THE management of the Zoomlion Ghana Limited in Tamale has expressed its disappointment with the recent strike embarked upon by workers employed under the sanitation module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
It contended that although the workers had genuine concerns regarding inadequate allowances paid to them, such demands should have been placed at the doorstep of the NYEP authorities rather than blaming the company for any lapses.
The Northern Regional Manager of the Zoomlion, Mr Prince Alhassan, told the Daily Graphic that the management held four meetings with the workers to explain issues to them but that did not yield any fruitful results.
According to him, the concerns of the workers had already been communicated to the NYEP in Accra before the workers decided to lay down their tools.
Last week, some workers, most of whom were refuse collection tricycle riders, embarked on a strike to protest against the meagre allowances paid to them.
They further alleged that Zoomlion was responsible for their predicament and said the company had reneged on its promises to workers such as the regularisation of their employment under the Ministry of Health and the payment of their social security contributions.
Mr Alhassan, however, conceded that their monthly allowances of GH¢50 was inadequate but said they only worked for a maximum of three hours a day.
He maintained that Zoomlion was not responsible for the payment of those employed under the sanitation component of the NYEP.
“We believe in work and happiness and I must emphasise that management has been sending their concerns to the NYEP in Accra. I, therefore, entreat them to exercise restraint while their concerns are being addressed” he said.
He further indicated that in spite of the current problems the company was facing with regard to the strike of the workers, the company was poised to achieve its primary objective of managing waste in the metropolis.
Mr Alhassan said management had procured equipment to complete a landfill site project at Gbalahi, a suburb of Tamale, by the end of this year.
The manager said 700 tricycles, 70 motorised tricycles and 17 trucks were being used to help manage waste in the metropolis.
Zoomlion Ghana Limited started operating in the metropolis in October 2006 and has been complementing the efforts of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) to manage waste in the metropolis.
TAMA spends on the average GH¢800,000 every year to manage waste in the metropolis.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
BOOST FOR TAMALE SAHELIAN TRADE (PAGE 29)
TRADING between Tamale, Burkina Faso and other Sahelian regions will peak in the years ahead.
This follows the award of a GH¢100,000 contract for the establishment of the first phase of an ultra-modern livestock market at Guunayili, a suburb of Tamale.
The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year, comprises a loading area, rest room for traders and pens for animals.
It is being funded under a Canadian programme known as the District Wide Assistance Project (DIWAP).
When completed, Guunayili will become a transit point for livestock trading between Ghana and the Sahelian countries. In other words, traders from Southern Ghana can now stop at Guunayili and purchase their livestock instead of travelling all the way to Burkina Faso while those from Burkina Faso can also stop at the same place and buy what they want rather than travelling to the southern sector of Ghana.
The project was one of the many benefits of the Sister-city relationship initiated in October 2003 between the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) and the people of Fada N’Gourma in Burkina Faso.
The relationship was aimed at promoting socio-economic and cultural activities between the people of the two cities in particular, and Ghana and Burkina Faso in general.
In 2003, the Mayor of Fada N’gourma, Tandamba Iddrissa, led a four-member delegation to Tamale to finalise an agreement with the authorities of the TAMA on the relationship.
Another Sister-city relationship between Tamale and Louisville in the state of Kentucky in the United States of America (US), which was initiated as far back as 1979 is also yielding positive results.
The proposed establishment of a plant in the metropolis to process solid waste into gas for power generation, for instance, is one of the benefits of the Tamale-Louisville relationship.
The Tamale Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director, Mr Mohammed Baba, stated that contractors on the project could not move to the site now because of the rainy season which had made the area “marshy and heavy equipment cannot move in now”.
He said when completed, the project would increase employment opportunities for the youth, particularly women.
Mr Baba said it would also enhance the income levels of women in the metropolis, as most of them would be engaged in trading.
“Traders from countries like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso would benefit immensely from the project; let us all support the assembly in this endeavour because Tamale has a lot to gain,” he intimated.
This follows the award of a GH¢100,000 contract for the establishment of the first phase of an ultra-modern livestock market at Guunayili, a suburb of Tamale.
The project, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year, comprises a loading area, rest room for traders and pens for animals.
It is being funded under a Canadian programme known as the District Wide Assistance Project (DIWAP).
When completed, Guunayili will become a transit point for livestock trading between Ghana and the Sahelian countries. In other words, traders from Southern Ghana can now stop at Guunayili and purchase their livestock instead of travelling all the way to Burkina Faso while those from Burkina Faso can also stop at the same place and buy what they want rather than travelling to the southern sector of Ghana.
