DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday, June 25 2012, Pg. 28. PFC has no fish waste contract with Ghana Protein Limited

Story: Mary Ankrah

Pioneer Foods Cannery (PFC) Limited, Ghana’s largest processor and exporter of tuna fisheries products has said there is no official contract signed between PFC and Ghana Protein Limited (GPL) for the supplier of fish waste to GPL.

Rather, it said, it was only a letter of intent that was used to facilitate PFC’s dealing with GPL from the very beginning which, was never intended to be binding.

“We have used legitimate and reasonable notices to deal with Ghana Protein in all business dealings. In the many instances, PFC has gone further yard and at no point in time have we made a promise of perpetual continuous and uninterrupted supply of waste from PFC to Ghana Protein”, the acting Head of Human Resource of PFC, Mr Nana Yaw Amaka-Otchere, said at a press conference on Thursday in Accra.

This was in response to the publication in the media that the PFC had served notice to terminate suppliers of fish waste to the GPL.

Addressing the press men, Mr Amaka-Otchere indicated that PFC had under many repeated notifications, informed GPL that once there was no obligation on volume agreement in the absence of an official contract, the company would continue to exercise its independence of any limitations from their operations.

Thus, PFC currently services another indigenous company with a substantial proportion of its factory offal under “fair trading competition” practices, he observed.

Again, he emphasised that for years now, PFC had been informing its partners and stakeholders including GPL, the Ghana Free Zone Board, Fisheries Commission and the Ministries of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and Trade and Industries (MOTI), of its intention of either buy an already existing fish meal production facility or build its own milling facility as part of its integrated expansion plans.

He noted that the decision by PFC to build its own milling plant was part of its regulatory compliance aimed at not only having the full control of its offal movements around the country, but also fulfilling its corporate responsibility on the environmental commitments made to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tema Metropolitan assembly (TMA).

The acting Head of Human Resource of PFC emphasised that the declaration by GPL that PFC was their sole supplier was a mere ‘comfort statement’ and ‘not exhaustive’, adding that PFC had secured all the necessary permits to operate its milling facility.

“We have in consonance with our fair-trading principles served reasonable notice of half a year to GPL that we will cease suppliers because of the new development of mainstreaming our own fish meal plant. The notice served is more than fair as it for a six months period”, he opined.

He said apart from the formal notice of cessation of supply, the company had verbally notified GPL on several occasions of their intention to establish PFC fish meal plant.

In constructing the fish meal plant, Mr Amaka-Otchere mentioned that the company had utilised technology that is freely and easily available on the global market, for which there is no special exclusive access to one part.

He said the PFC had also renovated and refurbished its processing floor at a cost of US$3 million to offer better and more employee friendly working conditions at the factory.

Mr Amaka-Otchere, again, disclosed that the company had completed the installation of the new fish meal plant, representing a further US$3.2 million foreign direct investment (FDI) from its principals to produce for local markets; with and additional US$3.5 million for a state of the art water treatment plant which was currently under construction on the premises of PFC to enhance full compliance of EPA requirements.

He justified that the keen competition from other countries in Asia and South America, rising cost of raw materials operational input and the consistent increase in the price of its final product has prompted such prudent measures of fish meal and oil projects for economic maximisation of the raw materials.

This, according to him would allow PFC and its partners to fully maximise its valorisation of by-products, achieving its acclaimed vertical integration of the factory under the ‘one company, one chain” concept.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Friday, June 22, 2012, Pg. 53. Samsung extends warranty period of products

Story: Mary Ankrah

SAMSUNG Electronics Company Limited has launched its extended standard factory warranty period.
The standard factory warranty is the time span within which customers who buy products can go back for replacement or repair on any item purchased.

A factory warranty states that the product may be returned or refunded by the company as long as certain guidelines are met.

The warranty in Africa has been extended from 12 to 24 months on all its products purchased from May 1, 2012 onward.

The products include Samsung visual display, IT solutions, mobile, digital appliances, digital imaging and digital air solutions and the warranty is applicable on products that are free of defects in material, design and workmanship.

Launching the warranty extension in Accra, the Service Manager, Mr Frank Atta-Owusu, said customers would now enjoy the extension warranty on all products at no extra charge.

The initiative, he said, seeks to promote customer confidence and trust in Samsung products and rewards customers who purchase the products from authorised dealers across the country.

Mr Atta-Owusu observed that the warranty was only valid with the presentation of a proof of purchase (POP) consisting of original invoice indicating date of purchase, dealers’ name, model, serial/IMEI number and product number.

