Sunday, August 30, 2009

MOH TO TRAIN MIDDLE-LEVEL HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS (PAGE 35)

THE Ministry of Health (MoH) is working closely with health training institutions and the Nurses and Midwives Council to train middle-level healthcare providers, including nurses and midwives, who far outnumber doctors and are also more accessible to most women to offer abortion-related services.
  The ministry will also work with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to address the special needs of the youth for comprehensive reproductive health information and services and to improve family services, including those available to women who have undergone abortion.
  The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, disclosed this at the just ended sixth national delegates conference of the General Nurses Group (GNG) in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.
It was on the theme: “The role of the clinical nurse in comprehensive abortion care”.
“We need to educate women about the existing provision for legal abortion so that they can avail themselves of safe legal abortion to the full extent permitted by law,” he advised.
 The minister stated that the basic technologies for safe abortion care and contraception that had been available in rich countries for decades ought to reach every village in the country, adding “As a Minister of Health, I am ready to work with you to achieve this objective”.
He, however, said as professionals on the ground, “we will engage women everywhere to demand the sexual and reproductive healthcare they need and the compassionate treatment and respect they deserve and together, let us engage other stakeholders to work with women’s groups to ensure that all women know their legal rights and reproductive options”.
   Dr Yankey said the theme for the conference was significant since in the first place, it fell in line with the current direction of the health sector.
 The minister observed, “We are also aware that, an estimated, 20,000 women are hospitalised with abortion-related complications in the public health system alone each year, but some of us believe that this number can be higher, considering the number of abortions that occur in the country every year”.
Dr Yankey insisted that the statistics were difficult to compile due to the nature of the problem, adding that the vast majority of cases were done privately and sometimes criminally.
He also observed that nearly half of all those cases occurred among women aged between 14 and 24.
He said the problem had received inadequate attention and that, the pervasive denial of the reality of unsafe abortion was taking a huge toll on the health and lives of women and girls all over the country as well as on the public health system.
 The National Chairperson of the GNG-Ghana, Mrs Georgina Nortey stated that about 4.5 million women undergo unsafe abortion world-wide every year, adding that the age bracket of those prone to abortion was between 15 and 25 years.
    She said most unwanted pregnancies ended up as unsafe abortion because the primitive methods which were used in terminating those pregnancies, were dangerous.
 To reduce unsafe abortion, Mrs Nortey suggested that women should be educated on family planning and availability of comprehensive abortion care services, adding that there should be liberalisation of abortion law.
The Deputy Registrar of the Nurses and Midwives Council in charge of Indexing and Registration, Mrs Cecilia Kalitsi said in recent times there had been public outcry about the way patients and clients were treated by some nurses and midwives when they called at the hospitals and clinics for treatment.
 She cited some of the concerns as the impolite way the clients were welcomed to the health facilities, the insults rained on them when they were unable to provide certain vital information and the impatient manner in which prescriptions were explained to them.

Friday, August 28, 2009

LACK OF OFFICES HAMPERS COMPLIANCE WITH PROCUREMENT ACT (PAGE 34)

