THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Asunafo North Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Robert Sarfo-Mensah, has donated hospital equipment to seven health facilities in the Asunafo North Municipality, at a cost of GH¢ 20,000.
The beneficiary health facilities are Ampenkro, Akrodie, Ayomso, Wam, Mim, Fawohoyeden, Gyasikrom, as well as the Goaso Municipal Hospital, and the items included stethoscope, boxes of examination gloves, surgical gloves, clinical thermometers, baby hanging scale, glucometer, boxes of syringe and needles, delivery set, dressing set and haemoglobin scale.
The MP’s initiative to equip those health facilities followed regular visits and interactions with the leadership of the Municipal Health Directorate to know at first-hand the felt needs of those institutions.
Making the presentation at a brief ceremony at Goaso, Mr Sarfo-Mensah indicated that the shortage and complete absence of some basic health items at the facilities undermined the smooth operation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said it was in this vein that he sought financial assistance from the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) after which he consulted the health authorities to purchase the items.
“It is pathetic to see our people visit the clinics, health centres and the hospitals which are without simple medical equipment to the detriment of their lives,” Mr Sarfo –Mensah noted.
Already, the MP disclosed that he had provided funds towards construction of a laundry at the Goaso Municipal Hospital which, he said, had been completed, and that the Ministry of Health (MoH) was to supply equipment for the smooth functioning of the block.
He commended the staff at the various health facilities in the municipality for their hard work in spite of the problems they were confronted with.
The Municipal Director of Health Services, Dr Kofi Asemayi-Mensah, who received the equipment, expressed profound appreciation to the MP for the gesture, saying that the items would facilitate the smooth health service delivery in the area.
He recounted a similar assistance provided by the MP for the extension of electricity to some Community Health Planning Services (CHPS) as well as provision of television sets to some Maternity Homes in the area.
The Asunafo North Municipal Co-ordinating Director, Alhaji Haruna A. Salam, called for an effective collaboration between the municipal council and the MP towards effective development of the municipality.
Friday, February 26, 2010
NEWMOUNT LAUNCHES SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (PAGE 23, JAN 30, 2010)
NEWMONT Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), which is operating the Ahafo Mine in the Asutifi District in the Brong Ahafo Region, has launched a programme dubbed: “Skills Development for Income Improvement Programme (SDIIP).
The programme is designed to enhance the quality of life of about 1,652 men, women and children affected by the expansion of the company’s mining activities to a new area within its concession called Amoma Pit.
The SDIIP is to be implemented by the Opportunities Industrialisation Centres International (OICI) from other funding sources after an initial support by NGGL for one year.
The current expansion of the Amoma Pit, which covers 562 hectares in the stool lands of Ntotroso, is the fourth pit of NGGL’S operation in the Ahafo area.
The programme is focused on agricultural and vocational skills development as the mechanism for re-establishing livelihoods of the PAPs.
The Amoma resettlement initiative also includes the payment of cash compensation, replacement of houses for people qualified for resettlement.
At a workshop to launch the programme, the Social Investment Manager of NGGL (Ahafo Mines), Mr Kwasi Amponsah Boateng, said the company recognised the potential social and environmental effects that could be created through the development of mining projects.
He said to ensure proper and appropriate mine development, the NGGL had endorsed the concept of sustainable development.
Mr Amponsah said in order to prevent impoverishment, ‘‘we recognise that the resettlement programme must focus on preventing any risk of leaving our host communities impoverished”.
He stated that prior to the SDIIP, Newmont had commissioned OICI to implement another programme known as “Livelihood Enhancement and Community Empowerment Programme (LEEP)” in February, 2005, which was to restore the livelihood of the Ahafo South project affected persons (PAPs).
According to Mr Boateng, the LEEP had three objectives and accomplished seven intermediate results.
They include improved sustainable food and cash crop production among 750 farmer households, post-harvest handling and storage losses reduced to five per cent, as well as small and medium-size enterprises strengthened for income generation for 1,500 men and women.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Economic Planning Officer, Mr Mike Krakue, said apart from the legally required interventions, such as the payment of compensations and relocation, which the company was mandated to implement, the NGGL had also gone out of its way to implement programmes such as the LEEP, Ahafo Agribusiness Growth Initiative (AAGI) and the Agricultural Improvement and Land Access Programme (AILAP).
He stated that one of the most obvious features of involuntary resettlement was that people displaced were often those who had the least access to resources and were most likely to become impoverished.