The project was one of the many benefits of the Sister-city relationship initiated in October 2003 between the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) and the people of Fada N’Gourma in Burkina Faso.
The relationship was aimed at promoting socio-economic and cultural activities between the people of the two cities in particular, and Ghana and Burkina Faso in general.
In 2003, the Mayor of Fada N’gourma, Tandamba Iddrissa, led a four-member delegation to Tamale to finalise an agreement with the authorities of the TAMA on the relationship.
Another Sister-city relationship between Tamale and Louisville in the state of Kentucky in the United States of America (US), which was initiated as far back as 1979 is also yielding positive results.
The proposed establishment of a plant in the metropolis to process solid waste into gas for power generation, for instance, is one of the benefits of the Tamale-Louisville relationship.
The Tamale Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director, Mr Mohammed Baba, stated that contractors on the project could not move to the site now because of the rainy season which had made the area “marshy and heavy equipment cannot move in now”.
He said when completed, the project would increase employment opportunities for the youth, particularly women.
Mr Baba said it would also enhance the income levels of women in the metropolis, as most of them would be engaged in trading.
“Traders from countries like Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso would benefit immensely from the project; let us all support the assembly in this endeavour because Tamale has a lot to gain,” he intimated.
TAMALE PRISONS EMBRACES DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMME (PAGE 29)
THE implementation of the Presidential Special Initiative on Distance Learning (PSI-DL) to facilitate the training of the inmates and officers of the Tamale Central Prisons in technical, vocational education and training (TVET), is on course.
The initiative was inaugurated eight months ago to enable beneficiaries of the programme to acquire skills in catering, block laying and concrete work, among others.
The programme afforded the over 290 inmates of the Tamale Prisons the opportunity to improve on their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as English and Mathematics.
A number of facilities have been provided to facilitate teaching and learning at the prisons. They include television sets, video compact discs (VCDs), digital videodisc players and lesson notes on English and Mathematics for Junior High and Senior High schools.
The Tamale Prisons has thus become one of the four learning centres of the open school (TVET) system under the PSI-DL programme introduced in a number of prisons in the country.
The PSI-DL was introduced in April, 2002 to co-ordinate and make operational, alternate models of education to complement the government’s efforts at ensuring that Ghana attained the target of “Education For All” by the year 2015.
The Northern Regional Prisons Commander, Mr Earl Adjei-Koreeh, told the Daily Graphic that the programme had come at the right time and that the inmates would start reaping its benefits by the close of the year.
He indicated that over the years, the Tamale Prisons had grappled with the problem of inadequate funding, overcrowding and lack of workshops to facilitate the training of the inmates in employable skills.
Mr Adjei-Koreeh further complained that a significant number of the staff at the Prisons had no decent accommodation.
He said inadequate funding for the maintenance and running cost of official vehicles needed to be critically addressed.
The initiative was inaugurated eight months ago to enable beneficiaries of the programme to acquire skills in catering, block laying and concrete work, among others.
The programme afforded the over 290 inmates of the Tamale Prisons the opportunity to improve on their literacy and numeracy skills, as well as English and Mathematics.
A number of facilities have been provided to facilitate teaching and learning at the prisons. They include television sets, video compact discs (VCDs), digital videodisc players and lesson notes on English and Mathematics for Junior High and Senior High schools.
The Tamale Prisons has thus become one of the four learning centres of the open school (TVET) system under the PSI-DL programme introduced in a number of prisons in the country.
The PSI-DL was introduced in April, 2002 to co-ordinate and make operational, alternate models of education to complement the government’s efforts at ensuring that Ghana attained the target of “Education For All” by the year 2015.
The Northern Regional Prisons Commander, Mr Earl Adjei-Koreeh, told the Daily Graphic that the programme had come at the right time and that the inmates would start reaping its benefits by the close of the year.
He indicated that over the years, the Tamale Prisons had grappled with the problem of inadequate funding, overcrowding and lack of workshops to facilitate the training of the inmates in employable skills.
Mr Adjei-Koreeh further complained that a significant number of the staff at the Prisons had no decent accommodation.
He said inadequate funding for the maintenance and running cost of official vehicles needed to be critically addressed.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
NALERIGU TO GET NURSES' TRAINING COLLEGE (PAGE 21)
WORK on a new nurses’ training college at Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District in the Northern Region, will begin next month to help address the increasing health needs of the people in the area.
The President, John Agyekum Kufuor, announced this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu.
Established in 1958 by the Baptist missionaries, the centre had over the years gained reputation for offering quality health services to the people of the area and neighbouring countries.