Compliance with the provisions of the Procurement Act is being hampered in a number of district assemblies in the Brong Ahafo Region because of lack of procurement officers.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, who made this known, therefore, appealed to the appropriate authorities to post procurement officers to affected district assemblies for them to comply with the law.
He was speaking at the regional financial management workshop organised by the Audit Service in Sunyani last Tuesday.
The workshop was attended by accountants of the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and district assemblies.
Other participants were district finance officers, district co-ordinating directors and staff of the Audit Service.
It was organised to address the findings of an audit conducted nationwide last year by Messrs Ernest and Young Chartered Accountants to bring a third party review to the handling of the various transactions underlying receipts and disbursements of the Consolidate Fund.
The audit also focused on transactions relating to the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing and selected departments under it, as well as 20 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), drawn from each region in the country.
The workshop centred on Budget Preparation and Reporting Cycle, Consolidated Fund inflows, Budget and Public Expenditure Management Systems, Financial Reporting Formats, Receipts and Payments Concerns, Consolidated Fund Reporting issues, Internal Audit issues and Internal Controls.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stressed the need for the assemblies to register all their fixed assets so that at any given time they could account for them without any difficulty, pointing out that the accurate preparation of trial balances of the assemblies would also provide the basis for their income and expenditure accounts.
According to the Regional Minister, the startling revelations at the ongoing Ghana@50 probe in Accra, should be an eye-opener to all those in positions of trust, since one day, they could be called to account for their stewardship.
He said following what was currently going on at the probe, it was not far-fetched to conclude that, “some of the politicians did not listen to the bureaucrats during the Ghana@50 celebration, regarding procurement and other activities”, adding that politicians should listen to the bureaucrats to learn a lot from them as to what to do.
In his welcoming address, the Brong Ahafo Regional Auditor, Mr Charles Segre, noted that the findings of the audit required additional attention alongside the immediate requirement to submit the findings for the attention of Parliament.
According to him, the objectives of the audit were to provide an independent opinion on the financial statements and to review and report on the effectiveness of the system of internal controls of the audited organisations.
He pointed out that recommendations had been made, where appropriate, on how systems could be improved but the key task was to examine whether existing systems were being followed and where necessary, “we have made practical recommendations on how enforcement could be tightened”.
Mr Segre noted that financial management in government agencies was largely decentralised and that in order to keep the work within reasonable limits and to ensure a timely completion, “we were required within each of the organisations, to undertake a detailed audit of a proportion of the spending units or budget management centres”.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

BUI AUTHORITY TASKED TO PROVIDE ENVIRONMENTAL RESETTLEMENT PLANS (BACK PAGE)

THE Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) has directed the management of the Bui Power Authority (BPA) to submit a well prepared Environmental Management Plan and a Resettlement Action Plan to the ministry by the close of the year for study.
The directive is to enable the ministry to assess environmental practices being adopted by the BPA in the execution of the Bui Dam project. It is also to determine the strategies being followed towards the payment of a long-term compensation to the communities affected by the implementation of the project.
Additionally, the MEST has requested the management of BPA to make available to it a copy of the whole contract agreement document for perusal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), since the activity at the project site basically involved environmental issues.
This was the outcome of a closed-door meeting between the sector minister, Ms Sherry Ayittey, and other officials of the ministry and the management of the BPA, during a day’s familiarisation visit to the Bui Dam site.
The minister and her entourage were conducted round the site by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BPA, Mr Jabesh Amissah-Arthur.
Briefing the press on the meeting at the camp of the Birim Goldfields Limited at Nsawkaw, Ms Ayittey admitted that the BPA had already submitted a copy of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Plan to the ministry, which, she said, was being studied.
The minister indicated that the BPA had agreed to establish a community information centre at a suitable location within the Banda Traditional Area to be manned by a local person, who would receive all complaints, suggestions and concerns for onward submission to the authority for action.
According to the minister, the meeting agreed that the BPA ought to apply for a permit and certification before it could go ahead with a quarrying activity which it was undertaking for its construction work at the project site, since it was a different venture all together.
She noted that the rock was the bona fide property of the state and as such, whoever was exploiting it should put in the necessary application before doing so and subsequently pay the appropriate royalties to the state, the district assembly and the traditional authorities.
Ms Ayittey pointed out that the ministry had received complaints from La Cote d’Iviore expressing the fear that the construction of the dam would adversely affect some communities along the border as a result of spillage.
Based on that, she said the meeting agreed that the BPA should submit to the ministry documents that pointed to the fact that spillage would not cause any havoc, in order to allay the fears of their neighbours.
She also indicated that there had been complaints about the quality of rock being used to build the dam, and that to curtail the lingering worry, the meeting agreed that the Geological Department and the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) should move to Bui to do independent tests of the rock.
That, she noted, would finally make the communities feel relaxed, once they were convinced that the future of the dam was secured and that their lives were not in danger in any way.
The minister further disclosed that the EPA had been mandated to carry out checks on chemicals and other materials imported to be used for the project, adding that “any bulk importation will be subjected to testing before certification and so the BPA should co-operate with the EPA to go to the port to conduct test on materials brought in and later sit together on the issue of permit”.
The minister said based on a request by the traditional authorities, the BPA had agreed to establish a vocational training centre at Banda Ahenkro, to provide middle level manpower to the youth so that they could be employable, and that agreement had also been reached towards the upgrading of the Banda Ahenkro Clinic to a health centre to see to the quality health care for the people.
Earlier, in a presentation, the CEO disclosed that under phase two of the project, river bed excavation and concrete foundation would start in November, 2009, while commencement of the main dam was to start in December, this year, and that the start of reservoir filling was scheduled for February 2011.
Mr Amissah-Arthur indicated that the first power generation was expected in October 2012. The project is expected to be completed and inaugurated in 2013.
Under phase one of the Bui Hydroelectric Power Project, being undertaken by the Sinohydro Company Limited, a Chinese firm, under a joint People’s Republic of China and the Government of Ghana agreement, commencement of field investigations was in October, 2007, commencement of preparatory works began in January, 2008 while the river diversion was completed in December, 2008.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

