and flies that emanate from these sites and reducing the nuisance they create for residents living around them.
At the Abokobi dump site, which is the largest in the Greater Accra Region and located at the Pantang Boola Junction, personnel of the company used Aqua reslin, a synegised Pynosect 10 insecticide to control the flies and insects.
Other areas that have recently been disinfested include the Oblogo and McCarthy Hills dumping sites and some container sites in the metropolis.
The Greater Accra Regional Vector Control Officer of Zoomlion, Mr Abel Djangmah, explained that the exercise ran concurrently with the nation-wide mosquito control programme.
At all these sites, personnel of the company sprayed the Aqua Reslin and Pynosect 10 insecticide.
Similar exercises have been scheduled for other metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies across the country, he said.
Mr Djangmah also stated that a survey to ascertain the population of mosquitoes had been carried out at Asutsuare in the Dangme West District, adding that it would help in planning all mosquito control programmes for the area.
He said Asutsuare was seen as one of the mosquito endemic areas in the region due to high level of rice cultivation and open canals in the area.
He said the stagnant water, pools and canals in the farming community was sprayed regularly to destroy the larvae in a bid to control mosquitoes in the area.
Mr Djangmah bemoaned the high usage of agrochemicals in the area.
The environmental health officer in the area conducted the spraying team round the Asutsuare township.

Zoomlion controls flies at two dump sites

2009-10-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

School feeding problems-caterers to blame, Vanderpuije but Nsowah disagrees

2009-10-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Front page in August
Story: Emmanuel Bonney & Naa Lamiley Bentil
YESTERDAY’S first day in school for pupils at the basic level, was characterised by turmoil in the implementation of the school feeding programme across the country.
The chaos, which resulted in some schools being fed with extra food while others did not have any at all, also drew a sharp wedge between the National Co-ordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije.
As the situation got messy in Accra, the AMA Chief blamed it on caterers who used to cook for the schools but whose contracts had been abrogated and warned them to desist from causing further confusion.
Mr Vanderpuije, who gave the caution, explained that the behaviour of some of the former caterers could disrupt teaching and learning with reports of some of them taking food to these schools with the escort of ‘macho men’.
He described the activities of those caterers “as illegal to say the least” and warned that “they will be arrested if they do not put a stop to this; we cannot allow unwarranted activities to disrupt school hours”.
But as the confusion assumed a national dimension, engulfing almost all districts, the National Co-ordinator of the programme, Mr Michael Nsowah, challenged the timing of the decision to recruit new caterers for the programme.
He said the timing of the decision was too short and so close to the re-opening of schools for the commencement of the 2009-2010 academic year yesterday.
“Replacing caterers at this time is not the best, since they need to be trained to enable them to provide efficient services,” he said, and indicated that without training they would not be able to deliver according to the guidelines of the programme.
Mr Nsowah said in an interview with the Daily Graphic that before a caterer was recruited, the person needed to be scrutinised very well to ensure that she met the guidelines under the programme.
He said with the current development of replacing them at such short notice, it would be difficult to scrutinise the caterers before they start cooking for the children.
He said caterers needed to know the rules and be prepared in terms of logistics before they start cooking for the children.
Explaining the rationale for the abrogation of contracts for the 44 caterers who worked for the AMA under the programme, Mr Vanderpuije stated that contracts under the school feeding programme were not permanent and that it would be reviewed annually to ensure that those who did not perform were kicked out.
Currently, there are 64 caterers working under the programme for the AMA and are expected to feed some 6,000 pupils with nutritious meal every day.
Until this academic year, the number of pupils fed under the programme for the AMA was about 3,000 but the number, he said, was increased to the current 6,000 to ensure that more children benefited from the programme, still under the pilot stage.
According to Mr Vanderpuije, concerns raised earlier to the effect that the caterers would not be ready to feed the pupils at the re-opening of this year’s academic programme was unwarranted because “food was provided for the school children today”.
Further, Mr Vanderpuije stated that the difficulties associated with the earlier implementation of the programme was as a result of a shift in the guidelines for the national programme by the initial implementers.
The programme was designed to be executed at the district level and not by a secretariat as was been done.
“It is this wrong we want to correct,” he said.
A committee on School Feeding Programme at the AMA of which Mr Vanderpuije is the chairman have met with the new caterers and consequently are aware of what is expected of them.
“If these people also fail to deliver, who says we will not annul their contracts?” he asked.
The pilot for the Ghana National School Feeding Programme was introduced in October 2005 to provide children in public primary schools and kindergartens with one hot nutritious meal, prepared from locally grown foodstuffs.
The idea is aimed at increasing enrolment, attendance and retention at the basic level.
Four years down the line, the programme is still faced with a myriad of challenges of payments for caterers working under the programme, which are often delayed, proper supervision of the quality of food and monitoring.
“Many key stakeholders including district assemblies, education officers and communities have not been involved in decision-making hence their apathy towards the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme,” this was contained in a District Operational Manual for the Programme, signed by the Minister of Local government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh.

Shift system cause of poor academic performance

2009-10-02T07:58:00.001-07:00

August story
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE current shift system running in some public schools has been identified as a bane of the country’s educational system and one of the major causes of poor academic performance of pupils at the basic school level.
Some heads of schools who made this known have, therefore, called for the systematic abolition of the system in order not to create problems for the schools.
They said a total abolition of the system without putting in place the needed facilities to cater for the increase in enrolment would create problems.
“Banning the shift system without providing a corresponding infrastructure to cater for all kids will mean denying some children access to basic education,” the Circuit Supervisor for Korle Gonno, Mr William Omari, stated in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
The Korle Gonno Methodist Primary School for instance had a total enrolment of 592 pupils at the last academic year but with just six classrooms, the pupils had to be divided into two groups, A and B, to run shift. They rotate every two weeks.
“The shift system is not good for the children,” he said, and explained that some of the pupils took undue advantage to play truancy and skip classes.
For others, they got to school either late or tired because they assisted their parents at the markets or with some domestic chores, he stated.
“Most times those in the afternoon sleep during teaching hours,” he stressed.
According to him, the schools that ran the shift system were disadvantaged because most parents preferred the regular stream where the pupils attended school at about 8:00 and closed at 2:00 p.m. and so sought for admission in those schools first.
“It is when these schools have made their selection that we get the rest,” he complained.
The situation at schools that run the regular stream is also not rosy. Classrooms at these schools such as the Korle Gonno St Mary’s Roman Catholic (RC) Girls School are congested with teachers teaching as many as 60-65 pupils in one class.
“This invariably also affects the academic performance of these pupils because the teachers may not give adequate attention to the children,” the outgoing Headmistress of the Korle Gonno St Mary’s Roman Catholic (RC) Girls School, Mrs Venolia Ayivor, stated in an interview.
The ideal number of pupils in a class is 34 and maximum 40, she said.
According to her, the school had a total number of 533 girls at the last academic year with just 12 classrooms, six each for primary and junior high which run a double stream.
She appealed to the Government to extend the Ghana School Feeding Programme to the school, since about 90 per cent of the pupils were from deprived homes in Korle Gonno and James Town.
“The young ones look too malnourished and this can also affect their concentration,” she indicated.
The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, announced that the Government would take steps to abolish the shift system when he visited some basic schools in Accra for the “My First Day at School” programme to welcome fresh pupils to basic school.

AMA to introduce e-payment for improved revenue

2009-10-02T07:57:00.001-07:00

August
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly has initiated steps towards the implementation of an electronic payment system to improve on its revenue generation.
SW Global Limited, a Nigerian company, is at the forefront of this initiative, which, according to its chief executive officer, Dr Alloy Chife, will completely do away with the human intervention in revenue collection and consequently eliminate the loopholes that lead to the loss of revenue to the assembly.
A successful introduction of the e-payment will mean that rate payers will be given an electronic card, which will be swiped through an electronic system for the accurate amount to be deducted.
The AMA is currently beset with huge revenue losses as a result of the issuance of fake receipts, carbon shifting, as well as other unscrupulous activities by some revenue collectors of the assembly.
Briefing members of the assembly and the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, on the system at an assembly meeting in Accra, Dr Chife said the company was ready to invest in the setting up of the system and training of personnel to man it.
It will, however, charge a percentage of revenue collected for a period yet to be agreed on between the two parties, to recoup the investment made.
The AMA is able to collect only 30 per cent of its revenue, leaving the remaining 70 per cent either uncollected or in the hands of unscrupulous revenue collectors, who allegedly channel the monies into their own pockets.
The assembly, according to Mr Vanderpuije, was able to collect a paltry sum of GH¢11,897,646, which represented 39.20 per cent of expected revenue for last year.
“This trend has prevailed over the years in terms of the assembly’s revenue generation. The picture painted here is not at all impressive,” he stated.
According to him, officials of the assembly had worked towards reducing fraudulent practices by some of the revenue collectors but the situation where the collectors issued out fake receipts, engaged in carbon shifting, as well as failed to issue receipts for monies collected, still prevailed.
Mr Vanderpuije cited the refusal of some rate payers to honour their obligations, leakage in the collection system, collusion between rate payers and rate collectors, the non-prosecution of offenders and the poor identification of properties as some of the challenges hampering the effective collection of rates in the national capital.
To reduce fraud and ensure that a chunk of revenue collected ended up in the coffers of the AMA, rate collectors have now been given carbonised receipts in order to halt the carbon shifting.
Receipt books also incorporate the hologram system to prevent the issuance of fake ones to clients.
Public education also would be intensified to enable rate payers to identify fraudulent rate collectors.
Members of the assembly endorsed the system but first raised concern about the agreement and what the AMA might gain or lose in case the agreement failed.
Others were also sceptical of the company and asked the CEO whether they could be trusted.
Meanwhile, other members welcomed the idea saying that the assembly needed a lot of money to enable it to embark on development projects.