He, therefore, advised its customers to keep their POP safe at all times and present at the time of making a warranty claim.

“The extension would ensure Samsung commitment to provide increased service to all its customers,” he added.

Moreover, he said the 24 months warranty offer for Africa was because of “Samsung’s respect for valuable customers in Africa” and to promote customer confidence and trust in the product.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, June19, 2012, Pg. 28. Truck knocks down pedestrian

By Mary Ankrah
THE driver of a Hyundai truck, Felix Opare, has been remanded into police custody for knocking down a pedestrian.

Opare, 26, was remanded by the Abeka Sanitation and Motor Court in Accra, on two counts of careless and inconsiderate driving and negligently causing harm.

He is to re-appear before the court on June 14, 2012.

Opare reportedly knocked down the victim, Mercy Bosompimaah, 25, on the pedestrian crossing after running into three other vehicles.

Prosecuting, Inspector Victoria Ofori Yeboah of the Tesano Motor Traffic and Transport Unit, said Opare, who was driving the Hyundai truck loaded with bags of satchet water, failed to adhere  to traffic order.

She said on reaching the traffic lights near the Papaye Restaurant on the Apenkwa-Tesano road, where other vehicles were waiting for the green light, Opare ran into the rear of a vehicle which was in front of his.

She said Opare swerved into the inner lane and grazed the side a Toyota Hilux pick up.
According to Inspector Yeboah, Opare, who appeared to have lost control of his steering wheel, veered back into the middle lane of the road and knocked down the female adult pedestrian, Bosompimaah, who was crossing the road on the pedestrian crossing.

She explained that Bosompimaah sustained injuries and was rushed to the Achimota Hospital for treatment.

She said the three vehicles involved in the accident were also damaged in the process.
In related development, a 25-year-old lady, Doreen Enyon Ribi, has been remanded into police custody for allegedly moving a vehicle without the consent of the owner. She was in the process of reversing the vehicle, when it ran into a kiosk.

 Inspector Yeboah said the owner of the Toyota Rav4, Heinnch Kwame, took his car for washing at the Europa Car Sales garage washing bay at Tesano, near the Santana Market in Accra.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Tuesday, June 19, 2012, Pg. 48.Teacher absenteeism in Ga-South high

Story: Mary Ankrah

A STUDY conducted on the behaviour and performances of teachers in 11 primary schools in the Ga-South Municipality of the Greater-Accra Region, has revealed a high rate of teacher absenteeism.
The study, which was coducted  by Advocacy Network for Education (ANE) in collaboration with ActionAid Ghana (AAG), said most of the teachers attend school about three times a week.

The two bodies called on the Ga South Education Oversight Committee (GSEOC) and other relevant education agencies and stakeholders to take the necessary steps immediately, to address the issues and related challenges facing basic education in the affected communities.

The 11 schools are Akweiman Basic School, Nsuobri Methodist Primary and M/A Junior High School, Mmampehia M/A Basic School, Honise M/A Basic School and Aboasa M/A Basic School.

The rest are Konkon M/A Basic School, Kofi Donkor M/A School, Hobor M/A Primary School, Amuman M/A Primary School, Kyekyewere M/A primary School and Bebianeha Methodist Primary School.

The ANE and AAG disclosed this at a meeting with the GSEOC in Accra recently.

The meeting sought to identify problems facing the schools, with a view to finding ways of solving them.
The study noted that some of the teachers commuted to the schools from  Madina, Ashongman, Amasaman, Adeiso, Bawjiase and Kasoa  to Weija and its surrounding villages to teach.

It also observed that basic education was facing serious challenges including staff competency, accommodation and the use of contact hours on extra-curricular activities in the schools.

On staff competency, the study observed that there were many untrained teachers in the schools.

The study said most of the teachers were employees of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) and the posting did not consider the subject areas of the teachers, making it difficult for them to handle some of the topics and subjects.

For this reason, they said most of the teachers skipped those subjects to the detriment of the students.
The study also revealed that most of the teachers did not have decent accommodation in the communities they taught, adding, where there were teachers’ accommodation, it was not adequate, compelling the teachers  to pair in rooms.

Out of the 11 schools which the study covered, only three of them, Bebianeha, Kyekyewere and Amuman had accommodation for the teachers.

The study also noted that the teachers spent a greater part of their teaching period on extra-curricular activities.

In order to improve quality education in the municipality, the study recommended that the municipal assembly, should, as a matter of priority, make teachers’ accommodation part of the schools’ infrastructure.