COCOA FARMERS DEMAND BONUS FROM WIENCO (BACK PAGE)

Cocoa farmers in the Sefwi Kaase Cocoa District in the Western Region have expressed grave concern about the refusal of Wienco Company Limited, a licensed buying company (LBC), to pay them their 2006/07 bonus, totalling GH¢30,667.14, for the main crop season.
The amount is in respect of 8,967 bags of cocoa purchased by purchasing clerks from farmers of 16 societies in the area.
The farmers pointed out that despite persistent appeals to Nana Agyeman, the Managing Director of the company, there had not been any response from the company.
Representatives of the farmers, led by the District Chief Farmer from Esem-Debiso in Bia District, Nana Allen Emmanuel Nkuah, who called at the Daily Graphic office in Sunyani to express the sentiment, also indicated that the farmers had made a report to the management of the COCOBOD but again no action had been taken. The chief farmer stressed that on several occasions that he and other farmers met Nana Agyeman, he had made promises to settle his company’s indebtedness to them but he had reneged on those assurances and rather travelled to the United States without any regard for the plight of the farmers.
Nana Nkuah alleged that a finger-printed list of the farmers who belong to the 16 societies in the area had already been prepared by the various purchasing clerks in the area and submitted to the company as had always been the case but no favourable response had come out of it.
“We are appealing to the government to come to our aid to ensure that Wienco Company Limited pays whatever bonus is due the farmers since the farmers are suffering,” the chief farmer pleaded.
The farmers also called on the management of the COCOBOD to ensure that anytime they released money in respect of bonuses and other cheques meant for payment to farmers, they should make follow-ups to verify if payment had been made.

Friday, August 14, 2009

MORE CHURCHES, MORE IMMORAL YOUTH (MIRROR, PAGE 40)

From Akwasi
Ampratwum-Mensah, Sunyani

The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, has observed that despite the springing up of many Churches in the country, there is still a high level of moral degeneration, particularly among the youth.
That, he noted, could be seen in the increasing rate of crime such as robbery, rape, suicide, drug peddling, the rapid and continued spread of HIV AIDS and general indiscipline.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo made the observation in a speech read on his behalf at the just-ended 27th Annual National Conference of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) Men’s Fellowship at the Ebenezer Presby Church in Sunyani.
It was on the theme: “Put on the Whole Amour of God — Men, as Soldiers of God”.
The regional minister appealed to the church to play an increasing role in the fight against the HIV AIDS pandemic, saying, it was a well known fact that about 99 per cent of the sexually active population of the country had some knowledge of the menace but sadly, majority of the people were not ready to change their sexual behaviours.
That unfortunate attitude he said, had exacerbated the spread of the disease which according to him, was now responsible for several deaths annually in the country, adding that, the number of orphans was also increasing fast due to the epidemic, thereby placing a great strain on social systems to provide the needed care, support and supervision.
The regional minister noted that the church had come to realise that, it did not exist just for the spiritual development of its congregation but also for their physical, emotional and social needs as well, and had taken steps to take care of those needs.
The National President of the PCG Men’s Fellowship, Bro. Lt Col J. Y. Asamoah (Retd) said, the fellowship would this year review its five-year strategic development plan to enhance its vision and growth.