New board for National Booard for Small Scale Industries

2009-09-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A seven-member board for the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), has been inaugurated with a call on members to assist the government in creating more job opportunities in the rural areas to check the current spate of rural-urban drift.
This, according to a Member of the Council of State, Dr Bernard Kwasi Glover, would also increase job opportunities especially for the youth and consequently reduce the incidence of “no jobs in the rural areas”.
Members of the board which is made up of three women and four men are Mr Alfred Woyome, chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Anator Holdings Company; Ms Anita J. De Sosoo of Jemdesos Enterprise; Dr David Percy, a consultant and Mr Joe Tackie, the CEO of Global Enterprise Solutions.
The rest are Mrs Grace Obeng, CEO of the Forever Claire (FC) Group of Companies, Ms Vivian Ankrah of Atlas Car Rentals and Mr Ibrahim Zubairu, who is a lecturer at the Accra Polytechnic and also a financial consultant.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh administered the oath of office and secrecy on the members.
Ms Tetteh urged members of the board to look for alternative forms of funding to complement government subvention to improve on the working conditions of the staff.
Describing members of staff at the NBSSI as disillusioned and de-motivated, Ms Tetteh charged the new board to ensure that resources at the NBSSI were utilised judiciously and to ensure that the workers gave of their best.
“The situation where a foreign capacity building programme is reserved for those in management level must stop”, she said, and explained that it was crucial for all workers to be adequately trained in order that they could take up higher positions in future.
The NBSSI is the government’s agency responsible for the promotion and development of the micro and small enterprises (MSE) sector in the country.
It was established by an Act of Parliament in the Third Republic of Ghana, Act 434 in 1981, but started its work in 1985.
“The MSE sector which NBSSI is mandated to develop, constitutes about 70 per cent of the industrial sector in Ghana and has substantial potential to become the engine of growth of the economy,” Ms Tetteh stated.
She further advised members of the board to tackle the myriad problems such as the low budgetary allocation and the need to identify other sources of funding, capacity building for workers and research.
An Audit Review Implementation Committee, she said, must be established to ensure accountability for the NBSSI.
Mr Woyome, who is also a former Vice Honorary Consul of Austria to Ghana, expressed appreciation to the government for the confidence it had reposed in them.
He gave the assurance that members of the board would work within their mandate to improve on the fortunes of the MSEs in the country.

Fisheries board inaugurated

2009-09-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

centre page of Sept. 2, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A reconstituted 11-member fisheries commission has been inaugurated with a challenge to members to tackle critical issues affecting local fishermen in recent times such as pair trawling and the supply of premix fuel.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who inaugurated the commission, did not mince words by telling them that “you and your members have a great task ahead of you in addressing the crucial challenges facing the fishing industry”.
Local fishermen are today faced with dwindling fish stocks, poor landing sites, high level of post-harvest losses, old and poorly equipped vessels, low investments in the sector, inadequate refrigeration and cold stores facilities, as well as lack of adequate facilities for aqua-culture developments.
The ministry, according to Mr Ahwoi, was, however, working towards reducing post-harvest losses with the construction of six cold stores to be equipped with refrigeration facilities in selected communities in the country with a seven million euro loan facility from the Spanish Government under the second Ghana-Spanish Protocol agreement.
The Government, he said, had also approved the construction of two fishing harbours and 12 landing sites estimated to cost $200 million.
“Money for this project is, however, not available,” he said.
The fisheries sector currently contributes significantly to the socio-economic development of the country in that it accounts for 4.5 per cent of the National Domestic Product (GDP) and also supports the livelihood of about 10 per cent of Ghanaians.
Sixty per cent of Ghanaians also derive their daily protein needs from fish.
Members of the commission are Dr Joseph K. Ofori of the Water Research Institute,
Mr Kwabena Boateng of the Ghana Irrigation Authority, Flt. Lt Miltiades G. Tackey of the Industrial Fishing Vessel Owners and Mr Siisi Essuman-Ocran of the Ministry of Transport.
The rest are Mr Jonathan Addo Allotey of the Ministry of Environment and Science, Mr John Adeabah Mensah of the Ghana Marine Fishing Officers Association, Mr Vincent Kwamitse Kaledzi, representing the Artisanal Fishermen Council, Commodore Emmanuel Akoto Bonsu of the Ministry of Defence, Dr Edward A. Obodai of the University of Cape Coast and Mr Samuel N. K. Quartey.
The chairman for the commission is Mr Mike Kwabena Akyeampong, who expressed appreciation to the Government for the confidence reposed in them to help resolve issues affecting the fishing industry.

Toll automation on Accra-Tema Motorway begins

2009-09-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Back page of Sept.2, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Ghana Highway Authority yesterday effected the automation of the Accra-Tema Motorway toll booths with the view to reducing revenue leakage and raking in significant income for development.
The automation machine, which was fixed by Angel Data and Telecom Services (AD & TS), has an accounting software which takes stock of every vehicle that plies the route and the rate it is liable to pay.
The new system is also intended to plug any loophole and remove avenues for corruption in the manual collection of tolls.
On its first day of operation, however, the automation system did not completely eliminate the human factor in such activities as sale of tickets and payment of levies. Motorists had to buy their tickets and pay levies to operators.
The difference was that the bar of an electronic gate fixed between the various booths would not give way to any motorists who fail to pay the required rate.
These electronic gates and bars work in harmony with electronic sensors which have also been fixed underground to allow the gates to close automatically once a vehicle moves through it.
Officials of AD & TS were test running the new system when the Daily Graphic got to the place at about 6:45 a.m.
Some motorists, however, had their day when they were asked to drive on without paying tolls.
Some unlucky drivers had parts of their vehicles slammed by the automated bars because they moved when the bar was just falling into its original position.
A few motorists were, however, sceptical and questioned the rationale for the automation of the booths.
In utter frustration, a private driver screamed from his car; “ These things are done at car parks and not at toll booths”.
A consultant for AD & TS, Mr Victor Awome, told the Daily Graphic that automation of toll booths was done throughout the world in the developed countries such as the United States of America (USA).
According to him, the system was quite new to most Ghanaians and the company had, therefore, decided to introduce it in phases so as not to confuse motorists.
Currently, all motorists are still buying tickets at the toll booths but this, according to Mr Awome, will soon change when the automation system was fully in place.
Mr Awome said an electronic gadget would be fixed next week to allow some motorists with specially designed cards to just slot in and move on.
“This is just the phase one of the project,” he said
Another alternative, he said, would be for motorists to buy specially designed stickers which the sensors would identify, deduct levy from its credit and allow them to move on.
A special gadget, he said, had also been put in place to allow for the movement of emergency vehicles.
“The system will allow for accurate transaction on this road and reduce revenue loss,” the supervisor at the toll booth, Mr Bernard Andrews Bray, said.
The contractors, he said, handed over the facility to them just yesterday morning and were still trying to resolve the initial hitches. He, however, expressed optimism that the facility would run smoothly by the end of the day.
The new system, however, failed to reduce vehicular congestion on the Accra-Tema Motorway, as there was a long queue of vehicles at about 7:40 a.m.

Abokobi dumping site poses health hazard

2009-09-09T09:17:00.001-07:00

Spread of Sept. 7, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
A dumping site at an old stone quarry at Abokobi in the Ga East District has become an environmental nightmare and a threat to the health of the people in that part of the Greater Accra Region.
Garbage is scattered on the about 800-square metre dump site with flies hovering around the community in addition to the constant smoke and stench that emanates from the garbage.
The overpowering presence of the flies makes it even impossible for people to freely communicate in areas near the site.
The presence of the site has become a big worry to officials of the Pantang Hospital and the Nurses Training College whose offices are located few metres away from it.
Unlike the Mallam and Oblogo disposal sites which are located within those communities, this one is located just by the main Pantang Hospital road and creates a visual nuisance even for motorists.
Residents of the area who alight at the Pantang Bus Stop, now referred to as “Boola Junction” will always take a piece of the stench with them because the dump is just by the main road.
Because of the obvious environmental consequences on the people of the area, claimants to the land, the Abladzei family, has asked contractors currently managing the site which include Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Amanie to quit.
The Assistant Head of the Abladzei family, Mr Godfred Sowah Abordo, during an interaction with the Member of Parliament for Madina Abokobi, Alhaji Amadu Sorogo, stated that they did not authorise the dumping of garbage at the place.
“We all know about this problem,” Alhaji Sorogo said, adding that the services of Zoomlion would be sought to fumigate the area as a temporary measure to control the flies whilst the Ga East District Assembly sought for an alternative site for the dumping of its solid waste.
The Head of Landfill of Zoomlion Waste Management Company, Mr Peter Dagadu, said the company started managing the area in October last year but had to share the place with Amanie Farm, a company that also dumped solid waste at the site.
According to him, it was the assembly that invited them to manage the area, since the volume of waste dump there increased significantly following the closure of the Teshie Compost Plant earlier this year.
Waste from Teshie, Nungua, Osu, La, Spintex and other communities in the eastern part of Accra are now dumped at this site.
The Secretary to the Ga Dangbe Youth in Italy, Mr Christopher Sowah, who organised the meeting, expressed worry over the situation and said “the situation is not the best and will affect the health of the people if it is not checked now”.

