VRA FIGHTS MALARIA

The Volta River Authority (VRA), as part of its Safety Awareness Day Celebrations campaign across the country, has launched a corporate malaria control strategy document to ensure a malaria-free future.

The control strategy document produced by the Authorities in the Health Department and Public Health section within the VRA, would help mitigate the rising malaria death risk enfaced by staff and inhabitants of the Authority’s impacted communities.

Ms. Alexandra Totoe, VRA Deputy Chief Executive, Finance, launching the strategy documenton behalf of the Minister of Energy, explained that the VRA operates a definitive health and safety policy due to the its greatly dependent on water (breeding medium for mosquitoes) for electricity production by the Authority.

Adding that, Malaria cost the Authority GHC₵82,943.84 approximately $52,000 in 2011 from various health care services administered to staff, relatives of staff and about two million inhabitants of the Volta Lake area communities.

Ms. Totoe also explained that to achieve effectiveness of our health and safety principles, staff must get involved, commitand foster a positive healthy and safety culture with the principles outlined by the strategy document. She added that the Authority would not relent on its efforts but use the strategy document to achieve its intended purpose to affirm the VRA’s primacy of workplace health and safety.

Dr. Emmanuel Fiagbey, Country Director for Johns Hopkins University, also encouraged Ghanaians to adhere to the principles outlined in the malaria control document to enhance productivity of every worker and reduce high health-care cost documented by the health authorities nationwide.

Deserving observers of the corporate safety regulations and principles were awarded with the Takoradi Thermal Plant Station (TTPS) emerging first, followed by Akosombo and Kpong Generating Stations respectively.

The programme received support from the Johns Hopkins University, Ministry of Energy, and other professional ad-hog stakeholders of health and safety across the country.

POWER GURUS PLEDGES COMMITMENT TO LOCAL CONTENT

The Volta River Authority on Monday, December 17, 2012 organized its 2nd Local Content Stakeholders’ Forum at the Movenpick Hotel on the theme: “Promoting Local Content Development in the Power Utilities and Related Industries in Ghana – Achievements and Sustainable Initiatives.”

Speaking at the function, Chief Executive of VRA, Mr. Kweku Andoh Awotwi indicated that the forum aimed at providing a guide to promoting the adoption of local content in the power utility companies in Africa. He called on all stakeholders to join hands in a concerted effort to bring together the fragmented policies in the various sectors into a national policy to enhance participation of local businesses.

According to Mr. Awotwi, the VRA Local Content policy stipulates that all energy stakeholders and regulatory authorities should increase local labour, goods and services in the delivery of infrastructure projects in the country. He therefore urged governments of the developed countries to review the policy issues of tying bi-lateral assistance to developing countries to the purchase of goods and service from the donor country. He explained that such bilateral arrangements negated the recommendations from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) to unite aid as spelt out in 2001.

The VRA Chief further called for a review of the high fixed cost of access (regulation and prequalification costs), high costs of tender information, the policy of ‘bundling’ contracts which favours large firms, and financial constraints. He added that “the exemption of foreign contractors in construction markets in Africa from paying VAT and other taxes, and access to cheap financing from state-owned banks should be waived to promote competition between the local and foreign enterprises. He cautioned that, “Unless the challenges are addressed satisfactorily, enterprises in Ghana and other developing countries will be at a disadvantage against international companies. The playing field needs to be tilted to favour the weaker side. “

On his part, Mr. Charles Darku, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) indicated that in taking advantage of local content policy, the level of Ghanaian ownership should be an important factor for the award of contracts. He suggested that the domestic contractors should also demonstrate a beneficiary interest of more than 30%. He disclosed that to support the local content agenda, GRIDCo will award contracts among ten local companies and develop them in the businesses of substations and transmission line works.

The Director of Customer Services of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Dr. N.K. Smart-Yeboah affirmed that the ECG has incorporated over 500 contractors and communities in its operations and will continue to build on the relationship and existing number. He stated that all ECG’s procurements involving World Bank and other bilateral sources, have always lived by the application of the local preference margin as regulated by the Procurement Law to assist the local companies.

He expressed gratitude to the VRA for setting the benchmark, and providing an opening for all major organizations and institutions to fight for the success of the local content development policy through such fora.

Over 60 institutions and organizations participated in the forum.

MZBEL GOES NAKED

Call her a model or musician but the controversial Nana Akua, popular known in the showbiz industry as MZBEL has taken to posing nude before the cameras. Her latest image reveals all vital parts of the musician and now turned-full model. she is indeed living the dream of showbiz by showbiz critic, BBWRITEZ. He tipped her a s a professional artiste who knows what she wants and how to get it. "I just like her and her creativity. Think what you want to worry your brains about but this is showbiz for crying out loud, Ghana", he said.

GEN NEWS $ ENTERTAINMENT: DEMOLISHING OF AGBOGBLOSHIE RAILWAY SLUM IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS-AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLURTS OUT

GEN NEWS $ ENTERTAINMENT: DEMOLISHING OF AGBOGBLOSHIE RAILWAY SLUM IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS-AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLURTS OUT

YOUTH PRODUCE COMPOST FROM ORGANIC WASTE

A set of youth engaged by two non-governmental organizations, CHF International Ghana (CHF) and Nimba Community Support Service (NIMCOSS) have produced the first volume of matured organic compost from waste in Accra.