The idea for the establishment of the hospital was mooted in 1954 when Dr George Faile, a Baptist Church missionary, came to Ghana to attend the ninth annual session of the Gold Coast Baptist Conference.
With a current staff strength of 250, the hospital provides health care to 70,000 patients and carries out 1,200 major operations and 800 deliveries annually.
President Kufuor entreated health professionals to sacrifice a little for the improvement of healthcare delivery in the country.
According to him, the government was determined to improve the health sector through the training of its human resource.
He noted that the Baptist Church had left a very “good legacy” for the people of Nalerigu as well as the entire nation.
President Kufuor stated that the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was part of the government’s strategy to ensure increased access to health care by the poor in society.
He said the government’s quest for increased intake of students in the health institutions was part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
The President deplored the recent political violence in Tamale and Gushiegu and therefore urged the people of the Northern Region to make the area a safe haven for investment drive. The Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, entreated residents of the region to come home and help in its development.
He expressed gratitude to the chiefs and elders of the area for solving the problem of encroachment that was affecting the smooth operations of the centre.
The Medical Superintendent of the centre, Dr George M. Faile III, expressed concern about the seeming discrimination against some members of the Christian Hospital Association of Ghana (CHAG).
“Recently it has come to our attention, for example, that visiting doctors and specialists providing volunteer services at their own expense, are being asked to pay $400 just to register to be allowed to work for one or two weeks in the country,” he reported.
Dr Faile noted that if that trend continued, it would be difficult for “us to get volunteers to help provide expert services in the country”.
According to him, the hospital needed more doctors and therefore entreated the Ghana Health Service to post new doctors to the area to augment the staff position of the health facility.
The President, John Agyekum Kufuor, announced this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Baptist Medical Centre at Nalerigu.
Established in 1958 by the Baptist missionaries, the centre had over the years gained reputation for offering quality health services to the people of the area and neighbouring countries.
The idea for the establishment of the hospital was mooted in 1954 when Dr George Faile, a Baptist Church missionary, came to Ghana to attend the ninth annual session of the Gold Coast Baptist Conference.
With a current staff strength of 250, the hospital provides health care to 70,000 patients and carries out 1,200 major operations and 800 deliveries annually.
President Kufuor entreated health professionals to sacrifice a little for the improvement of healthcare delivery in the country.
According to him, the government was determined to improve the health sector through the training of its human resource.
He noted that the Baptist Church had left a very “good legacy” for the people of Nalerigu as well as the entire nation.
President Kufuor stated that the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was part of the government’s strategy to ensure increased access to health care by the poor in society.
He said the government’s quest for increased intake of students in the health institutions was part of efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
The President deplored the recent political violence in Tamale and Gushiegu and therefore urged the people of the Northern Region to make the area a safe haven for investment drive. The Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, entreated residents of the region to come home and help in its development.
He expressed gratitude to the chiefs and elders of the area for solving the problem of encroachment that was affecting the smooth operations of the centre.
The Medical Superintendent of the centre, Dr George M. Faile III, expressed concern about the seeming discrimination against some members of the Christian Hospital Association of Ghana (CHAG).
“Recently it has come to our attention, for example, that visiting doctors and specialists providing volunteer services at their own expense, are being asked to pay $400 just to register to be allowed to work for one or two weeks in the country,” he reported.
Dr Faile noted that if that trend continued, it would be difficult for “us to get volunteers to help provide expert services in the country”.
According to him, the hospital needed more doctors and therefore entreated the Ghana Health Service to post new doctors to the area to augment the staff position of the health facility.
Monday, October 6, 2008
PNC TO MAKE AGRIC CENTREPIECE OF AGENDA (PAGE 14)
THE flag bearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Dr Edward Mahama, has said a PNC government will make agriculture the centrepiece of its development agenda in the northern part of Ghana.
This he said would create more job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in the area.
He has therefore called on the electorate to rally behind the PNC and vote massively for it during the December polls.
Dr Mahama said it was time for the people to realise that a vote for the PNC would also end the political tension in the country between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that had over the years engulfed the country’s body politic.
The flag bearer said this during an interaction with party supporters at Yilonayili, a suburb of Tamale as part of his four-day campaign tour of the Northern Region.
The National Chairman of the PNC, Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, and the National Women’s Organiser, Hajia Hajara Ali, accompanied him on the tour.
Dr Mahama and his campaign team visited Kpendua in the Tolon-Kumbungu District, and Walewale in the West Mamprusi District where he interacted with the teeming supporters of the party.
He also visited Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District, at the invitation of the management of the Baptist Medical Centre (BMC), a missionary hospital, during its 50th anniversary celebration.