New Korle Lagoon bridge opens to traffic

2009-09-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Back page of Sept. 7, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
construction works on the new bridge over the Korle Lagoon have been completed and two lanes opened to traffic for motorists to and from the western part of Accra.
The heavy vehicular congestion, which characterised movement on that road has consequently been reduced and this was evident even during the peak hours of yesterday morning.
The contractor, China Railway (Wuju) Corporation, has completed all the substantial works, including the main bridge with pedestrian walkways and guards.
At the time of the visit, at about 11:00 a.m., motorists were already using the two lanes of the new bridge and the bailey bridge temporarily constructed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways closed to traffic.
According to the Project Manager, Mr Bell Zhong, the company was now doing a test run for the asphalt section.
Workers of Wuju were constructing a drain to direct water into the lagoon.
Mr Zhong, however, gave the assurance that the full scope of work would be completed by the end of this month and the bridge handed over to the government.
The asphalt test, according to the Chief Resident Engineer of the Department of Urban Roads, (DUR), Mr Akwasi Nuamah, was expected to take 21 days but the DUR would accept anything less than that in order to accelerate work as was the same material that was used for the Accra Central Business District (CBD) project.
Construction of the Korle Lagoon bridge was part of the first phase of the CBD project, which started in September 2006, but the contractor, according to Mr Nuamah, encountered a serious problem with the construction of the bridge’s foundation, “ so it was not until May, last year, that the construction of this bridge would be started”.
The department, he explained, had to consequently redesign the entire foundation before work would resume.
“The delay in the completion of this bridge is not the contractor’s fault,” he stressed.
Prior to the construction of the new bridge, the Korle Lagoon had an old dangerous single lane bridge, which significantly caused heavy traffic congestion in that part of Accra.
Motorists on the western part of Accra who shuttle daily to the CBD area and beyond would now heave a sigh of relief as there are signs of such congestion abating significantly to enhance their economic activities.
Mr Nuamah, who took the Daily Graphic team round the site, said he was satisfied with the work done and commended the contractor for working hard to meet the deadline.
The construction of the bridge was part of a programme to improve on the road network of the CBD of Accra, which also include the construction of the 5.85 kilometre road network comprising the High Street, Barnes Road and the Okaishie roads made up of the Granville Avenue, Clement Papafio, Kimberly Avenue and Station Roads.
These roads have already been completed and handed over to the government while that of the Asafoatse Nettey Road, located in front of the head office of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), is about 70 per cent complete.

Players in water, sanitation meet at Stockholm

2009-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden
Sponsor: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre
PLAYERS in the water and environmental sanitation sector the world over have met in Stockholm in Sweden for this year’s World Water Week.
The World Water Week is a global conference which focuses on major issues affecting the Water, Sanitation and Hygeine, WASH, with a view to annex practical solutions to them.
The week which started on Sunday, August 16, 2009 and organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) brought under one roof organizations, businesses, experts and politicians in the WASH sector.
The World Water Week which was first held in 1991 and has since become a platform where people in water and sanitation related fields from across Africa, Europe, Asia, America among others meet every year to share ideas, find partners and funding for water and environmental sanitation related projects..
There are some 2,400 registered participants who are taken part in this year’s conference on the theme “Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good”.
With hundreds of participants and exhibitors, the week provides a fertile ground for building partnerships and networking geared towards a more sustainable water resource management across the world.
Among participants at this years week are representatives of the Gobal Water Partnership which is chaired by Madam Letitia Obeng of Ghana, the IRC Internatioal Water and Sanitation Centre, which is also running a live online tv programme in collaboration with SIWI and Akvo, an IT based organization

Dr Pathak, a sanitation ambassador for Indian

2009-08-31T08:49:00.001-07:00

News page of August
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden
Forty years of devotion to the environmental sanitation sector has earned Dr Bindeswar Pathak of India the enviable Stockholm Water Prize for 2009, presented to a personality whose work has impacted positively on lives. Dr Pathak’s achievement is a win for all Indians as by his sheer intervention, more than ten million Indians now have access to public places of convenience daily. Hitherto, most men, women and children had to defecate in the open, which came with its own environmental problems.
Of even greater achievement is the fight he won for young women who were enslaved to serve as scavengers cleaning bucket toilets manually. The plight of the scavengers, mostly women, was so dire that it became a burden for Dr Pathak, establishing the Sulabh International Social Service Organization as a solution to end the inhuman activity.
“The human scavengers were treated as untouchables and they were hated, humiliated and insulted by the people for whom they used to work, the untouchables caste died as an untouchable”, he said.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview after the opening ceremony of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Dr Pathak recounted the shabby treatment that the scavengers were subjected to and his desire to reverse the trend.
Establishing the Sulabh is aimed at addressing three key problems Dr Sulabh identified. These are the open defecation, the manual cleaning of buckets toilets by scavengers and providing adequate toilets for the populous India.
“To stop defacation in the open and to end the practice of manual cleaning of human excreta by scavengers, a technology was needed. Ideas have to change the world”, he said.
Dr Pathak intervened with a breakthrough technology, the Sulabh Shauchalaya twin pit, pour-flush toilet system which is currently being used in more than 1.2 million residences and buildings built by Sulabh.
The United Nations (UN) Habitat and Centre for Human Settlements has declared the technology a Global Best Practice.
The Sulabh public toilets and bath facilities are located at some 7,500 sites serving more than 10 million people daily.
Women and children use the Sulabh toilets and bath for free whilst men pay one dollar to use them for a whole month.
Born to Brahmin family in 1943 and raised in the India state of Bihar, Dr Pathak attended Patna University where he earned an M.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in English, a Ph.D. in ‘Liberation of Scavengers through low cost sanitation” and a Doctorate of Literature in “Eradication of Scavenging and environmental sanitation in India: a sociology study”.

London market in deplorable condition

2009-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Metro page
Story & picture: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE London market, located in the heart of the national capital, Accra, is sitting on an environmental health time bomb.
The market, which was constructed during the colonial era, has now become a sprawling meat shop with huge flies which hover around beef and mutton on sale.
Stinking drains and uncollected garbage, accompanied by buzzing houseflies, welcome anyone who enters the market.
During a visit to the market recently, a few young men were busily washing the carcass of an animal in a basin filled with dirty water but they were obviously not bothered by their actions as they went about it religiously at the time of the visit.
Their feet were in the very water they were using to wash the meat.
Another butcher had placed the head of a cow on the bare floor whilst trying to slice it into smaller sizes.
The tables and other structures on which the meat had been displayed was enough to cause any environmental uprising.
Just behind the market is a chopbar located beside a major drain, also filled with garbage.
Ironically, the market is a few metres away from the head office of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and its sub-metro office, Ashiedu Keteke, which has the mandate to protect public health.
The market, which used to be a shopping centre for Europeans during the colonial era and from which it derived its name, ‘London Market’, is now serving two purposes, as a residential area and a meat shop.
The main market has been turned into a residential area with single beds and mattresses taking over tables.
A few youngsters were seen taking a nap in their corners during the visit by participants of a training workshop on environmental and sanitation reporting organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
The stench emanating from the market was nauseating and at one point, one of the participants felt like throwing up, as a mixture of the smell of meat and garbage engulfed the area.
An elderly woman in her fifties, with a cloth wrapped around her and apparently indicating that she had just emerged from the bathhouse, was also spotted applying cream on her body.
She appeared unwell, with a swollen leg as she stared at members of the delegation.
Young butchers oblivious of the danger they, and the public at large were exposed to beckoned some members of the delegation to patronise their meat.
Dr Doris Dartey who had led the team to the market allowed the participants five minutes to examine the area but most of the members got right back into the bus before the time lapsed because of the appalling an conditions in the market.
The London market, like the Salaga and the Osu markets, was one of the major shopping centres in Accra in the olden days which served the needs of both Ghanaians and Europeans.
Officials of the Ashiedu Keteke Sub-metro later told this reporter in an interview that they were aware of the appauling situation at the market and were planning to rid the market of all the illegal structures.
The Sub-metro Director, Mr Maxwell Gyimah gave the assurance that action would soon be taken to make the market a safe haven for both traders and their customers.

10,000 children die of diarrhoea in Ghana

2009-08-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
ABOUT 10,000 children in Ghana died from diarrhoea last year according to the 2009 UNICEF report, making diarrhoea one of the major health crises facing the country.
The figure was part of 780,000 children who died of the water and sanitation related disease across Africa in 2008 which charts diarrhoea the second biggest killer of under-five year olds in Africa.
“The numbers of children dying from diarrhoea are a stark indication of the human cost of insufficient investment”, the Country Representative of WaterAid in Ghana, Mr Stephen Ntow said.
Ironically, the 2008 government allocation to water and sanitation was only 1.62 per cent of the total budget prompting the Policy and Research Officer of WaterAid Ghana, Mr Ibrahim Musah to call for higher national investments across the continent to address the challenge.
Mr Musah who made this known at a Water and Sanitation Journalist Network (WATSAN) meeting in Accra also appealed to the various African leaders to fully implement and monitor independently, the El-Sheik and eThekwini commitments on water and sanitation.
He said they must also work closely with international counterparts, including the G8 to strengthen the Global Frame Work for Action on Water and Sanitation in order to mobilise international efforts to support African commitments.
Giving statistics, Mr Musah who had earlier made a presentation at the African Union (AU) Summit in Sirte, Libya explained that an estimated 546 million people on the continent did not have access to safe sanitation whilst 221 million defecate in the open.
Further, 328 million people, he said did not have access to safe sources of water.
Improving on water and sanitation, he said was key in meeting targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDT). Failure to meet the MDG’s water and sanitation targets comes at a huge cost of $15 million anually and “a tragic human cost given the high diarrhoea rates in children under the age of five.
He attributed lapses in addressing the problem to insufficient investment by African governments, and blockages to the effective utilisation of donor funds as major obstacles.
Furthermore, the lack of clarity around institutional roles and responsibilities, weak monitoring and poor accountability he observed were also hindering progress.
He explained that last year’s AU Summit saw a breakthrough as African leaders raised the issue of water and sanitation to the top of the agenda and promised to turn around dismal progress.
One year on, the leaders he said were yet to translate their words into action although the agenda for the summit for this year shifted from water and sanitation to agriculture and food security, he said adding that “ AU Summit leaders must keep last year’s promises before making new ones, Safe water and sanitation slipping back down the agenda”.
WaterAid he said wants to know why “reality and rhetoric don’t match”.