NEWMOUNT HOLDS WORKSHOP ON COMMUNITY HEALTH (PAGE 39)

From Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Fiapre

Sixteen participants, including chiefs and other selected stakeholders of health from the Asutifi and Tano North districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, have attended a five-day Community Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (C-IMCI) trainer of trainers workshop on the theme: “Improving the Health of our Communities through Partnership”.
 The programme sought to focus on diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, micro nutrient deficiency, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases, excluding breast feeding, growth monitoring, helminthic infections as well as personal hygiene and other practices important for child health and development.
 Newmont Gold Ghana Limited (NGGL), operating the Ahafo Mine, organised the workshop in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Department of Community Health of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi at a cost of US$110,000.
Mr Joseph Danso, the Community Development Superintendent of NGGL, in an address said, the workshop was to help build the capacity of the two district health directorates and the communities in preventing child morbidity and mortality. He said the workshop demonstrated the company’s commitment to contributing to the healthy development of the people in the community that it operated.
He disclosed that the company sponsored the training of 26 service providers to be able to effectively manage cases of sexually transmitted infections (STI), while another 52 community-based volunteers were also trained in STIs, including HIV AIDS and tuberculosis last year.
 Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang, the Deputy Regional Public Health Director, pointed out that progress in child health in the region was very slow, stressing that 80 children per 1000 live births died before they attained age five every year.
“We need to drastically reduce child mortality by half before 2015, which is set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”, he noted.
The Head of the Department of Community Health of KNUST, Dr Easmon Otupiri also disclosed that 160 Children per 1000 live births died in Central and West Africa before they reached five years saying, that was the reason why the World Health Organisation (WHO) had designed the C-IMCI programme for Africa.

NEWMONT ASSISTS KENYASI POLICE (PAGE 14)

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), operators of the Ahafo mine, have constructed a 14-room transit quarters for the Kenyasi Police at Kenyasi in the Brong Ahafo Region at a cost of US$ 140,000. The facility has been handed over to the Asutifi District Police Command.
At the handover ceremony, the Communication Manager of NGGL, Mr Agbeko Kwame Azumah, said the company decided to put up the facility because it realised that if the district police were to step up security in the area, they would need more accommodation facilities to cater for additional personnel that would be required to undertake effective policing in the area.
Already, the company had assisted in addressing the accommodation challenges that confronted police personnel in the district by renting a house for them at Kenyasi.
The rented premises had been in use for the past four years and the company was in the process of renewing the tenancy agreement.
Mr Azumah said over the years, Newmont Ghana had supported the police in the area, largely because “we consider their role as very important and our continued support is also in recognition of their relentless efforts at combating crime and keeping Asutifi safe. We also feel the police here are doing a great job and deserve all the support we can give them”.
The Director-General in charge of Research and Planning of Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabour, said modern policing had become a shared responsibility and required the involvement and participation of all members of the society through the provision of logistics and infrastructure.
He said the construction and opening of the 14-room transit quarters for the police by NGGL had therefore come as a welcome relief to personnel in the area, adding that it would accommodate more police personnel.
DCOP Gyeabour said active gold mining by Newmont since July 2006 had attracted thousands of people from various parts of the country to the area and its environs in search of employment.
The increasing population and industrial activities demand a corresponding increase in the number of police personnel at Kenyasi, Ntotroso, Acherensua and Hwidiem to combat crime within the district.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

MOVES TO MANAGE CHILDHOOD DISEASES (PAGE 11)