Dr Mahama was the first Ghanaian doctor who worked at the BMC in 1974.
He served the hospital for three years before going for further training in the United States of America.
The presidential hopeful mentioned subsidising farm inputs as one of the strategies to make agriculture lucrative and attractive for the youth to venture into.
He indicated that it was time for the people of the northern sector to rally behind his party to ensure that the north produced a president instead of playing second fiddle to that important position.
Dr Mahama said he was touched by the plight of the rural poor, and stressed that it was unacceptable and constituted a violation of their rights.
Such people, he said, needed to be given equal opportunities with the rich and basic social amenities to enable them to live comfortably.
This he said would create more job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth in the area.
He has therefore called on the electorate to rally behind the PNC and vote massively for it during the December polls.
Dr Mahama said it was time for the people to realise that a vote for the PNC would also end the political tension in the country between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that had over the years engulfed the country’s body politic.
The flag bearer said this during an interaction with party supporters at Yilonayili, a suburb of Tamale as part of his four-day campaign tour of the Northern Region.
The National Chairman of the PNC, Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, and the National Women’s Organiser, Hajia Hajara Ali, accompanied him on the tour.
Dr Mahama and his campaign team visited Kpendua in the Tolon-Kumbungu District, and Walewale in the West Mamprusi District where he interacted with the teeming supporters of the party.
He also visited Nalerigu in the East Mamprusi District, at the invitation of the management of the Baptist Medical Centre (BMC), a missionary hospital, during its 50th anniversary celebration.
Dr Mahama was the first Ghanaian doctor who worked at the BMC in 1974.
He served the hospital for three years before going for further training in the United States of America.
The presidential hopeful mentioned subsidising farm inputs as one of the strategies to make agriculture lucrative and attractive for the youth to venture into.
He indicated that it was time for the people of the northern sector to rally behind his party to ensure that the north produced a president instead of playing second fiddle to that important position.
Dr Mahama said he was touched by the plight of the rural poor, and stressed that it was unacceptable and constituted a violation of their rights.
Such people, he said, needed to be given equal opportunities with the rich and basic social amenities to enable them to live comfortably.
Friday, October 3, 2008
MDAs PAYING OUTSTANDING DEBTS TO VRA (PAGE 28)
MINISTRIES, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the Tamale metropolis and the operational areas of the Volta River Authority (VRA) are honouring their outstanding bills they owe to the VRA.
The Northern Area Manager of the VRA-Northern Electrification Department (NED), Mr Bukari Danladi, told the Daily Graphic that although he could not readily disclose the amount of money paid by the MDAs, they had paid “a substantial amount of money to the company”.
He said, however, that 77 corn mills which were allocated power and prepaid meters could no longer be traced and this had made the company to incur some debts.
Also, the manager intimated that VRA had put in place a mechanism to document the serial numbers of all corn mills that had been allocated prepaid meters to forestall such negative practices.
“Our problem is with the corn millers, small industrial set-ups and residential customers, but as for the MDAs, we do not have a problem with them at all,” he further said.
Mr Danladi said so far, three persons had been put in jail in connection with the theft of copper wires, and that about 80 per cent of the company’s copper wires had also been stolen.
He said in August last year, the company had spent a total of GH¢38,200 to replace stolen wires in the metropolis and its environs.
The manager said there were about 4,000 “inactive” customers, who had not paid their bills for more than three months.
He stressed that most of the power outages in the metropolis and other operational areas of the VRA were as a result of a frequent tampering of its installations.
“Everyday, we process not less than 10 cases of illegal connections for court. So far, two persons have been jailed for tampering with prepaid meters. However, the process of prosecution is slow,” Mr Danladi lamented.
The Northern Area Manager of the VRA-Northern Electrification Department (NED), Mr Bukari Danladi, told the Daily Graphic that although he could not readily disclose the amount of money paid by the MDAs, they had paid “a substantial amount of money to the company”.
He said, however, that 77 corn mills which were allocated power and prepaid meters could no longer be traced and this had made the company to incur some debts.
Also, the manager intimated that VRA had put in place a mechanism to document the serial numbers of all corn mills that had been allocated prepaid meters to forestall such negative practices.
“Our problem is with the corn millers, small industrial set-ups and residential customers, but as for the MDAs, we do not have a problem with them at all,” he further said.
Mr Danladi said so far, three persons had been put in jail in connection with the theft of copper wires, and that about 80 per cent of the company’s copper wires had also been stolen.
He said in August last year, the company had spent a total of GH¢38,200 to replace stolen wires in the metropolis and its environs.