World Water Week ends

2009-08-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

News Page of August 31, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil, Stockholm, Sweden
African leaders including Ghana will have to double their efforts to provide 30 million people on the continent with safe drinking water annually for the next six years in order to offset a deficit of some 320 million people who do not have access to water today.
This is crucial if they are to meet demands of the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs).
Statistics indicate that half of Ghana’s population today do not have access to water.
The Executive Director of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), Mr Bai-Moss Taal said this at a gathering of water and sanitation experts for the closing ceremony of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.
According to him, Africa and Asia were the two countries who risked not meeting the MGDs with a large number of its population still struggling to have access to basic sanitation and water.
African leaders, he said must stop the talking and begin to back promises and pledges made in the past with action in order to improve the living condition of their people.
“Its time to walk the talk”, he said.
“We must begin to close the sanitation and access to water gap but we cannot achieve this if we continue with the business as usual attitude. This attitude will not help Africa and Asia to meet the MDGs”, he said.
Other speakers indicated that the current effects of climate change which was making water stressed nations more dry and floods in areas with water must be addressed with urgency.
Earlier, the First Vice-president of the Pan-African Parliament, Bethel Nnaemeka Amadi told a group of European Unions that Africa desired to have a compensation package from the developed nations that would improve the living conditions of its people and not just enrich the pockets of few greedy leaders.
Compensation from the developed world must come in the form of special projects and knowledge sharing to improve on the lives all Africans and “not funds that would be later stashed in Swiss accounts”, he said.
Africa’s contribution towards Green House Gas (GHG) emission is very little and yet it suffers from the effects of the negative climatic changes which include drought and floods.
Mr Amadi called on African parliamentarians to begin to spearhead the campaign against climate change before it was too late.
“Africa is already vulnerable, lakes, rivers and streams are dying up”, he said and explained that the situation had caused strife among trans-boundary countries due to migration.
“The situation has gone beyond poverty. It is now an issue of water, food security and strife”, he stated further.

Naa Lamiley attends World Water Week

2009-08-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

News page of August

A senior reporter with the Graphic Communications Group Limited, Naa Lamiley Bentil, has been selected by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre to participate and provide coverage for this year’s World Water Week at Stockholm, Sweden.
Mrs Bentil, who specialises in environmental sanitation reporting, and is a member of the Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (WATSAN), currently being supported by WaterAid Ghana.
IRC, which is also participating in this year’s week, is an organisation that aims at bridging the knowledge gap for improved, low-cost water supply, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries and consequently desires a comprehensive report of the issues that would be discussed at the water week.
World Water Week 2009 began from Monday August 16, 2009 and will end on Friday August 21, this year during which special attention would be given to the issue of transboundary basins for a co-ordinated policy development and co-management of such water bodies.
Participants from across the globe are also expected to discuss, among other things, issues pertaining to the environment, sanitation and their impact on global water resources.
The week which is being organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) “is an annual meeting place for the planet’s most urgent water-related issues”, the Mayor of Stockholm, Mr Sten Nordin, has said.
It brings together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the world to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions.
The theme for this year is: “Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good.”
According to a report issued by SIWI, sections of this year’s programme would analyse specific cases to evaluate policy mixes in different settings.
Other issues that would be discussed during the week-long programme includes Wise-use of Land and Water Resources: Balancing Competing Claims for Water, Food, Energy and Ecosystems, Unite for Children – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools and Dialogue on Transboundary Waters – structured approaches would be used to realise the benefits for all.
While discussing solutions to the world’s pressing water and its related problems, participants are also expected to celebrate the accomplishments of those whose outstanding efforts were already improving the water environment by bringing water and basic sanitation to those in need as well as increase people’s knowledge of water.
Such personalities and organisations would consequently be honoured through various awards that have been planned as part of the World Water Week 2009.
Some of these awards are the Stockholm Water Prize, Stockholm Junior Water Prize and Stockholm Industry Water Award.
Around the globe, access to water is becoming ever more constrained by the dual problems of growing demand and more erratic availability. According to the organisers, participants would explore the circumstances that would promote access to water for various populations in different contexts bringing onboard other factors such as goods and services produced or sustained from water, as well as the sensitive ecosystems.
“Water crosses boundaries both within and between nations. A policy for the common good entails approaches that generate positive outcomes for different entities, such as developed and developing countries and diverse social groups”, the organisers stated.
Similarly, the media across the globe are pitching their camp at Stockholm in anticipation of disseminating issues that affected the world most - water with the rest of the world’s population.

(AMA to clear vehicles, illegal structures on N1 Road)

2009-08-31T08:19:00.000-07:00

Metro page of August

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME recalcitrant garage owners have failed to remove their vehicles on the Tetteh Quarshie-Mallam Road, also known as N1 Road, although work on the project has started in earnest.
A visit to the area by the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, showed many vehicles being offered for sale still parked along the shoulder of the road on the Tetteh Quarshie- Mallam Road.
Mr Vanderpuije has consequently directed officials of the Ayawaso Central sub-metro office which has jurisdiction over the area to immediately remove the vehicles, along with all the other illegal structures, that were impeding the work.
Mr Vanderpuije gave the directive during an inspection tour of some parts of the metropolis.
He directed that a lorry park, also sited on the road reservation,should be relocated.
The area from the Dimples Junction at Dzorwulu all the way to the Mallam Junction is characterised by a high level of indiscipline on the part of some recalcitrant traders and hawkers.They were still selling on the pavements and shoulders of the road at the time of the visit despite the several decongestion exercises the Accra Metropolitan assembly had conducted in the area.
The hundreds of hawkers who had besieged the pedestrian walkways and shoulders of roads at Abeka Lapaz took to their heels, carrying whatever they could as they run, on the approach of Mr Vanderpuije and his team.
Mr Vanderpuije who expressed shock at the spectacle warned the traders to stay away from the road.
The Okaikoi North sub-metro, he said, must take immediate steps to remove them and design strategies to keep them permanently off those areas.
“Construction or no construction this must not happen; I am very upset, because this is a highway and not a market,” he said.
Ironically, the Okaikoi North Sub-metro had carried out an exercise to clear the hawkers and petty traders a few days earlier.
“We carried out an exercise here last Friday,” the Sub-metro Director, Mrs Abena Kwesiwaa Kyei, said and added that they would not relent in their efforts to get the traders completely off the corridor.
Illegal structures abounded even more at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle much to the disapproval of the AMA Boss who directed personnel of the Metro Security to mark the structures for demolition within seven days.
“This is a city, we cannot allow these structures to stand, they must go”, he said.
At the time of the visit, a chop bar operator whose structure was located a stone’s throw away from the rail track was busily preparing food.

Gov. develops strategies to resolve premix shortage

2009-08-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Metro page of August

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, has met with fishermen at Chorkor to explain to them the government’s measures that were put in place to improve upon their work and, by extension, their livelihood.
At a meeting attended by hundreds of fishermen, including their leaders at Chorkor, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah assured the fishermen of government’s determination to deal with those issues that adversely affected their work in recent times.
A severe shortage of premix fuel hit the nation a few weeks ago, affecting fishermen across the country.
To address the issue and provide a lasting solution to the shortage of the commodity which is key in fishing, the government, he said, had come up with five strategies to deal with the problem.
He announced that beginning from Monday, August 10, 2009, the colour of premix fuel would be changed to blue for easy detection against diversion, which had contributed significantly to the recent shortage.
Trucks which carry the premix fuel will also be branded with ‘premix’ boldly written on every side, while a “GPR” system would also be fixed on them to track their movement.
Mr Ankrah said supply to the fishing communities would also be doubled from the same date, adding that a monitoring team, comprising those in the fishing sector, had also been formed to check illegal fishing activities, including the use of light and pair trawling.
He gave the assurance that an emergency premix fuel supply system would be operated to enable the fishermen resume work.
Furthermore, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said the government was prepared to subsidise the cost of outboard motors which was now being sold at GH¢5,200 from the old price of about GH¢3,000 in December.
He, however, encouraged them to form identifiable groups for easy facilitation of such a programme.
The fishermen from Chorkor Kukrudu, Lante Mamli, Mantsuru, Chemunaa and Gbegbeyise took turns to speak on the challenges they faced in recent times.
One of them, Mr Afutu Lamptey, complained of the high cost of fishing gear, including outboard motors, fishing net, canoe, among others.
“To make matters worse, we have also not had premix fuel to buy to enable us to go fishing. We beg you, there is so many fish to harvest, but if we loose this opportunity, we will forever blame you. We are very worried because fishing is our main occupation and our lives depend on it,” he said.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Mr Fritz Baffour, appealed to the fishermen to bear with the government as it tried to resolve the problem.

Zoomlion mosquito control programme ongoing

2009-08-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Metro page of August
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
EFFORTS to reduce the breeding of mosquitoes and consequently malaria is still ongoing with officials of Zoomlion Ghana Company Limited and Labiofam at the forefront.
The two companies have since the beginning of the year larveacided six sub-metropolitan areas within the Accra metropolis.
Areas that have already benefited from the exercise are Chorkor Chemuenaa in the Ablekuma South sub-metro, Osu Klottey, Ayawaso East, West and Central where communities such as Nima, Maamobi and Alajo were larveacided with a biological agent, Bactivec and Griselesf.
Depending on the weather, the bactivec could stay active in the stagnant water for about a month before another application might be necessary.
The team last Thursday moved to Dansoman in the Ablekuma South sub-metro where the personnel applied the biological agent to stagnant waters at the Most Holy Heart School area identified as a breeding point for mosquito larvae.
From stagnant waters to drains and bushy areas, personnel of the company applied the agent to kill the larvae before they matured into mosquitoes.
The Greater Accra Regional Vector Control Officer, Mr Abel Djangmah said the exercise would be carried out regularly to significantly reduce mosquitoes and its attendant health problem, malaria.
According to him, the exercise was part of the National Malaria Programme and districts in other regions would also be sprayed.
So far, the company had applied 3,400 litres of Bactivec in the six sub-metros of the AMA.
Personnel of the two companies he said would follow up to the areas to assess the impact of the exercise for the necessary action to be taken.