The study urged the Ghana Education Service (GES) to frequently organise in-service training programmes for teachers to address the weaknesses that some of them faced in some subject areas, while teachers regulated extra-activities to put a stop to the practice where they took so much time of instructional hours.

With regard to the teachers’ accommodation problem, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Ga South Municipal Assembly, Mr Jerry Acquaye Thompson, in a speech read on his behalf , assured the assembly would endeavour to complete all abandoned and on-going school infrastructural projects in the municipalities to ensure that funds were put to good use.

He disclosed that three teachers’ quarters would soon be constructed at Bisease, Paanor and Obokwashie on communal basis to address some of the teachers’ accommodation issues in the municipality.

THE MIRROR, Saturday, June 16, 2012, Pg. 24. More people living with diabetes

Story: Mary Ankrah

More than two million people in the country are said to be living with diabetes, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ithemba  Foundation of Ghana (IFG), Mr Sampson Denyoh, has said.

He said the World Health Organisation (WHO), had estimated that about 80 per cent of deaths from diabetes, heart disease, cancers and respiratory diseases occur mostly in developing countries.

He said most of the affected people were in their reproductive phase of their life cycle.

Mr Denyoh made this known at a workshop for diabetes educators in Accra to train and educate selected nurses from selected regions and districts across the country.

The workshop was organised by the IFG in partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), Africa Region, and sponsored by Johnson and Johnson Company Limited (Lifescan) and PALP Pharmaceutical.

The diabetes educators were expected to communicate information to patients with diabetes and help them learn the skills needed to manage the disease on daily basis.

They were also expected to educate the general public in churches, at market places, in schools and workplaces on diet and lifestyle modification.

Mr Denyoh noted that the threat of diabetes was immense and was on the increase.

According to him, undetected and untreated diabetes could result in devastating long-term complications such as blindness, amputation, kidney diseases, stroke and heart attack among other chronic diseases.

He observed that many people die from lack of proper health management coupled with ignorance of the disease.

Mr Denyoh stressed that there was the need for Ghanaians to receive adequate knowledge about the disease in order to reduce its prevalence in both short and long term complications.

“Diabetes affects everybody in some way and it should be the responsibility of all Ghanaians to abreast themselves to the causes of the disease, including knowledge of its acute and chronic diseases stages”, he stated.

The Minister of Health, Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr George Kumi Kyeremah, the director of Nursing and Midwifery Services of the Ministry of Health, said the incidence of the disease was rapidly increasing in Africa with an estimated 10.4 million people living with diabetes in 2007.

Again, he mentioned that the WHO had predicted that diabetes was reaching epidemic proportion worldwide and that currently more than 70 per cent of people living in the low and middle income countries.

He said the disease was expected to increase in Africa by 80 per cent by 2025; this will represent about 18.7 million people who are affected by the disease.

According to the IDF diabetes atlas, “as the continent is going through a rapid epidemiological transition, the burden of the disease would exceed the resources available for health care in most countries of the region”.

Mr Bagbin said Ghana with a doctor population ratio of 1:11, 929, was lacking trained health care personnel capable of dealing with prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes at all levels of the health care system.

Under the circumstances, it was necessary to design and adopt a national diabetes plan that would rely on a multi-level system of care.

“Training physicians, nurses and other health care staff is a plus in combating the incidence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in the country”, he said.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Saturday, June 14, 2012, pg. 22. Accident causes heavy traffic on N1

Story: Mary Ankrah

A HEAD-ON collision involving two vehicles on the N1 Highway early yesterday morning caused a heavy traffic jam on the highway for hours.

Although there was no casualty, the two vehicles were seriously damaged.

Hours after the accident, the police had to go through hectic time before removing the two vehicles to allow for the free flow of traffic.

The accident, which occurred around 4 a.m., involved a white Sprinter Benz bus, with registration number GR 5692-12, and an Iveco truck with Togolese registration number TG 0115 AD.

An eyewitness, Kwesi Gyabah, told the Daily Graphic that the Sprinter bus was from the direction of Nii Boi Town when it crossed the Iveco truck at a traffic intersection.

He said the traffic light was showing green for the Iveco truck to pass but the driver of the Sprinter ignored the signal and crossed the road, colliding with the truck in the process.

The truck, which was loaded with second-hand items, including used wooden doors, beds, garden seats, bicycles and sawmill machines, scattered its cargo on the lanes, causing heavy vehicular traffic.