Those people, Mr Krakue said, shouldered a disproportionate share of the costs of development but usually gained the least.
He said impoverishment resulted from eight risks, namely landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of access to common property resources and failure to articulate concerns.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of OICI, Mr W.P. Bray, explained that his organisation, which is a non-profit making, mainly focused on improving the quality of life of low-income disadvantaged individuals, through the provision of sustainable human resource development services, through education and skills training, agriculture and food security, health and nutrition, water and sanitation, entrepreneurship and business development, and micro-financing, among other interventions.
The programme is designed to enhance the quality of life of about 1,652 men, women and children affected by the expansion of the company’s mining activities to a new area within its concession called Amoma Pit.
The SDIIP is to be implemented by the Opportunities Industrialisation Centres International (OICI) from other funding sources after an initial support by NGGL for one year.
The current expansion of the Amoma Pit, which covers 562 hectares in the stool lands of Ntotroso, is the fourth pit of NGGL’S operation in the Ahafo area.
The programme is focused on agricultural and vocational skills development as the mechanism for re-establishing livelihoods of the PAPs.
The Amoma resettlement initiative also includes the payment of cash compensation, replacement of houses for people qualified for resettlement.
At a workshop to launch the programme, the Social Investment Manager of NGGL (Ahafo Mines), Mr Kwasi Amponsah Boateng, said the company recognised the potential social and environmental effects that could be created through the development of mining projects.
He said to ensure proper and appropriate mine development, the NGGL had endorsed the concept of sustainable development.
Mr Amponsah said in order to prevent impoverishment, ‘‘we recognise that the resettlement programme must focus on preventing any risk of leaving our host communities impoverished”.
He stated that prior to the SDIIP, Newmont had commissioned OICI to implement another programme known as “Livelihood Enhancement and Community Empowerment Programme (LEEP)” in February, 2005, which was to restore the livelihood of the Ahafo South project affected persons (PAPs).
According to Mr Boateng, the LEEP had three objectives and accomplished seven intermediate results.
They include improved sustainable food and cash crop production among 750 farmer households, post-harvest handling and storage losses reduced to five per cent, as well as small and medium-size enterprises strengthened for income generation for 1,500 men and women.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Economic Planning Officer, Mr Mike Krakue, said apart from the legally required interventions, such as the payment of compensations and relocation, which the company was mandated to implement, the NGGL had also gone out of its way to implement programmes such as the LEEP, Ahafo Agribusiness Growth Initiative (AAGI) and the Agricultural Improvement and Land Access Programme (AILAP).
He stated that one of the most obvious features of involuntary resettlement was that people displaced were often those who had the least access to resources and were most likely to become impoverished.
Those people, Mr Krakue said, shouldered a disproportionate share of the costs of development but usually gained the least.
He said impoverishment resulted from eight risks, namely landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of access to common property resources and failure to articulate concerns.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of OICI, Mr W.P. Bray, explained that his organisation, which is a non-profit making, mainly focused on improving the quality of life of low-income disadvantaged individuals, through the provision of sustainable human resource development services, through education and skills training, agriculture and food security, health and nutrition, water and sanitation, entrepreneurship and business development, and micro-financing, among other interventions.
QUEENCARE PROTECTS CHILDREN'S RIGHTS (PAGE 11, JAN 28, 2010)
ONE non-governmental organisation (NGO) that is complementing the efforts of the government, individuals and other NGOs to protect the rights and interests of women and children is QueenCare International.
The organisation is based at Kato, near Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region and was founded by the Queen of Kato, Nana Afia Siraa-Ababio III, soon after she was enstooled in 1989. It is currently taking care of about 46 children, some of whom are orphans, destitute and street children.
The NGO seeks to create awareness of quality parenting and child care and rekindle lost cultural values. It is also committed to providing intervention services for vulnerable groups such as women, children and persons with disability through advocacy, counselling, care, support and economic empowerment.
At an appreciation day organised by QueenCare International, the Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board (NAB), Mr Kwame Dattey, stressed the need for the youth to abstain from alcohol and all hard drugs, eschew social vices and rather concentrate on their education to become worthy citizens of the country.
He observed that many religious and other organisations were currently establishing tertiary educational institutions in the country to contribute their quota to national development and advised parents to ensure that their children got the best of education, since it was the key to socio-economic development.