(AMA inaugurates three district councils

2009-08-31T08:12:00.001-07:00

Metro page in August
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THREE district councils have been inaugurated by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) with a call on the councillors to strive towards improving the image of the AMA for a speedy development of the metropolis.
At separate ceremonies at the Ayawaso West, Wuogon, Ablekuma North and Osu Klottey sub-metros, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey stressed the need for members of the district councils to resist temptations that could tarnish the image of the AMA and bring its mandate into disrepute.
Acts such as the issuance of development permits for the siting of unauthorised structures including buildings and containers he said, “is not your job, yours is to provide support and direction to the administrators of the sub-metros to effectively manage their areas of jurisdiction”, he said.
“You do not have the power to issue development permits”, he stressed.
Mr Ashietey advised the counsellors to be firm and fair in the discharge of their duties, safeguard the health of the people by encouraging proper environmental practices as well as keep accurate data on all rateable properties in their areas to improve revenue mobilisation.
He reminded the counsellors not to laud over the administrators of the sub-metros adding that “while performing your functions, you must desist from hijacking the work of the public and civil servants who work in the assemblies. They are full time employees of government and must be allowed to do their job”.
He also appealed to them to encourage households to build places of convenience to reduce the pressure on public lavatories and make them more hygienic for visitors.He expressed regret that the management of public places of convenience had become so lucrative that people now engaged in legal, verbal and physical confrontations over them.
Members of the three district councils also elected their chairmen during which
Lt Colonel Henry Nunoo Topah, Mr Nathaniel Addo and Mr Mash Turkson were elected as chairmen for the Ayawaso West, Wuogon, Ablekuma North and the Osu Klottey district councils respectively.
At the Ayawaso West Wuogon sub-metro, two people, Lt Colonel Henry Nunoo Topah and Mr Yao Yemenui contested. Mr Yemenui, however lost marginally polling 11 out of the 26 valid votes cast.
The voting pattern for Ablekuma North was different as Mr Addo won massively with 24 votes out of the 29 valid votes cast against Mr Theophilus Tetteh who only managed five votes.
At the Osu-Klottey Sub-metro, one of the two contestants stepped down leaving Mr Turkson to race for the chairman position unopposed. Mr Turkson had an overwhelming endorsement from members polling 27 out of the 28 valid votes cast.
Prior to the election, Mr Ashietey took members through the swearing in of the oath of office and secrecy.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije and the Chief Director at the Regional Coordination Council (RCC), Mr Fats Nartey also took part in the ceremonies.

(AMA inaugurates three district councils

2009-08-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Homowo programme for Ga Mashie launched

2009-08-12T10:08:00.001-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Ga Traditional Council has launched an extensive programme for the celebration of this year’s Ga Homowo Festival in Accra on the theme “Unity, Harmony and Peace”.
The programmes which would be sponsored mainly by Vodafone, a telecommunications company in the country, includes free health screening for residents in and around Bukom at Ga Mashie, a grand durbar of chiefs and a food fair.
The programme also includes a health walk and fun games scheduled to take place on July 25, 2009, a youth clean-up exercise at Ga Mashie, also on August 1, 2009.
Abokobi, a community in the Ga East District of the Greater Accra region, heralded the celebrations with a Homowo School which began last Wednesday.
Giving an outline for the programme, a member of the Ga Homowo Planning Committee, Nii Boi Abbey, stated that another Homowo School would be held at Amasaman in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region from July 22 to 24, 2009.
Sports will also play a big role in the celebrations as an array of planned football matches involving the seven divisions in Ga Mashie is scheduled to commence from July 29 to 31, 2009.
On August 1, 2009, however, games will give way to a massive clean-up exercise by the Ga Mashie youth to be supported by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and Zoomlion Ghana Company Limited, a waste management company in the country.
Just after the clean-up exercise the football matches will resume the same day till August 2, 2009.
Other sports competitions such as swimming, cycling, tug of war and boxing will take place at the Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.
Nii Abbey said the competitions haD been carefully designed to foster unity among the people in the Ga State and ensure that this year’s Homowo was observed harmoniously.
Soo Bii, the traditional home-coming of brothers and sisters from farming communities who come along with farm produce such as maize, would also be highlighted this year.
Again, ‘Faabaabi’( arrival of fisherfolks) which heralds the arrival of brothers and sisters who leave for fishing communities outside Accra has also been planned to give a traditional touch to the festivities.
Homowo Street Carnival and the Twin Festival which precedes the Homowo will not be left out of the celebrations.
The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Professor Nii Boi Quartey, appealed to all and sundry to participate fully in the celebrations to make it successful.
An official of Vodafone told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the company’s decision to sponsor this year’s festival was a way of giving back to society, and expressed the hope that all the planned activities would be observed peacefully.

Six communities provided with potable water

2009-08-12T10:07:00.003-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
WaterHealth Ghana, a subsidiary of WaterHealth International, has provided safe and potable water for six communities in Ghana.
Five of the beneficiary communities — Amasaman, Oduman, Obeyeyie, Afuaman and Pokuase — are in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region, while the sixth one, Tongor-Dzemeni, is in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region.
Before the introduction of the utility in these communities, residents depended solely on boreholes and in some cases untreated water from rivers and streams for both drinking and domestic use, exposing themselves to various water-borne diseases.
The company, which started operations in the country in 2007, uses an ultra-violet (UV) technology which is proprietary to WaterHealth International as the final treatment to disinfect water which can be sourced from surface sources, including rivers, lakes, ponds, as well as ground water from shallow wells within its operation areas.
The General Manager of WaterHealth Ghana, Mrs Mawunyo Puplampu, made this known when he spoke to the Daily Graphic at the 20th Mole Series Conference which was held recently in Ho in the Volta Region.
Players in the water and sanitation sector used the conference to deliberate on issues affecting the sector with the view to charting a new path towards the sustainable growth of that sector.
The UV, she explained, was introduced prior to alum sedimentation, media and activated carbon filtration to ensure maximum disinfection of the water.
The treated water from the facility, she said, conformed to WHO and Ghana Standard Board requirements for drinking water.
Presently, communities that have benefited from the project are deriving immense benefits, she said, adding that the facilities, if well maintained, could last for 30 years before any major rehabilitation work was carried out on them.
She said the company hoped to reduce water-borne diseases in the country by providing quality water for communities.
Currently, members of the communities paid user fees which, she said, would be used to maintain the plants.
To ensure that water is not wasted once it has been fetched, WaterHealth has also provided gallons to enable members of the communities to store their water properly.
According to Mrs Puplampu, the WaterHealth facility provided water which was affordable and had significant health, financial, economic and environmental benefits.
“Sustainability is a strong identity to this facility,” she said.
WaterHealth Ghana, she explained, jointly managed and maintained the facilities, which had a comparatively low average per capita installation cost and low operations and maintenance cost, with the various community representatives.
She said the company planned to replicate this state-of-the-art system across the rest of the country, while collaborating with all stakeholders in the water sector to help meet the MDGs by 2015.

Lack of professional planners affect Ghana's dev.

2009-08-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Backpage
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD),has attributed the unplanned state of some of the cities and towns in the country to lack of facilities and adequate professional planners.
It said ideally it must have offices in all the 170 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the country but it had offices in only 70 of them, with only 35 of the offices being manned by professional planners, while the other 35 were manned by officials who lacked the requisite skills in planning.
The Director of the TCPD, Mr Kwadwo Baafour Asare, who made this known on Wednesday, said the situation had made it difficult for the department to discharge its functions effectively.
He said this during an interaction with the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, and her deputy, Dr Omane Boamah, when they paid a familiarisation visit to the TCPD Head Office in Accra.
Mr Baafour Asare said inadequate personnel, coupled with lack of offices for the remaining 100 assemblies, was a major problem for the department.
“The staffing situation in this department is a precarious one,” he said, adding that the department was yet to receive feedback on a letter it wrote to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in 2008 requesting the employment of 35 graduate planners.
He mentioned inadequate vehicles as another major challenge facing the department, making it very difficult for the staff to carry out regular inspection of ongoing projects sites.
Only 18 of the 70 offices had official vehicles but, according to Mr Baafour Asare, some of them were too old.
Ms Ayittey expressed disappointment with the output of officials of the department and urged them to be more proactive.
“Our cities — Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Tamale — are in a mess,” she said, adding, “You are not helping the state as a department.”
She said the law would be applied sternly on officials of the department who issued permits to allow people to build in unauthorised areas and cautioned such officials to desist from the practice.
She gave the officials a one-month ultimatum to submit a comprehensive proposal outlining the programmes, projects and needs of the department to her ministry for action to be taken.
According to her, the ministry would take immediate steps to assist the department to establish offices in the other districts.
Dr Boamah, for his part, called on the professional body of planners to sanction unscrupulous planners who were aiding and abetting some people to turn the cities into slums.
The minister and her deputy, accompanied by officials of the department, also visited the Land Use Planning and Management Project and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) office of the TCPD.