When the Daily Graphic got to the scene around 9 a.m., there was heavy traffic on the Lapaz-Kwashieman portion of the highway.

Policemen from the Tesano Police were at the scene to control the traffic, while efforts were being made to remove the truck and the scattered items from the road.

The accident also attracted a large crowd, some of whom were on their way to work.

A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the Tesano Police Station, Mr Ernest Acheampong, advised drivers to be patient whenever they got to traffic intersections.

 Incidentally, while the police were making efforts to control the traffic, a white private car almost knocked down two policemen who were directing traffic.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Friday, June 8, 2012, Center Spread Pg. 25.Govt formulates mining policy to regulate related activities

Story: Mary Ankrah

THE government has formulated a mining policy to regulate mining-related activities in the country, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resource, Mr Mike Allen Hammah, has said.

He said the policy provided the guiding principles to achieving sustainable development through the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in the mining sector.

Through the implementation of the policy, he said, members of society would view mining as a desirable activity and, thereby, earn public consent.

Mr Hammah stated this at the launch of the ninth West African Mining and Power Conference (WAMPOC 2012) in Accra on Wednesday.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the 10th West African Mining and Power Exhibition (WAMPEX) slated for June 6 to 8, 2012.

The theme of the conference and the exhibition is: “Deeping Participation for the Sustainable Development of African’s Minerals and Energy Resources”.

More than 450 participants across the globe, as well as international suppliers of equipment, technology, services and consumables in the mining and power generation sectors and investors, are attending the conference to discuss the current state and development trends of the global market, as well as exhibit their products and services on the Ghanaian and African market.

Some of the participants include AngloGold Ashanti, the Scaw Metal Group, International Paint (Akzo Nobel), Atlas Copco Ghana and First Tech Group.

Mr Hammah said sustainable development involved integrating economic, environmental and social responsibility to provide value and balance the benefits of exploitation with the potential impact on the physical and social environment.

The minister observed that deepening stakeholders’ partnership was fundamental to advancing the industry to confront local and global challenges such as illegal mining and economic recession and accelerate progress towards international agreed goals such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Through a deepened partnership of stakeholders, he said, the industry would achieve the six priority areas emphasised by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), including poverty reduction, revenue management, regional development planning, local content, social investment and dispute resolution.

Mr Hammah noted that success in partnership among the stakeholders would help better manage the social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts, both positive and negative, that mining could bring to the country, people and neighbours.

Currently, the mining sector contributes 49 per cent of total merchandise exports and seven per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In 2011, export revenues from the mineral sector amounted to over US$5 billion and presently contributes about 17.5 per cent of Ghana’s total corporate tax earnings and 28.3 per cent of government revenue.

The sector also attracted over US$2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in mineral exploration and mine development during the last decade, representing over 56 per cent of total FDI flows to the country.

On employment, Mr Hammah mentioned that 28, 000 people had been employed in the large-scale and mine support services industry, while over one million people were engaged in small-scale gold, diamond and sand winning and quarry.

He noted that there were only 11 companies producing minerals on a large scale, while over 600 registered small-scale mining groups were engaged in the mining of gold, diamonds and industrial minerals.

DAILY GRAPHIC, Monday, June 4, 2012, Center Spread Pg.33. Crash attracts hundreds of curious people

 Story: Musah Y. Jafaru, Mary Ankrah & Justice Baidoo

 

The crashed plane and mangled 207 bus after the crash at the El-Wak Stadium in Accra



Residents around the 37 Military Hospital, the El-Wak Stadium and surrounding areas are still living in a state of fear and panic a day after a cargo plane had rammed into a 207 benz bus, instantly killing all 10 passengers on board.

Some of the residents are so scared that they sometimes raise their heads or run for cover whenever aeroplanes take off at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

There was uneasy calm at the Burma Camp, near the Kotoka International Airport, where most of the deceased persons were believed to be heading to when the incident occurred.

When the Daily Graphic visited the Burma Camp, the 37 Military Hospital area and the El-Wak Stadium yesterday, many of the residents were at church services, while others were going about their normal activities.

“We are afraid; we don’t know when this incident is going to occur again,” a resident said. “Anytime we hear the noise of a plane fly past, we get scared.”

A visit to the house of the driver of the Benz bus at the Burma Camp saw a huge gathering of family members clad in black wailing, with some sitting on the bare floor.

According to the family members, the deceased, George Osei, 33, was the breadwinner among the three children of his father’s, Mr Kenneth Asiamah.