The manager said there were about 4,000 “inactive” customers, who had not paid their bills for more than three months.
He stressed that most of the power outages in the metropolis and other operational areas of the VRA were as a result of a frequent tampering of its installations.
“Everyday, we process not less than 10 cases of illegal connections for court. So far, two persons have been jailed for tampering with prepaid meters. However, the process of prosecution is slow,” Mr Danladi lamented.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
BOOST FOR FARMERS IN NORTHERN GHANA...They now have capacity to increase food production (PAGE 3)
FARMERS in northern Ghana now have the capacity to increase food production through modern agricultural practices.
This has been made possible through the inauguration of the second phase of the Farmer Agricultural Production and Marketing Project (FAMAR) in Tamale.
The project, which costs 1.4 million Euros, is expected to increase the number of beneficiary farmers from the current 6,000 to 10,000 in the next four years, as well as help introduce the farmers to appropriate technology to increase food production in the north.
The formation of farmer-based organisations (FBOs) from the community level through the district to the regional levels will also be enhanced under the project.
It is being jointly funded by the Association of Church Development Projects (ACDEP), Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), the European Union (EU) and the International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC).
The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr. Ernest Debrah, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Clement Eledi stated that the project was initiated as a private-public partnership project to link small holder farmers to large buyers.
According to the sector minister, the first phase of the project had been successful, which had encouraged the development partners to inject more capital into it.
Mr. Debrah indicated that the production of sorghum, soybeans and groundnuts had increased significantly between 2005 and 2008.
He noted that another success chalked up during the implementation of the first phase of the FAMAR project was the establishment of the Savannah Farmers’ Marketing Company Limited that had gained strong linkage between farmers and agro-processing companies.
The Executive Director of ACDEP, Mr. Malex Alebikiya, said the project would continue to focus on enhancing farmers’ productive capacity through improved farmer skills, access to credit and savings opportunities.
“The project will also help to improve crop yields, namely, sorghum, soya beans and groundnuts through appropriate technology and extension services,” he stated.
The Northern Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr Sylvester Adongo, observed that in recent times the long dry season and erratic rainfall patterns had threatened farming activities of smallholder farmers in the area.
“It will not be far-fetched to say that the smallholder farmer in the north is gradually becoming an ‘endangered species’ and will need special interventions to stay above water,” he pointed out.
Mr Adongo, therefore, expressed gratitude to the development partners and the government for extending the FAMAR project that had given farmers hope that they could benefit immensely from large secure markets devoid of exploitation.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, entreated the private sector to help establish more storage facilities for farmers to prevent post-harvest losses.
This has been made possible through the inauguration of the second phase of the Farmer Agricultural Production and Marketing Project (FAMAR) in Tamale.
The project, which costs 1.4 million Euros, is expected to increase the number of beneficiary farmers from the current 6,000 to 10,000 in the next four years, as well as help introduce the farmers to appropriate technology to increase food production in the north.
The formation of farmer-based organisations (FBOs) from the community level through the district to the regional levels will also be enhanced under the project.
It is being jointly funded by the Association of Church Development Projects (ACDEP), Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), the European Union (EU) and the International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC).
The Minister of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr. Ernest Debrah, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Clement Eledi stated that the project was initiated as a private-public partnership project to link small holder farmers to large buyers.
According to the sector minister, the first phase of the project had been successful, which had encouraged the development partners to inject more capital into it.
Mr. Debrah indicated that the production of sorghum, soybeans and groundnuts had increased significantly between 2005 and 2008.
He noted that another success chalked up during the implementation of the first phase of the FAMAR project was the establishment of the Savannah Farmers’ Marketing Company Limited that had gained strong linkage between farmers and agro-processing companies.
The Executive Director of ACDEP, Mr. Malex Alebikiya, said the project would continue to focus on enhancing farmers’ productive capacity through improved farmer skills, access to credit and savings opportunities.
“The project will also help to improve crop yields, namely, sorghum, soya beans and groundnuts through appropriate technology and extension services,” he stated.
The Northern Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr Sylvester Adongo, observed that in recent times the long dry season and erratic rainfall patterns had threatened farming activities of smallholder farmers in the area.
“It will not be far-fetched to say that the smallholder farmer in the north is gradually becoming an ‘endangered species’ and will need special interventions to stay above water,” he pointed out.
Mr Adongo, therefore, expressed gratitude to the development partners and the government for extending the FAMAR project that had given farmers hope that they could benefit immensely from large secure markets devoid of exploitation.
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, entreated the private sector to help establish more storage facilities for farmers to prevent post-harvest losses.
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