ACCRA ROADS DEADLY AFTER RAINS

2009-08-12T10:03:00.001-07:00

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Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
The onset of the rains has rendered some roads including major ones in the Accra metropolis so bad that travelling on them has become both dangerous and tedious.
Roads from the western to the eastern as well as the southern parts of the city have deteriorated to the extent that some are no longer safe for motorists.
Motorists using various roads including the Mamprobi Agege, Banana Inn, Zongo Junction, North Industrial Area, Abossey Okai, Spintex, Teshie, Nungua and scores of other alternative roads have described time spent shuttling from one point of the city to the other as deadly since the roads have become more or less like death traps.
The Motorway, which spans from the Spintex Roundabout to Tema has also not been spared as it is currently dotted with gaping pot holes much to the discomfort of motorists.
Apart from the inconvenience and the road safety issue that this brings, the situation also compounds the already bad traffic congestion on these roads.
“We are tired of dodging and driving through pot holes, as a tax payer, I think I deserve better”, a distraught driver told this reporter at Abossey Okai.
Many drivers in their frustration said the Department of Urban Roads, Feeder Roads, Roads and Highways as well as the Metro Roads Department of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) must begin to work on some of these raods to make them more safer and friendlier for road users.
Rehabilitating these roads would also help to significantly reduce traffic congestion in the city.
They warned that failure to rebuild these roads might increase road traffic accidents which the nation was working hard to reduce.
The Metropolitan Roads Engineer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Abass Awolu, however, attributes the annual deterioration of roads to the backlog of unresealed roads.
“We have not receiled some roads for more than 10 years now”, he said adding that some roads at Adabraka constructed in 1997 as well as the Dansoman Road built in 1994 have never been receiled.
The department has a responsibility to carry out periodic and routine maintenance of roads in the metropolis.
The routine maintenance schedule include the pot hole patching, rehabilitation and desiliting of drains.
The periodic maintenance involves the receiling of the roads five to seven years after their construction, he said. “It is this critical aspect that we are lacking”, he added.
Receiling of the roads he hinted was very crucial explaining that roads were giving new lease of life each time they were receiled.
Like every other thing, roads also have a life span and according to Mr Awolu, roads would have to be rebuilt after three periodic maintenance have been carried on it.
These reasons notwithstanding, Mr Awolu said but for the negative practices which impacted badly on roads, a few would have experienced less deterioration and thus survived the erosion caused by the rains.
The Department of Urban Roads has began an emergency works on some selected roads within the nation's capital and seven other municipal assemblies in an effort to make deplorable roads there more safer and efficient for human and economic transportation.
Roads within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area which comprises the Central Business District of Accra, (CBD),Tema, Weija, Ga East, Ga West, Ledzokuku- Krowor, Ashaiman and Adentan Assembly areas has been heavily impacted by the recent heavy rains.
According to the Acting Director of Urban Roads, Dr Daniel Duaquaye Darko, work on the project on some the roads which have been rendered impassable in recent years have already began.
He confirmed that the development of the numerous potholes on the nation's roads were as a result of delayed periodic maintenance work, inadequate drainage on some sections of roads and the absence of surfacing on some major connector
The Road Fund, through which monies are disbursed to the various departments under the Ministry of Roads and Highways for rehabilitation works has budgeted GH¢123 million Ghana cedis for road maintenance for this year.
According to the acting Director of the fund, Mr George Aidoo, the amount was woefully inadequate to ensure regular periodic and routine maintenance of the 64,000 kilometers of roads in the country.
The Departments of Urban Roads, Feeder Roads and Highways depend solely on this fund to undertake road rehabilitation.
Money for the Road Fund is accrued from five main source with fuel levy contributing about 94 per cent of the total contribution.
The remaining six per cent according to Mr Aidoo, comes from vehicle registration fee, road and bridge tolls, road user fee and international transit fees.
Currently, motorists driving salon cars pay five pesewas whilst drivers of truck trailers pay fifty Ghana cedis.
The minimum road user fee now is two pesewas and the maximum is fifty pesewas.
The last time that these figures were reviewed was in 1998 although government has to ideally review it annually to reflect prevailing economic situation.
This year, Mr Aidoo said government was working towards reviewing the figure upwards to rake in more money into the fund for an improved road rehabilitation works.

Zoomlion mosquito control programme ongoing

2009-08-12T10:00:00.001-07:00

Metro page
Spraying exercise (metro)
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
EFFORTS to reduce the breeding of mosquitoes and consequently malaria is still ongoing with officials of Zoomlion Ghana Company Limited and Labiofam at the forefront.
The two companies have since the beginning of the year larveacided six sub-metropolitan areas within the Accra metropolis.
Areas that have already benefited from the exercise are Chorkor Chemuenaa in the Ablekuma South sub-metro, Osu Klottey, Ayawaso East, West and Central where communities such as Nima, Maamobi and Alajo were larveacided with a biological agent, Bactivec and Griselesf.
Depending on the weather, the bactivec could stay active in the stagnant water for about a month before another application might be necessary.
The team last Thursday moved to Dansoman in the Ablekuma South sub-metro where the personnel applied the biological agent to stagnant waters at the Most Holy Heart School area identified as a breeding point for mosquito larvae.
From stagnant waters to drains and bushy areas, personnel of the company applied the agent to kill the larvae before they matured into mosquitoes.
The Greater Accra Regional Vector Control Officer, Mr Abel Djangmah said the exercise would be carried out regularly to significantly reduce mosquitoes and its attendant health problem, malaria.
According to him, the exercise was part of the National Malaria Programme and districts in other regions would also be sprayed.
So far, the company had applied 3,400 litres of Bactivec in the six sub-metros of the AMA.
Personnel of the two companies he said would follow up to the areas to assess the impact of the exercise for the necessary action to be taken.

Panel to deal with children’s issues inaugurated

2009-08-12T09:59:00.004-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has inaugurated a child panel to deal with child truancy, irresponsible parenting and child labour issues.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije inaugurated the panel, which should have been established 11 years ago.
Mr Vanderpuije expressed the hope that the establishment of the panel would bring smiles on the faces of children faced with development challenges in the national capital.
He advised members of the panel to be committed to their work and ensure the success of the programme, which also sought to promote the rights of children in the Accra metropolis.
He reminded members of the panel not to adjudicate cases related to murder, armed robbery and arson, since they did not have judicial functions to mediate in criminal matters.
According to Mr Vanderpuije, the rights of children continued to be violated.
“Children are, for instance, kept in adult cells at police stations; children continue to appear before the courts on minor offences contrary to the stipulations of the Children’s Act 506”, he said.
He said children, who instead of going to school preferred to loiter, play truancy and trade at unauthorised places would soon face the panel and offending parents sanctioned.
“One main responsibility of the panel is to make irresponsible parents responsible,” he said

AMA to clear vehicles, illegal structures on N1 Road

2009-08-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

Metro page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
SOME recalcitrant garage owners have failed to remove their vehicles on the Tetteh Quarshie-Mallam Road, also known as N1 Road, although work on the project has started in earnest.
A visit to the area by the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, showed many vehicles being offered for sale still parked along the shoulder of the road on the Tetteh Quarshie- Mallam Road.
Mr Vanderpuije has consequently directed officials of the Ayawaso Central sub-metro office which has jurisdiction over the area to immediately remove the vehicles, along with all the other illegal structures, that were impeding the work.
Mr Vanderpuije gave the directive during an inspection tour of some parts of the metropolis.
He directed that a lorry park, also sited on the road reservation,should be relocated.
The area from the Dimples Junction at Dzorwulu all the way to the Mallam Junction is characterised by a high level of indiscipline on the part of some recalcitrant traders and hawkers.They were still selling on the pavements and shoulders of the road at the time of the visit despite the several decongestion exercises the Accra Metropolitan assembly had conducted in the area.
The hundreds of hawkers who had besieged the pedestrian walkways and shoulders of roads at Abeka Lapaz took to their heels, carrying whatever they could as they run, on the approach of Mr Vanderpuije and his team.
Mr Vanderpuije who expressed shock at the spectacle warned the traders to stay away from the road.
The Okaikoi North sub-metro, he said, must take immediate steps to remove them and design strategies to keep them permanently off those areas.
“Construction or no construction this must not happen; I am very upset, because this is a highway and not a market,” he said.
Ironically, the Okaikoi North Sub-metro had carried out an exercise to clear the hawkers and petty traders a few days earlier.
“We carried out an exercise here last Friday,” the Sub-metro Director, Mrs Abena Kwesiwaa Kyei, said and added that they would not relent in their efforts to get the traders completely off the corridor.
Illegal structures abounded even more at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle much to the disapproval of the AMA Boss who directed personnel of the Metro Security to mark the structures for demolition within seven days.
“This is a city, we cannot allow these structures to stand, they must go”, he said.
At the time of the visit, a chop bar operator whose structure was located a stone’s throw away from the rail track was busily preparing food.

Building permits in 3 months-AMA boss

2009-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Metro page of Aug. 12, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has re-oriented its departments to enable them to issue building permits within three months after application, making the difficulty associated with the acquisition of development permits a thing of the past.
Duplicating roles previously carried out by officials of the Metro Works and the Metro Town and Country Planning departments which was responsible for the delays have been sorted out.
“Appropriate measures have been taken to harmonise the operations of the two departments to ensure a three-month period for approval of building plans”, he said.
Mr Vanderpuije explained that the move had become necessary to control the number of unauthorised structures springing up across the length and breath of the nation’s capital, Accra.
Speaking at a meeting in Accra, Mr Vanderpuije gave the assurance that measures that have so far been taken would eliminate the delays and consequently make the operations of the two departments more responsive to the needs of the people.
He said being a statutory planning authority with the responsibility to issue permits for physical developments in the metropolis, the assembly played an important role of attracting investments into the city.
“This important role, therefore, calls for the overhauling of our permitting system in order to avoid inordinate delays, which are at times frustrating”, he explained.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashitey had earlier this year expressed his disapproval over the long delays and cumbersome processes associated with the acquisition of development permits.
He consequently directed all the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in the Greater Accra Region to issue out the development permits, three months after application provided all documents needed for the processing of the permits were valid.
Mr Vanderpuije appealed to residents to support the new trend by providing valid documents needed for the processing of the permits.

(AMA to control noise pollution)

2009-08-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is setting up a noise abatement task force to deal with the hundreds of cases related to noise pollution and recorded at the AMA every year.
The assembly says it would deal particularly with the mobile music vendors who shuttle from one road to another, especially at the commercial centres with blasting music being advertised.
Also, chop bar operators, spots and religious bodies whose activities have over the years emanated high levels of noise far above the acceptable decibles and, therefore, caused nuisance to their neighbours would also be dealt with.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, made this known when he delivered his address at the third ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the AMA in Accra.
Currently, the AMA, he said was in the process of finalising an arrangement with the Police and the Judiciary to assist the assembly to prosecute offenders.
Section 5 of the AMA bye-law states that, “No person shall play or cause to be played any recorded music in public for advertising purpose so as to cause nuisance to the public”.
Noise pollution has become one of the major environmental problems facing some residents in the Accra metropolis.
Although the situation cuts across areas in the metropolis, the Metro Public Health Department of the AMA has said it was most prevalent at Dansoman, Abeka, Awoshie, La and Korle-Gonno.
Residents of these areas are no longer guaranteed a sound sleep after a hard day’s work as they have had to endure these deafening noise from spots that quickly turned into night clubs in the evening, religious organisations holding deliverance sessions, among others.
These activities, according to Mr Vanderpuije, would be checked to provide some level of serenity for residents.
Residents will begin to enjoy infrastructural development with the commencement of the Electoral Area projects. An amount of GH¢400,000 has been made available for the implementation of the first phase of the project.
The remaining amount, GH¢200,000, according to Mr Vanderpuije, would be made available after the completion of the first phase.
Already, some members of the assembly have submitted proposals outlining projects they intend to embark on and these include rehabilitation of school blocks, fence, roads and other development projects.