Osei usually conveyed passengers from the 37 Station to Teshie-Nungua or the Spintex Road and back.
He was a member and special driver of the Garrison Church of Pentecost, Burma Camp.

With sadness in his voice, Mr Asiamah told the Daily Graphic that he had a phone call from one of his sons, Richard Anane, a Lance Corporal in the Ghana Armed Forces, a few minutes after the accident on Saturday that Osei was the Benz bus driver who had died in the plane crash.

Mr Asiamah said he couldn’t sleep throughout the night and so on Sunday morning he quickly went to the 37 Military Hospital morgue where he identified his son’s body.

When the Daily Graphic revisited the scene of the crash on Sunday morning, there was a long queue at the entrance to the condoned area with people struggling to catch a glimpse of the plane.

Some among the crowd were taking pictures, while others were just looking at the crashed plane. The police and armed military men were also there guarding the area.

Although the environment was a little noisy because some of the people were discussing and talking about the accident, the Daily Graphic observed that some photographers took shots of the crashed plane, printed and sold them to people for GH¢2 a copy.

But a military man at the scene tried to prevent the photographers from selling the pictures, saying it was not advisable to do so.

Meanwhile, the scene of the Saturday plane crash has become a tourist site, attracting hundreds of people.

some residents thronged to plane El-wak Stadium to catch a glimpse of the crashed plane



Many people, young and old, keep trooping to the area to catch a glimpse of the plane, which lost control after landing at the KIA and ended up smashing into a 207 Benz bus, killing the 10 people on board.

The four crew members on board the aircraft survived the accident.

On Sunday, people, some with their children, came from far and near, including places such as Kasoa, Tema, Achimota, Lapaz and Nima, to see the plane.

Some people visited the place before going to church, while others went there after the church service.

To control the crowd that wanted to enter the Hajj Village to look at the smashed plane and the mangled 207 bus, the police made the enthusiastic people join long queues to enter  the place in turns.

Some of the people around suggested that the security services should charge some gate fees to generate some funds for the state.

As if it were a competition, many of the curious ‘tourists’ used their mobile phones and tablets to take shots of the partly damaged aircraft and the mangled 207 bus.

Some of them told the Daily Graphic that although they had watched and listened to the crash story on local and international media, they wanted to see the plane with their ‘naked’ eyes.

One of them, Mr Paul Mensah, said he watched the developing story on TV at his Maamobi residence when the crash occurred but he was not satisfied because he had watched it on the screen.

Therefore, he decided to go to the scene to see it physically and possibly take some pictures. 

Mr Ebenezer Dzabaku, who was at the scene with his four children, told the Daily Graphic that after church service at the Synagogue Church of all Nations on the Spintex Road, his children requested that they be sent to see the plane.

He said he agreed to their request because he personally wanted to see the damage that the crash had done to the nation.

He said his children were happy that they had seen the plane but they had wished they had been given the chance to touch it.

Some of the ‘tourists’ were engaged in arguments regarding the best way the pilot could have controlled the aircraft on the runway to avoid skidding onto the main road.

JUNIOR GRAPHIC, May 9 - 15, 2012, Pg. 3. JHS graduates educated on teenage pregnancy

 

Some of the National service personnel in the crowd answering questions posed by the JHS graduates

 Story: Mary Ankrah

The National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) in the North-Tongu District in the Volta Region has embarked on a youth sensitisation programme to educate graduates of the junior high school (JHS) on teenage pregnancy and the effects of abortion.

The programme, dubbed, “Life after basic school, opportunities and challenges”, was to discourage the graduates from engaging in premarital sexual activities which could eventually destroy their lives.

The service personnel also took the young graduates through career guidance, and explained the various courses available at the senior high school (SHS) level to enlighten them to make informed decisions when choosing courses at the SHS.

The programme aimed at entertaining the JHS graduates after a hard work, and to inform  them of what was at stake at the next level of their lives.

However, it could be noted that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy which sometimes leads to abortion had become very common among the primary and JHS pupils in the district.

Most reports indicated that every year during the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), some of the teenagers who get pregnant had no choice than to take their pregnancy to the examination centres to write their final exams while others because of health or  shame do not  write at all. 

Speaking at the programme, the District National Service Scheme (NSS) Coordinator, Mr Wisdom Nudo, explained the various opportunities that the young ones could have after JHS, and used the NSS personnel as role models for the pupils to learn from them.

The programme was supported and sponsored by the Member of Parliament, Mr Joe Gidisu, and the North Tongu District Assembly.