The 52-year-old queen, known in private life as Hannah Asuamah Kyere, who is the Executive Director of QueenCare International, acknowledged initiatives by government agencies, local and international institutions and other NGOs to address the problems associated with the development of the Ghanaian child, particularly in deprived communities, adding that there was no doubt about the fact that children were the future leaders of this country.
She said among the key problems confronting children were child labour, child trafficking, migration from the rural to the urban centres and streetism and pointed out that the root cause of all those problem was child neglect resulting from parental irresponsibility and deep-seated ignorance by parents and sometimes state institutions.
QueenCare International has selected four regions in the country, namely the Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central, for its operations but currently it had concentrated its activities in Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra.
Nana Siraa-Ababio, who is a product of the Berekum Presbyterian Girls’ School and the Government Secretariat School in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, stressed that her organisation used advocacy, sensitisation, awareness creation and confidence building to ensure quality parenting and make fathers and mothers more responsible for the care and support of their children.
The queen, who succeeded her late grandmother, Nana Yaa Tima, is currently providing food and shelter for about 46 neglected children and called for support from all well-meaning individuals and organisations.
The NGO is also involved in an advocacy and care and support programme for persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIVs). It has also established a theatre group called Otwaakwan Performing Arts, an abstinence club and a rescue home at Kato.
A number of individuals and organisations were presented with certificates of honour by the NGO in recognition of their invaluable support to it to promote quality parenting and child care.
The organisation is based at Kato, near Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region and was founded by the Queen of Kato, Nana Afia Siraa-Ababio III, soon after she was enstooled in 1989. It is currently taking care of about 46 children, some of whom are orphans, destitute and street children.
The NGO seeks to create awareness of quality parenting and child care and rekindle lost cultural values. It is also committed to providing intervention services for vulnerable groups such as women, children and persons with disability through advocacy, counselling, care, support and economic empowerment.
At an appreciation day organised by QueenCare International, the Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board (NAB), Mr Kwame Dattey, stressed the need for the youth to abstain from alcohol and all hard drugs, eschew social vices and rather concentrate on their education to become worthy citizens of the country.
He observed that many religious and other organisations were currently establishing tertiary educational institutions in the country to contribute their quota to national development and advised parents to ensure that their children got the best of education, since it was the key to socio-economic development.
The 52-year-old queen, known in private life as Hannah Asuamah Kyere, who is the Executive Director of QueenCare International, acknowledged initiatives by government agencies, local and international institutions and other NGOs to address the problems associated with the development of the Ghanaian child, particularly in deprived communities, adding that there was no doubt about the fact that children were the future leaders of this country.
She said among the key problems confronting children were child labour, child trafficking, migration from the rural to the urban centres and streetism and pointed out that the root cause of all those problem was child neglect resulting from parental irresponsibility and deep-seated ignorance by parents and sometimes state institutions.
QueenCare International has selected four regions in the country, namely the Brong Ahafo, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central, for its operations but currently it had concentrated its activities in Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra.
Nana Siraa-Ababio, who is a product of the Berekum Presbyterian Girls’ School and the Government Secretariat School in Koforidua in the Eastern Region, stressed that her organisation used advocacy, sensitisation, awareness creation and confidence building to ensure quality parenting and make fathers and mothers more responsible for the care and support of their children.
The queen, who succeeded her late grandmother, Nana Yaa Tima, is currently providing food and shelter for about 46 neglected children and called for support from all well-meaning individuals and organisations.
The NGO is also involved in an advocacy and care and support programme for persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIVs). It has also established a theatre group called Otwaakwan Performing Arts, an abstinence club and a rescue home at Kato.
A number of individuals and organisations were presented with certificates of honour by the NGO in recognition of their invaluable support to it to promote quality parenting and child care.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
LIBRARY, CLASSROOM BLOCK FOR NTOTROSO (PAGE 17, JAN 18, 2010)
CONSTRUCTION works on a new library block at Ntotroso and the renovation of a four-unit classroom block for the Ntotroso Primary School have been completed at an estimated cost of ¢30,000 and GH¢25,000 respectively.
Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), operating the Ahafo Mine, contributed substantially towards the successful completion of the two projects.
Speaking at the inauguration of the projects at Ntotroso, in the Asutifi District in the Brong Ahafo Region, the Community Development Superintendent of Newmont Ahafo Project, Mr Joseph Danso, said his company considered education and human resource development as a very essential component of the overall development of its host communities.