Gov. develops strategies to resolve premix shortage

2009-08-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Metro page

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, has met with fishermen at Chorkor to explain to them the government’s measures that were put in place to improve upon their work and, by extension, their livelihood.
At a meeting attended by hundreds of fishermen, including their leaders at Chorkor, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah assured the fishermen of government’s determination to deal with those issues that adversely affected their work in recent times.
A severe shortage of premix fuel hit the nation a few weeks ago, affecting fishermen across the country.
To address the issue and provide a lasting solution to the shortage of the commodity which is key in fishing, the government, he said, had come up with five strategies to deal with the problem.
He announced that beginning from Monday, August 10, 2009, the colour of premix fuel would be changed to blue for easy detection against diversion, which had contributed significantly to the recent shortage.
Trucks which carry the premix fuel will also be branded with ‘premix’ boldly written on every side, while a “GPR” system would also be fixed on them to track their movement.
Mr Ankrah said supply to the fishing communities would also be doubled from the same date, adding that a monitoring team, comprising those in the fishing sector, had also been formed to check illegal fishing activities, including the use of light and pair trawling.
He gave the assurance that an emergency premix fuel supply system would be operated to enable the fishermen resume work.
Furthermore, Mr Afriyie-Ankrah said the government was prepared to subsidise the cost of outboard motors which was now being sold at GH¢5,200 from the old price of about GH¢3,000 in December.
He, however, encouraged them to form identifiable groups for easy facilitation of such a programme.
The fishermen from Chorkor Kukrudu, Lante Mamli, Mantsuru, Chemunaa and Gbegbeyise took turns to speak on the challenges they faced in recent times.
One of them, Mr Afutu Lamptey, complained of the high cost of fishing gear, including outboard motors, fishing net, canoe, among others.
“To make matters worse, we have also not had premix fuel to buy to enable us to go fishing. We beg you, there is so many fish to harvest, but if we loose this opportunity, we will forever blame you. We are very worried because fishing is our main occupation and our lives depend on it,” he said.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Mr Fritz Baffour, appealed to the fishermen to bear with the government as it tried to resolve the problem.

Kpeshie Lagoon gone at last

2009-08-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Metro page of Aug. 12, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
ENCROACHERS have suceeded in reclaiming large portions of the Kpeshie Lagoon and its mangrove and are selling the parcels of land to individuals for residential and business development.
Their actions, which now seem very difficult to reverse, are said to have contributed significantly to the severe flooding experienced in some parts of the metropolis during this year’s rainy season.
Currently, an extensive portion of the lagoon has been filled and a brothel constructed on it. The encroaches have also constructed an access road to the brothel.
Others have also converted part of the reclaimed land into a football park.
A visit to the lagoon by the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, revealed the dire degradation the lagoon had to suffer over the years, with unauthorised structures springing up on the reclaimed land as well as the refuse dump sited on it.
The garbage is dumped near the lagoon and some squatters defecate into it, thus greatly polluting what is left of the lagoon, so much so that it is unable to produce tilapia, a type of fish which has become a popular delicacy for most Ghanaians.
Among the structures that have sprung up on the reclaimed land is a church, the Apostles Continuation Church, where some members were seen fellowshipping at the time of the visit.
Although the situation looked bleak for the lagoon, the AMA Chief Executive expressed determination to salvage it and ordered personnel of the assembly to mark the illegal structures for demolition within seven days.
According to him, those structures had no business standing at the place, adding that the right steps would be taken to pull them down in due course.
“We will not allow these structures to stand”, he said.
Mr Vanderpuije was accompanied by other officials of the assembly, including the Co-ordinating Director, Mr Richard Tuffuor, the head of Metro Works, Mr Carl Henry Clerke, the Metropolitan Roads Engineer, Mr Abass Awolu, and some members of the assembly.
At the time of the visit, there were heaps of sand ready to be levelled on other portions of the lagoon.
Reclamation of the Kpeshie Lagoon started about two years ago with the rehabilitation of the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra. In the course of executing the project, contractors found it convenient to dump debris from the site there.
Other sources alleged that debris from the presidential palace which was constructed last year was also dumped near the lagoon.
The La Sub-metro, which has jurisdiction over the area, has often expressed concern over the issue but said it lacked the financial backing and appealed for support to deal with the situation.
The former sub-metro director, Mr Noah Tumfo, once stated “ we are handicapped in dealing with the problem” and reiterated an earlier call on the Water Resources Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to step in to save the lagoon as most of the reclamation activities took place at night.

Hawkers dare Accra Metropolitan Assembly

2009-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Metro page of Monday Aug. 10, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
THE Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) seems to be loosing the battle against street hawking and illegal trading activities.
Barely two months after the assembly had evicted traders from commercial centres in the national capital including the Central Business District of Accra, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and the Kaneshie market, the traders have defied the odds and are selling in the full glare of security guards who have been stationed at vantage points.
The structures are indeed missing, but in their stead are new strategies which include harassing and pulling of prospective clients by the petty traders and hawkers to sell their wares.
Passers-by are now subjected to verbal and physical harassment by these traders who will stop at nothing to catch the attention of prospective clients.
These traders who have taken positions along the main roads would pull virtually everyone deemed capable of patronising their wares whilst bringing the items out from polythene bags.
Clearly, the AMA has more work to do to decongest the main Derby Avenue Road, a bus stop at the Railways Station at Accra, the Kaneshie market and parts of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle where the AMA had earlier this year cleared hundreds of illegal structures and hawkers in its first decongestion exercise for 2009.
The Derby Avenue located at the CBD of Accra and known for its congestion, is currently busy with traders and hawkers who beckon passers-by to patronise their wares whilst a station at the Railways at Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) is also busting with commercial activities.
Traders selling all manner of items such as jewellery, second-hand clothes and bags and vegetables have taken over the bus stop and the pedestrian walkway.
When the Daily Graphic visited the CBD last Thursday to assess the success or otherwise of the exercise, it found out that the security guards made up of Metro Security, Prisons, Fire Service and police were overwhelmed with the situation as they looked on whilst the traders transacted their business.
At one instance, however, one of the security guards seized a second-hand shirt from a hawker found selling on the pavement but his action failed to put any fear in the others as they shouted?? ‘ebei ebei’???.
When the AMA was asked to comment on the current prevailing situation,it insisted that it was on track and monitoring the situation.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, told the Daily Graphic in a telephone interview that monitoring would be intensified and recalcitrant traders arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
A number of traders and petty traders found selling at illegal areas, he said, had been arrested and would be prosecuted.
Meanwhile, there are still vacant stalls at the Pedestrian Shopping Mall specifically built for petty traders and hawkers to get them off the pedestrian walkway and shoulders of the roads.
The AMA on June 29, this year embarked on an unannounced decongestion exercise in parts of the metropolis during which officials of the assembly assisted by personnel of the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and Prisons Service cleared illegal structures at those areas.
Following the exercise, human and vehicle congestion was reduced significantly in and around the CBD, Kaneshie and Kwame Nkrumah Circle but motorists have expressed fear that with the manner in which the hawkers were trickling back, it may not be long before they take over the area.

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

2009-08-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Metro page of Aug. 12, 2009

CONTROVERSY is still raging over the ownership and management of public places of convenience in the Accra metropolis.
The situation has prompted the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to initiate an exercise to review all contracts with regard to the management of public places of convenience to make them more beneficial to the AMA.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, said his office was currently inundated with petitions related to the running of the facilities with daily phone calls and visits to his office.
“My office has been inundated with a lot of petitions on toilet takeovers and seizures, a situation which beats my imagination,” he told assembly members at their third ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the assembly yesterday.
The current system, he said, was not beneficial to the AMA because the management and ownership of the facilities were in private hands who paid little or no revenue into the coffers of the AMA and its sub-metropolitan offices as the monies went into individual pockets.
“The city’s progress and development, in my opinion, should be of paramount importance than the war over toilets.
“This unfortunate situation would not be countenanced anymore as I am prepared to chart a new course in the management of these toilet facilities by reviewing the existing agreements,” he said.
Some assembly members who were expected to educate their electorate on approved procedures for addressing grievances were themselves involved in those acts of lawlessness, he said.
Instead of the current battle over lavatories, Mr Vanderpuije urged the members to educate property owners in their electoral areas to provide the facility in their homes and leave the public ones for visitors.
The assembly, he said, was still working on the Waste-To-Energy project expected to convert some 60,000 tonnes of garbage generated every year to provide 50 megawatts of electricity.
The AMA, he said, stood to benefit financially from that project when operations started soon.
Agreement to secure three hectares for the project has almost been completed.
One hectare will be used for the establishment of a station to produce the pellets for use as energy source and the other two hectares for the bio-speres and generators for the electricity.
Mr Vanderpuije expressed regret that the Kwabenya Landfill Project, which is expected to provide a permanent solution to the waste management needs of the metropolis, had stalled but was quick to add that the assembly would continue to pursue the project to integrate it into the new waste management system.