The 230 kilograms total weight compost, produced from organic waste collected by the youth from some households in the Avenor Community in the Okaikoi South Sub-Metro of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly weighs approximately 20 kilograms each, and has been approved by the Ghana Standards Board for farmers’ usage.

Some farmers have already expressed interest in the organic manure with one farmer purchasing the first 230 kilogram compost, bagged in eleven sacks for an undisclosed amount.

This, however, stipulates that the woes of waste collection is over since the AMA can create wealth out of the over 60 per cent of waste collected which happens to be organic.

The programs Manager of NIMCOSS, Mr. Yaw Duah, in an interview with Daily Graphic, expressed joy that after months of work with the youth and the Avenor Community, some tangible results had been realized.

He said, “Waste is not valueless, and the attitude towards waste in many residents in many parts of Accra, including Avenor is a contributing factor to the perennial flooding in the city.”

He added that the maturation of the compost marked the realization of an aspect of the goal of the Youth Engagement in Service (YES) delivery project being funded by CHF International Ghana and implemented by NIMCOSS in partnership with AMA.

The project, he recalled, was to create a scalable and integrated waste management system in Avenor through effective waste collection and value addition innovations.

Mr. Duah, explained that the project begun with a distribution of two waste bins to 720 households that applied for it to undertake source separation of household waste, with two females and four males equipped with tricycles, branded uniforms and safety kits to undertake door-to-door waste collection in the community.

“The few households that separated their households had it sent to a simple aerobic compost facility constructed near one public latrine in Avenor, where another set of five youth processed the organic waste into compost with supervision and tutelage from Mr. Joseph Awuye, Compost Technical Engineer from the AMA’s Waste Management Department,” he continued.

He further explained that the organic waste, matured after nearly three months of organic waste shredding, piling, turning, drying, sieving and bagging.

Mr. Duah, however, expressed regret to some youth abandoning the program due to poor attitude and stigmatization from friends and relations as the program was geared towards equipping them with work for a salary.

He as well noted out that, over 90 youths had benefited from various capacity- building training programs with about half the number enjoying start-up support to manage their own enterprises through NIMCOSS and its associated partners.

DEMOLISHING OF AGBOGBLOSHIE RAILWAY SLUM IS A VIOLATION OF THEIR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS-AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLURTS OUT

Amnesty International Ghana has nullified the Ghana Government and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly’s (AMA) plan to demolish structures within 50 meters along the railways at Agbogbloshie slums for redevelopment of the railway systems as a gross violation of the inhabitants’ fundamental human rights.

On 7 December, the AMA announced on their website that structures along the railway lines would be demolished as part of a nationwide plan to redevelop Ghana’s railway system, and proceeded immediately with an action of announcing and marking of the likely to be demolished structures in the Agbogbloshie slum with a vacate notification date of December 14, 2010 as the deadline for the slum dwellers.

The Director of Amnesty Ghana, Mr. Lawrence Amesu who addressed the slum dwellers explained that, forced evictions are a violation of human rights of which the Government is obliged to prohibit and prevent.

He said, “Under International Human Rights Laws, evictions may be carried out only as a last resort, once all other feasible alternatives to evictions have been explored and genuine consultation has taken place with the communities”.

He added that the action to be taken was built on no maximum consultation and no alternative accommodation given, which will render the inhabitants homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violation, which ought to have been considered as a required duty to protect and prevent by the Government.

Mr. Amesu, however, reckoned the positivity in the Government and the Railway Company for the plans and concrete efforts made for rehabilitating and modernizing the railway system, but were more emphatic on the consequences of the action on the 1000’s of rural urban immigrants living along the railways.

The consequences he outlined, included increased school drop-outs as parents are traumatized and also lost the sources of income, making them lose capability of catering for their children’s education; increased social vices such as prostitution, cyber fraud and increased vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases; and increased streetism and its attendant social vices.

He added that the plan to evict the Agbogbloshie railway dwellers will also contradict and defeat the Millennium Development Goal Seven (7) which states that, “Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers”.

The Director further reminded the Ghanaian government of its party terms to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, with a surety to respect, protect and fulfill its provisions at all levels, thus, adequate alternative provisions should be made before embarking on the intended demolishing plan for development.

He also recalled the government’s avowed commitment to slum upgrading spelt out in the page 85 of its 2008 manifesto and prayed the yet to be taken plan would be well considered a second thought by the government.

The 2008 manifesto page 85 vow of the government, he stated, recognized the fact that slum existence is the results of rural-urban migration limited supply of land and regulatory framework that fail to address the needs of urban poor, of which the railway dwellers are no exception.

“It will be of no use if a project which is intended to improve the lives of the masses of Ghanaians tends to make ‘others’ very poor and destitute,:” he explained.

He stressed out that women and children bear the brunt of traumatized and dislocated communities and as such, called on the government to be conscious of its intended action of forcefully evicting residents along the rails if they fail to vacate the area by December 14.

The director of Women in Slums Economic Empowerment (WISEEP) Frederick Opoku also disclosed that the children is the property of the government and must be protected from such inhumanities which happen to be another form of a disaster.

He added that a good enumeration carried out for quality in citizen’s livelihood planning could be another solution to prevent this type of disaster.

He prayed to the government to help use an alternative solution to the issue as the implementations of the plan will plunge the youth into several social vices.

The yet to be displaced Agbogbloshie slum inhabitants and concerned groups are however, appealing to Authorities to make provisions for relocation of and compensation for the affected victims as part of the rehabilitation of the railway project.