A five-day trainer of trainers workshop on Community-Integrated Management of Childhood/Illnesses (C-IMCI) has opened at Fiapre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Sixteen participants, including chiefs and stakeholders in the health sector are attending the workshop from the Asutifi and Tano North districts of the region on the theme, “Improving the Health of our Communities through Partnership”.
The programme focuses on the management of diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, micro- nutrient deficiency, measles and other diseases preventable through vaccination.
Topics to be discussed include exclusive breastfeeding, growth monitoring, infections, as well as personal hygiene and other practices important for child health and development.
The workshop is being organised by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) which is operating the Ahafo Mine, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Department of Community Health of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.
Dr Emmanuel Tenkorang, the Deputy Regional Public Health Director pointed out that progress in child health in the region was very slow, stressing that annually the region recorded about 80 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“Statistics in the region are not good when it comes to child mortality,” he said, adding, “We need to drastically reduce child mortality by half before 2015 in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 which talks about reducing under-five mortality”.
To achieve that, Dr Tenkorang observed that there was the need for people in the various communities to contribute their quota, since health workers alone could not provide all the interventions.
Mr Joseph Danso, the Community Development Superintendent of the NGGL, in an address, indicated that the workshop was aimed at building the capacities of health personnel in the two districts in accordance with the company’s commitment to promote child health in the area it operated.
He announced that Newmont sponsored the training of 26 service providers to equip them with skills in the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), while an additional 52 community-based volunteers were trained in STIs, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, last year.
Mr Danso indicated that during this year’s World Malaria Day celebration, the company launched a community malaria prevention programme for the Asutifi District, adding, “We have no doubt that the C-IMCI programme will go a long way to improve the health of children and even adults in the communities.”
The Head of the Department of Community Health of KNUST, Dr Easmon Otupiri, said the high levels of infant mortality in Central and Western Africa led to the initiation of the programme, which was designed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He said infant mortality rates needed to be reduced significantly to promote the attainment of the MDGs.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

BRONG AHAFO TEACHERS BUILD CAPACITY (PAGE 11)

A Total of 189 senior and junior high school teachers selected from schools in the Brong Ahafo Region have undergone a five-day in-service workshop under the collaboration of Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).
It was the last in a series of such workshops lined up for selected teachers in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Brong Ahafo regions for this year, of which 600 teachers and educational administrators were expected to benefit.
The participants were taken through Leadership and Administration in Senior High School (SHS), Leadership and Administration in Basic School, English Language for SHS, Mathematics for SHS, Science for JHS, Mathematics for JHS, French for JHS, Basic Design and Technology for JHS, Mathematics and Science for Female Basic School Teachers, as well as Primary Mathematics and Science.
Apart from deepening the knowledge and understanding of the participants in the subject areas, the objective of the workshop was also meant to sharpen their teaching strategies and offer them an opportunity to reflect on their commitments as educators to their pupils, students, parents and other relevant publics.
At the closing ceremony, Mr John Nyoagbe, the Deputy General Secretary of GNAT who was also the Course Co-ordinator, noted that with the global economic recession, there had been signs of the education sector budget being reduced in certain cases to less than 50 per cent this year of the 2008 level.
However, he said an observation of the countryside and the distressed urban communities of the country revealed some challenges to the education sector which needed urgent attention such as the wide disparities in access and participation in early childhood care and education between urban and rural communities.
Again, many schools lack qualified teachers, teachers morale are low, motivation is weak due to inadequate salaries, conditions of service are poor and support systems.
According to Mr Nyoagbe, equally important were poor infrastructure such as classrooms without roofs and furniture, underfunded and overcrowded schools, adding that in some cases, teachers did not have desks on which to prepare their lessons or even mark children’s exercises.
He also pointed out that there was a misconception that private schools set and maintained educational standards, when in reality what went on in those institutions did not necessarily guarantee balanced education.
The deputy GNAT general secretary emphasised that in its quest to improve the quality of professional service to GNAT membership, the association had not only benefited from funding from its CTF partner, but had also shared in the expertise that they regularly brought to bear.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, urged the participants to impart the new knowledge they had acquired to their pupils, students and colleague staff members.
Ms Debbie Davis-Maybee, the Leader of the CTF team, for her part, urged the participants to bring excitement to their work as they were obliged to motivate their pupils and students to work hard so as to pass their examinations.
She expressed hope that the new knowledge they had acquired would help tremendously to improve on their work output, and expressed her joy for being part of the programme.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

CHIEF EXECUTIVES ATTEND SEMINAR IN SUNYANI (PAGE 20)