He stressed that “one of our key values as a company is to develop our people in pursuit of excellence and we as a company will continue to strive to be a role model corporate citizen”.
Mr Danso gave the assurance that Newmont would continue to listen and provide assistance to its host communities and other district stakeholders and strengthen the already cordial relationship that existed between them.
He called for the setting up of a committee or a board to see to the management and regular maintenance of the projects so that they would last longer for more children to benefit.
Mr Danso disclosed that last month the company hand a four-unit teachers’ quarters to Dokyikrom after another handing over of a new classroom block for the community.
Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), operating the Ahafo Mine, contributed substantially towards the successful completion of the two projects.
Speaking at the inauguration of the projects at Ntotroso, in the Asutifi District in the Brong Ahafo Region, the Community Development Superintendent of Newmont Ahafo Project, Mr Joseph Danso, said his company considered education and human resource development as a very essential component of the overall development of its host communities.
He stressed that “one of our key values as a company is to develop our people in pursuit of excellence and we as a company will continue to strive to be a role model corporate citizen”.
Mr Danso gave the assurance that Newmont would continue to listen and provide assistance to its host communities and other district stakeholders and strengthen the already cordial relationship that existed between them.
He called for the setting up of a committee or a board to see to the management and regular maintenance of the projects so that they would last longer for more children to benefit.
Mr Danso disclosed that last month the company hand a four-unit teachers’ quarters to Dokyikrom after another handing over of a new classroom block for the community.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
BRITISH COUNCIL, GES ORGANISE WORKSHOP FOR 60 TEACHERS (PAGE 17, JAN 11, 2010)
THE British Council, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), has organised a workshop on the Department for International Development (DFID) Global School Partnerships (DGSP) for 60 teachers selected from the Sunyani Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The DGSP programme sought to promote links between schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and those in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The three-year programme which started in 2003 provided opportunities and grants to schools that were using partnerships as a means of developing global education within their curriculum.
Under the programme, schools in over 100 countries benefited from advice, guidance and grants, as well as in-country support.
The DGSP promotes partnerships which are educational, equality-based, inclusive, sustainable, and engaged the wider community.
It aimed at enabling young people to learn about themselves and their responsibilities as global citizens in the context of a diverse, complex and interdependent world, through joint curricular work with a partner school.
The Programme Coordinator, Ms Bridget Konadu Gyamfi, who briefed the Daily Graphic about the DGSP in Sunyani, disclosed that 370 grants had been awarded to school partnerships between UK schools and 43 southern countries, and explained that the partnerships had become a means of raising awareness among learners on global education.
The Programme Co-ordinator disclosed also that 270 partnerships had so far been formed in the 10 regions in Ghanaand that a total of 30 were to be formed in the Brong Ahafo Region.
She said through joint curriculum works to be undertaken by schools in partnerships, each of the beneficiary schools ended up in enriching its curriculum.
He indicated further that after partnerships had been formed, schools could access Global Curriculum Project Grants from the British Council to support their partnership activities.
The grants, she said, included reciprocal and global partnership visits which attracted £2,000 and £6,000 per partnership respectively, saying that the programme was beneficial, since it sought to broaden the scope and horizon of learners who were more or less limited to only what pertained in their localities.
Again, Ms Gyamfi explained that the DGSP supported teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills through what she termed teacher accreditation and professional development modular workshops.
The DGSP programme sought to promote links between schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and those in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The three-year programme which started in 2003 provided opportunities and grants to schools that were using partnerships as a means of developing global education within their curriculum.
Under the programme, schools in over 100 countries benefited from advice, guidance and grants, as well as in-country support.
The DGSP promotes partnerships which are educational, equality-based, inclusive, sustainable, and engaged the wider community.
It aimed at enabling young people to learn about themselves and their responsibilities as global citizens in the context of a diverse, complex and interdependent world, through joint curricular work with a partner school.
The Programme Coordinator, Ms Bridget Konadu Gyamfi, who briefed the Daily Graphic about the DGSP in Sunyani, disclosed that 370 grants had been awarded to school partnerships between UK schools and 43 southern countries, and explained that the partnerships had become a means of raising awareness among learners on global education.
The Programme Co-ordinator disclosed also that 270 partnerships had so far been formed in the 10 regions in Ghanaand that a total of 30 were to be formed in the Brong Ahafo Region.
She said through joint curriculum works to be undertaken by schools in partnerships, each of the beneficiary schools ended up in enriching its curriculum.