Six communities provided with potable water

2009-07-31T03:17:00.000-07:00

July 31, 2009
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
WaterHealth Ghana, a subsidiary of WaterHealth International, has provided safe and potable water for six communities in Ghana.
Five of the beneficiary communities — Amasaman, Oduman, Obeyeyie, Afuaman and Pokuase — are in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region, while the sixth one, Tongor-Dzemeni, is in the South Dayi District of the Volta Region.
Before the introduction of the utility in these communities, residents depended solely on boreholes and in some cases untreated water from rivers and streams for both drinking and domestic use, exposing themselves to various water-borne diseases.
The company, which started operations in the country in 2007, uses an ultra-violet (UV) technology which is proprietary to WaterHealth International as the final treatment to disinfect water which can be sourced from surface sources, including rivers, lakes, ponds, as well as ground water from shallow wells within its operation areas.
The General Manager of WaterHealth Ghana, Mrs Mawunyo Puplampu, made this known when he spoke to the Daily Graphic at the 20th Mole Series Conference which was held recently in Ho in the Volta Region.
Players in the water and sanitation sector used the conference to deliberate on issues affecting the sector with the view to charting a new path towards the sustainable growth of that sector.
The UV, she explained, was introduced prior to alum sedimentation, media and activated carbon filtration to ensure maximum disinfection of the water.
The treated water from the facility, she said, conformed to WHO and Ghana Standard Board requirements for drinking water.
Presently, communities that have benefited from the project are deriving immense benefits, she said, adding that the facilities, if well maintained, could last for 30 years before any major rehabilitation work was carried out on them.
She said the company hoped to reduce water-borne diseases in the country by providing quality water for communities.
Currently, members of the communities paid user fees which, she said, would be used to maintain the plants.
To ensure that water is not wasted once it has been fetched, WaterHealth has also provided gallons to enable members of the communities to store their water properly.
According to Mrs Puplampu, the WaterHealth facility provided water which was affordable and had significant health, financial, economic and environmental benefits.
“Sustainability is a strong identity to this facility,” she said.
WaterHealth Ghana, she explained, jointly managed and maintained the facilities, which had a comparatively low average per capita installation cost and low operations and maintenance cost, with the various community representatives.
She said the company planned to replicate this state-of-the-art system across the rest of the country, while collaborating with all stakeholders in the water sector to help meet the MDGs by 2015.

Adzen Kotoku chiefs deny releasing land to AMA

2009-07-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Back page
Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
AN announcement by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to the effect that squatters at Sodom and Gomorra would be relocated at Adzen Kotoku, in the Ga West District, has received a backlash from the chiefs and people of the new site.
Leaders of the three communities that make up Adzen Kotoku told the Daily Graphic this week that they had not released any land for any resettlement and would, therefore, resist any such move.
The Chief of Amoaman, one of the three communities, Nii Tackie Amoah VI, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, stressed that there was no place at Adzen Kotoku for the squatters of Sodom and Gommora.
Reacting to the position of the landowners, the Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Alfred Vanderpiuje, denied that the squatters at Sodom and Gomorra would be relocated to Adzen Kotoku.
He said the authority had not given any indication that it intended to relocate the squatters to Adzen Kotoku, explaining that the ongoing redevelopment of the area was meant for a bulk breaking market where trucks conveying foodstuffs from the northern and western parts of the country would be intercepted to allow smaller vehicles to later transport foodstuffs to the central business district (CBD) of Accra.
This, according to the officials, is to relieve the CBD and other foodstuff markets such as Agbogbloshie of heavy trucks that park on the shoulders of roads for days to offload goods.
Currently, Dredging International, the company that has been contracted by the Government of Ghana to work on the redevelopment project at Adzen Kotoku is still working on the construction of roads with no indication of buildings for squatters.
Mr Joseph Kpangkpani, who is the Site Engineer for the project, explained that Kotoku was discovered some years back as a strategic location where the rail lines from the northern and western corridors met.
Nii Tackie Amoah VI stressed that there was no place for the squatters at Sodom and Gommora in Adzen Kotoku. “We are not ready to live with squatters from Sodom and Gomorra,” he emphasised.
He explained that when the people and their chiefs met with government officials led by the former Minister of Tourism, Mr Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, in 2006, they were told that the community was going to be redeveloped as part of a long-term plan to decongest the commercial centres of Accra, especially the foodstuff markets.
The people, he said, willingly endorsed the plan and promised to release parcels of land for the project.
An elder from the other community, Nii Kwei Tsuru We, Mr Emmanuel Ardey-Ayi said they were shocked after stories started making headlines that the squatters were going to be resettled in their community.
Mr Ardey-Ayi said he was part of a meeting between members of the community and the government officials who proposed to redevelop the community by constructing roads, terminals, markets, estates and other facilities that would boost commercial activities there.
After that meeting in 2006, Mr Ardey-Ayi said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by stakeholders in the redevelopment project.
According to him, ever since the MoU was signed some three years ago, no further negotiations had taken place as regards the price for the 970 acres of land which belonged to stools and families.
The Kwarteyman Mantse, Nii Aklekwei, bluntly stated that, “ I have not released any land for the relocation of squatters and we do not want them here”.

President Obama expresses worry about high maternal mortality in Ghana

2009-07-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil

THE La General Hospital, just like the many places that the first American family visited on Saturday, was the focus of attention for many Ghanaians.
Prior to President and Mrs Obama’s arrival at the hospital at 11; 00 a.m, Ghanaians and foreigners who had come from far and near to catch a glimpse of the first African American President of the United States of America (USA) had lined up at the side of the streets.
President and Mrs Obama’s visit to the hospital was, however, not for fanfare.
Indeed, a gloomy picture was painted of Ghana’s maternal and neo-natal mortality, where recent figures from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicates that 450 out of 100,000 women lose their lives during child birth while 50 out of 100,000 children also die before they attained age five.
The Director General of the GHS, Dr Elias Sory, who made these figures known to the Daily Graphic described it as terrible and one that required urgent attention.
The true picture of the country’s infant and maternal mortality rate was not known until recently, he said, adding that “once we know our stand, we can begin to take steps to amend the problem”.
The visit of President Obama and his wife, Michelle, to the hospital was consequently meant to highlight the contributions of the USA towards reducing maternal and infant deaths in the country.
The USA through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has since 1960 extended support to the country in the health sector, particularly in the area of maternal and infant health care.
Other US agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined the fight against malaria and HIV in the country.
The US will from October this year begin a new programme to further improve on Ghana’s healthcare delivery in three regions of the country.
Health facilities in the Greater Accra, Central and Western regions will benefit from this new programme .
In the past 10 years, the US government support to Ghana’s health sector has risen from $13 million to over $50 million annually.
President Obama and Michelle’s 50-minute visit to the hospital on Saturday morning brought many smiles to the faces of expectant and nursing mothers as they had a rare opportunity to interact with America’s first family.
Mr Obama expressed worry over the high level of maternal mortality in Africa as a whole and particularly Ghana.
The USAID, which will spearhead this programme, is expected to provide human resource, logistics and management information to support service delivery of the selected hospitals.
The La General Hospital in the Greater Accra Region is to benefit from this programme. Consequently the American President and his wife visited the hospital as part of their two-day visit to the country to assess the level of progress being made by the country in reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality.
From one expectant mother to the other, President and Mrs Obama asked the mothers who brimmed with smiles a range of questions.
For some of the mothers, the visit will forever remain a memorable one as Mr Obama carried their babies in his arms.
The Minister of Health, Dr George Yankey, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, and the Medical Director of the La General Hospital, were present to welcome the president and his wife.

Ga Manye committed to tackle social vices

2009-07-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Story: Naa Lamiley Bentil
Queens in our various traditional set ups play crucial roles in national development, particularly in the area of women empowerment and education, which is of historical importance.
Apart from gracing local and international programmes, adorned in their traditional wear, queens are also seen as a symbol of peace, mothers to orphans, counsellors to both married and unmarried people, as well as mediators in resolving conflicts among traders in the markets and in their communities.
Queens also have the responsibility to provide leadership to the women in the communities in terms of organising them for livelihood activities, mediating in issues concerning women to ensure that they have justice, serving as role models and giving education to young girls to ensure that they grow into responsible adults.
These are the areas where, the Ga Manye, Naa Dedei Omadru III, who recently celebrated her 75th birthday and 45th anniversary as a queen has excelled.
Naa Dedei Omadru III, who is known in private life as Vivian Joana Holms, in an interview with the Daily Graphic at her residence in Accra recounted how she settled disputes among traders, especially at the Osu Market in Accra.
Having established a foundation -the ‘Naa Omadru Foundation’- years back, the Ga Manye also reached out to the needy, schoolchildren, as well as some physically challenged persons.
According to her, the problems facing Ga Mashie today, are enormous, and called for immediate action to deal with them.
Today, Ga Mashie, Chorkor, Lante Maamli and other typical Ga settlements are battling with the incidence of teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse and a general lack of discipline among the youth.
She described this development as worrying which needed some level of attention.
Her foundation, she indicated, was in the process of mobilising funds to start an advocacy and support programme and workshop on HIV/AIDS, malaria and teenage pregnancy, as well as addressing issues pertaining to environmental sanitation.
The Ga Manye said although she embarked on similar exercises in the past, it did not last because of the lack of funding, and expressed regret that most companies she sent letters to solicit support for her programme were yet to respond favourably to them.
She lauded President John Evans Atta Mills’s decision to split allowances for chiefs and queens, saying that it would go a long way to enable all queens to embark on sound projects for the benefit of their people.
“As a queen, I get worried when I see my people without proper housing, health care, education and jobs,” she said, adding that she had resolved to contribute her widow’s mite to address these problems.
In typical Ga settlements, some parents neglect the upbringing of their children and instead spend their scarce resources on naming ceremonies and funerals.
A new trend which seeks to worsen the already bad economic situation of people in these settlements is the mass purchasing of special clothes for such occasions.
Lately, some people take as many as three different cloths just to perform funeral rites and it is one of the developments that the Ga Manye finds worrying.
She advised mothers in particular to eschew these unprofitable ceremonies and channel such monies into taking good care of their children.
She observed that the Ga State was lagging behind because of chieftaincy disputes, stressing that “ It is about time we stopped these bickering and forge ahead in unity,”.
She added that she was determined to improve the lives of hundreds of brilliant young men and women who without proper guidance were finding it difficult to find their feet.