MUNICIPAL and District Chief Executives from Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Central regions have attended a day’s orientation seminar on community-based rural development project (CBRDP) at Sunyani.
The seminar was aimed at introducing the participants to the project and also enable them to lead the implementation arrangements in their respective municipal and districts assemblies.
They were taken through the project’s objectives and implementation strategies and also discussed strategies for the way forward.
The $94 million CBRDP, which is about rural poverty reduction and capacity building for effective local government system, is aimed at improving the quality of life of Ghana’s rural communities through increased transfer of technical and financial resources for the development of basic rural infrastructure that could be sustained by the beneficiaries.
The project is sponsored by the World Bank and the government, with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) as the implementing agency.
It is one of the tools for achieving the objective of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.
At the ceremony, the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, said since the chief executives had just been appointed as heads of the various assemblies participating in the project, the seminar would equip them with the basic information to enable them to understand the programme.
The seminar, he said, would provide them with the capacity to effectively manage its implementation as an integral part of their respective districts’ overall development programme.
Mr Opoku noted with satisfaction that the project had so far provided school infrastructure, clinics, many boreholes and hand-dug wells and feeder roads to open up communities.
“All these are pro-poor programmes aimed at reducing the poverty levels in our communities and also to further deepen our decentralisation process,” he observed.
Mr Opoku, therefore, expressed his appreciation for the tremendous support that the CBRDP had been providing to meet the development needs of the people in the various communities.
 As a way forward to ensure the success of the programme, he urged the participants to keenly monitor it, stressing, “Let us make monitoring of the project a regular feature of our activities”.

Monday, August 10, 2009

ZOOMLION SPRAYS MOSQUITO BREEDING SITES (PAGE 35)

THE Brong-Ahafo Regional Office of Zoomlion Ghana Limited has embarked on massive spraying of mosquito breeding sites in the Sunyani Municipality, especially swampy, bushy and marshy areas and drains, with the view to getting rid of mosquito larvae.
The spraying exercise, which forms part of the nationwide mosquito control programme, is intended to drastically reduce malaria, if it cannot be completely eradicated.
The exercise was preceded by clearing major drains of still, filling of potholes, and clearing of bushes in some parts of the municipality, an approach described as “source reduction of larvae to deprive mosquitoes of their requirement for survival’’.
A trained 20-man spraying gang is undertaking the exercise, which will be extended to the remaining 21 districts in the region.
Among the targeted areas to be sprayed in Sunyani are the Nkwabeng fish pond, Nana Bosoma market, Mama Lawson’s stream at Penkwase, Nkwabeng North, Newtown stream, the slaughter house area and the final disposal sites in town.
In an interview, Mr Ernest Brenya, the Brong Ahafo Regional Pest Control Officer of Zoomlion, stressed that the main idea was for vector suppression and the control of malaria.
Mr Brenya said as part of the programme, which is initially targeted at the mosquito larvae, “we shall also do adulticiding, where the adult mosquito itself will be tackled”.
According to him, his company could not achieve the desired results without the involvement of the communities, so he advised the people to assist in clearing their surroundings and properly dispose of all empty containers. 

NEWMOUNT TRAINS APPENTICES IN MINE MAINTENANCE (PAGE 35)

FIFTEEN unemployed youth from the Asutifi District in the Brong Ahafo Region, including four females, have been selected to undergo a four-year mine maintenance apprenticeship training at the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Kenyasi.
The Newmont apprenticeship programme has been designed to support and supplement the current recruitment and to provide training development opportunities for Ahafo Mine project communities.
The 14 beneficiaries were selected from among a list of 50 after a rigorous process, including mechanical aptitude test, mathematics, abstract reasoning, reading, comprehension, spelling and hands-on mechanical aptitude assessment.
They are being trained at a cost of approximately US$ 17,000 each for a duration of four years.
The selection process was also based on modalities contained in the Ahafo Social Responsibility Agreement, which ensures that all the 10 communities where the company is operating, had a fair and equitable opportunity to have their people selected without compromising the quality of the intake.
Currently, a group of 28 young people, who were selected last year, are undergoing the same apprenticeship training, and upon completion of their four-year programme, they would be awarded City and Guilds of London Institute certificate.
At a ceremony to matriculate the apprentices, the General Manager, Environment and Social Responsibility of Ahafo Mine, Mr Dan V. Michaelsen, explained that the NGGL realised that apprenticeship was an excellent opportunity to develop local skills to meet the rising demands of its operations.
He said the apprenticeship training programme was started during the construction phase of the mine to address some major mine operation challenges facing the company in terms of qualified personnel for the plant.
According to Mr Michaelsen, the introduction of the programme provided the company with three distinctive advantages, namely deepening its social responsibility commitments to its host communities, helping in meeting the company’s commitment of developing the people in pursuit of excellence and offering a unique opportunity of meeting Newmont’s human resource needs.
The Maintenance Training Superintendent of the company, Mr Eddy Durfee, stated that his outfit considered the programme a worthwhile investment and also as a further proof of its value to develop the people in the operational area to pursue excellence in whatever endeavour it chose.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, stated that the global economy was becoming a skills-based one and that the survival of today’s youth in such a system depended largely on the set of skills they were able to acquire.
She said the situation in the mining industry was no different, as it required a large skilled workforce to stay on the top of the competition.
Ms Aryee stressed that mining companies had to always grapple with the challenge of providing employment opportunities to their host communities, when, in fact, there were sometimes just a few people with those set of skills required to work in such a highly specialised sector.
She commended Newmont for the institution of the apprenticeship programme to provide the young men and women with life-time skills that would make them competitive not only in the mining industry, but also beyond it.