He indicated further that after partnerships had been formed, schools could access Global Curriculum Project Grants from the British Council to support their partnership activities.
The grants, she said, included reciprocal and global partnership visits which attracted £2,000 and £6,000 per partnership respectively, saying that the programme was beneficial, since it sought to broaden the scope and horizon of learners who were more or less limited to only what pertained in their localities.
Again, Ms Gyamfi explained that the DGSP supported teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills through what she termed teacher accreditation and professional development modular workshops.
30 APPRENTICES RECEIVE START-UP KITS (PAGE 17, JAN 11, 2010)
THIRTY apprentices in the Atebubu/Amantin District of the Brong Ahafo Region who have successfully completed training in their various trades, have been presented with start–up kits valued at GH¢10,000, under the Technology Promotion and Support to Apprentices Training (TPSAT) programme.
The programme is being implemented by the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), under the Rural Enterprises Project (REP) with a joint sponsorship by the government of Ghana, the International Fund For Agricultural Development Bank (IFAD) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
The apprentices underwent training in hairdressing, barbering, dressmaking, electrical welding, trailoring and carpentry, among others.
Presenting the start-up kits at a ceremony at Atebubu, the Head of the BAC office in the district, Mr Isaac Opoku disclosed that since 2007, 102 unemployed youth who had undergone similar training had benefited from a package and were successfully engaged in their various trades to earn a living.
He indicated that the BAC office was ever prepared to assist any unemployed youth who wanted to engage in small, scale businesses after they had sat and passed proficiency tests conducted by the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI).
Mr Oppong cautioned the beneficiaries of the package against selling their kits, since it was against the law to do so and anyone caught in such an act would face the appropriate sanction.
He commended the district assembly for promptly contributing 25 per cent of the cost of the kits which facilitated the arrival of the equipment in the district.
The District Chief Executive for Atebubu/Amantin, Mr Sanja Nanja, advised the youth not to rely solely on the government for employment but to try and learn trades in order to reduce their poverty levels.
He explained that the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to create employment for the youth did not mean that the government was to provide white colour jobs for them, adding that the provision of the tools was job creation in disguise .
Mr Sanja Nanja also advised against the sale of the package by the beneficiaries or to keep them in their rooms, and encouraged them to train other people so that they could also enjoy a similar package to improve upon their living standards.
The programme is being implemented by the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), under the Rural Enterprises Project (REP) with a joint sponsorship by the government of Ghana, the International Fund For Agricultural Development Bank (IFAD) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
The apprentices underwent training in hairdressing, barbering, dressmaking, electrical welding, trailoring and carpentry, among others.
Presenting the start-up kits at a ceremony at Atebubu, the Head of the BAC office in the district, Mr Isaac Opoku disclosed that since 2007, 102 unemployed youth who had undergone similar training had benefited from a package and were successfully engaged in their various trades to earn a living.
He indicated that the BAC office was ever prepared to assist any unemployed youth who wanted to engage in small, scale businesses after they had sat and passed proficiency tests conducted by the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI).
Mr Oppong cautioned the beneficiaries of the package against selling their kits, since it was against the law to do so and anyone caught in such an act would face the appropriate sanction.
He commended the district assembly for promptly contributing 25 per cent of the cost of the kits which facilitated the arrival of the equipment in the district.
The District Chief Executive for Atebubu/Amantin, Mr Sanja Nanja, advised the youth not to rely solely on the government for employment but to try and learn trades in order to reduce their poverty levels.
He explained that the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to create employment for the youth did not mean that the government was to provide white colour jobs for them, adding that the provision of the tools was job creation in disguise .
Mr Sanja Nanja also advised against the sale of the package by the beneficiaries or to keep them in their rooms, and encouraged them to train other people so that they could also enjoy a similar package to improve upon their living standards.
WISE SUCCUMB TO BECHEM CHELSEA (PAGE 54, JAN 11, 2010)
A third minute goal fetched by Bechem Chelsea wenger, Moro Mubarak, gave them maximum three points in their game against visiting Sekondi Eleven Wise when the two teams met at the Sunyani Coronation Park in their Glo-Premier league match on Saturday.
The Bechem lads never looked back when the match kicked off , and a twenty yarder drive by Mubarak was enough to give them a sweet 1-0 victory over Wise.
The Bechem lads never looked back when the match kicked off , and a twenty yarder drive by Mubarak was enough to give them a sweet 1-0 victory over Wise.
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