SUNYANI HOSPITAL GETS DIABETIC CLINIC (PAGE 35)

WORK on a new clinic to provide services for diabetic, hypertensive and sickle cell patients, as well as Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART), has been completed at the Sunyani Regional Hospital in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The GH¢73,671.87 clinic, which was financed with the hospital’s internally generated funds (IGF), will also serve as a centre for the management of other specialist cases.
At the inauguration of the project, which coincided with the sixth anniversary celebration of the hospital, the Medical Director in-charge, Dr Daniel Kwabena Asare, said cervical cancer screening and herbal medicine would soon be introduced at the hospital.
He further said from 2004 to date, the hospital’s total out-patient attendance doubled from 50,000 to 99,260 while admissions also increased from 3,754 to 7,312 with deliveries going up from 900 to 1,760.
Dr Asare added that referrals to higher levels of care decreased from 19 to nine with major and minor surgical operations increasing by 30 per cent.
According to the medical director, more services had been added to the existing ones since the establishment of the hospital in 2003.
He mentioned some of them as romaxilofacial, Urology, mammography, ART, endoscopy and orthopaedics.
Dr Asare said the management and staff of the facility had delivered on the promises made six years ago and were still making giant strides in all areas of endeavour.
“We shall strive to maintain the cleanliness and serenity of this hospital to the best of our abilities and capabilities; we shall spare no efforts to attract and retain highly motivated, competent and contented mix of workforce,” he said, adding that “we shall try to achieve a high standard of care to our cherished clients.”
He said the hospital had been accredited for the training of house officers, such as medical officers, health services administrators, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory technicians.
The medical director said the management had encouraged serving officers of all grades to acquire additional knowledge and skills, adding that at present there were a number of officers pursuing further studies at various levels of education.
Dr Asare said by progressive innovations, supplemented by effective collaborative supervision, the hospital had outsourced the functions of essential but non-core activities, including cleaning, weeding, trimming of lawns and gardens, as well as security services, to service providers. The result of that public-private partnership, he said, had enabled the hospital to maintain its status six years after commencement of service.
According to him, with the IGF, the hospital could now boast a 15-seater mini bus and a Nissan pick-up to facilitate the movement of staff to and from the hospital while plans were far advanced to procure a 33-seater bus.
Additionally, he said, the IGF had been used to construct a new relatives’ hostel, medical stores and a fence wall.
Dr Asare, however, noted with concern that sometimes, the hospital encountered erratic and unreliable supply of electricity and water.
The Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Aaron Offei, acknowledged that as a referral hospital, the facility had lived up to expectation by providing services to patients from the region, who otherwise would have travelled to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
He stressed that the hospital continued to mentor other hospitals in the region to improve on quality service delivery.
Dr Offei said it was on record that the hospital had made judicious use of local resources and continued to maintain a beautiful and clean environment to the admiration of even foreign visitors.
At the same function, an 11-member advisory board of directors for the hospital was inaugurated to see to an effective and a more efficient running of the facility.