THE National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has presented 23 packets of roofing sheets to some residents and two basic schools at Akwadum in the New Juaben Municipality in the Eastern Region.
The donation of the materials were meant for the rehabilitation of some buildings in the area that were damaged as a result of a heavy downpour that ripped off their roofs.
The buildings included the Akwadum Municipal Assembly primary school and kindergarten and the Akwadum Islamic kindergarten.
The rainstorm also destroyed a portion of the classroom blocks of the two schools, compelling the teachers of the affected schools to temporarily organise classes under trees.
Presenting the items, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister, expressed sympathy for the beneficiaries and hoped that the items would help mitigate their suffering.
He also directed the New Juaben Municipal Assembly to collaborate with the schools' management on how best to renovate the structures that were destroyed to provide conducive learning environment for the children.
The minister also promised the people some seedlings from the Forestry Commission to be planted in the area to serve as windbreaks to prevent recurrence of the disaster in the future.
Receiving the items, the Akwadumhene, Nana Osei Owusu, thanked NADMO for their timely support.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
PHARMACISTS FOR ALL DISTRICT HEALTH FACILITIES (PAGE 55)
THE Ghana Health Service (GHS) has decided to attach pharmacists to all of its facilities in the districts to ensure proper storage and management of drugs.
The Chief Pharmacist of the Service, Mr Ohemeng Kyei, who made this known at the annual Pharmacy Sub-Sector Performance Review meeting in Koforidua on Tuesday stated that the initiative would also make it possible for effective drug distribution and appropriate dispensation to patients, particularly pregnant women.
The three-day event was on the theme “Reducing Maternal Mortality in Ghana: Optimising the Role of the Pharmacist”.
It was aimed at taking stock of the performance of the Pharmaceutical Service for the past year and plan for the future with the view of addressing its inherent challenges.
According to Mr Kyei, it had become necessary to post pharmacists to the districts because of the so many problems associated with drug use by patients.
He said the process would ensure that the right quantities of drugs procured and sent there were stored well, distributed and rationally used at all levels, particularly among pregnant women who would also be advised on drugs that would endanger their lives and those of their unborn children.
Spelling out the functions of the pharmacist, he said such health workers were to audit and document whatever prescriptions meant for patients, especially pregnant women.
This, Mr Kyei said, helped improve service delivery and reduced the risk that some of such medicines posed to the health of the child and the mother.
With regard to hemoglobin levels of pregnant women, he said since that was essential in antenatal and post natal care, pharmacists must ensure that safe and efficacious blood tonic were selected, procured and dispensed to pregnant women.
“Pharmacists must also ensure that quantities of blood tonics required by a pregnant woman would be determined and supplied to ensure that the right amount of elemental iron needed for blood formation would be delivered,” he stated.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, said the country recorded nearly 1,000 maternal deaths every year, describing the situation as “a disaster to many families.”
He, therefore, appealed to pharmacists to help ensure easy access to drugs and their proper use, family planning and safe abortion to reduce maternal mortality.
Dr Agongo also stressed the need for pharmacists to actively involve themselves in the administration of health facilities as 50 per cent of the resources being used by hospitals were associated with medicines.
The Chief Pharmacist of the Service, Mr Ohemeng Kyei, who made this known at the annual Pharmacy Sub-Sector Performance Review meeting in Koforidua on Tuesday stated that the initiative would also make it possible for effective drug distribution and appropriate dispensation to patients, particularly pregnant women.
The three-day event was on the theme “Reducing Maternal Mortality in Ghana: Optimising the Role of the Pharmacist”.
It was aimed at taking stock of the performance of the Pharmaceutical Service for the past year and plan for the future with the view of addressing its inherent challenges.
According to Mr Kyei, it had become necessary to post pharmacists to the districts because of the so many problems associated with drug use by patients.
He said the process would ensure that the right quantities of drugs procured and sent there were stored well, distributed and rationally used at all levels, particularly among pregnant women who would also be advised on drugs that would endanger their lives and those of their unborn children.
Spelling out the functions of the pharmacist, he said such health workers were to audit and document whatever prescriptions meant for patients, especially pregnant women.
This, Mr Kyei said, helped improve service delivery and reduced the risk that some of such medicines posed to the health of the child and the mother.
With regard to hemoglobin levels of pregnant women, he said since that was essential in antenatal and post natal care, pharmacists must ensure that safe and efficacious blood tonic were selected, procured and dispensed to pregnant women.
“Pharmacists must also ensure that quantities of blood tonics required by a pregnant woman would be determined and supplied to ensure that the right amount of elemental iron needed for blood formation would be delivered,” he stated.
For his part, the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, said the country recorded nearly 1,000 maternal deaths every year, describing the situation as “a disaster to many families.”
He, therefore, appealed to pharmacists to help ensure easy access to drugs and their proper use, family planning and safe abortion to reduce maternal mortality.
Dr Agongo also stressed the need for pharmacists to actively involve themselves in the administration of health facilities as 50 per cent of the resources being used by hospitals were associated with medicines.
Monday, April 27, 2009
DON'T DEMAND MONIES FROM DCE NOMINEES ...ER Minister urges assembly members (PAGE 13)
THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has expressed concern over the situation where some assembly members demand money from persons nominated for the position of chief executive, as a pre-condition to confirm or reject their appointments.
He has therefore appealed to assembly members to refrain from such practice, since that could compromise the moral authority they wielded to keep chief executives accountable.
Speaking at the confirmation of Mr Sammy Kwabi as the Chief Executive for the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District, Mr Ampofo said “the integrity to keep chief executives accountable and honest will only come with the ability to keep our hands clean”.
The regional minister was reacting to a report in a newspaper which claimed that some members of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly had demanded GH¢3,000 from the President’s nominee as a condition to approve his appointment.
Mr Ampofo indicated that since the work of local government was crucial to implementing the development agenda of the government to enhance the standard of living of the people, the co-operation and support of assembly members for chief executives was indispensable.
Nonetheless, he indicated that that team work to enhance effective and efficient operation of the assemblies could be defeated “if we who are responsible for checking the chief executives are vulnerable to influence”.
He, therefore, entreated members of the various district assemblies to stay clean by dissociating themselves from attempts to demand money or other incentives from persons who had been nominated for the post of chief executives before voting to confirm them.
“Since we are perceived as honourable members of the various assemblies we must always, now and after the appointment of the President’s nominees, demand development for our electoral areas to raise the living conditions of our people,” he stated.
To those so far confirmed as chief executives, Mr Ampofo urged them to be accountable, honest and transparent to the assembly members to ensure effective and efficient team work at the local level
He has therefore appealed to assembly members to refrain from such practice, since that could compromise the moral authority they wielded to keep chief executives accountable.
Speaking at the confirmation of Mr Sammy Kwabi as the Chief Executive for the Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar District, Mr Ampofo said “the integrity to keep chief executives accountable and honest will only come with the ability to keep our hands clean”.
The regional minister was reacting to a report in a newspaper which claimed that some members of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly had demanded GH¢3,000 from the President’s nominee as a condition to approve his appointment.
Mr Ampofo indicated that since the work of local government was crucial to implementing the development agenda of the government to enhance the standard of living of the people, the co-operation and support of assembly members for chief executives was indispensable.
Nonetheless, he indicated that that team work to enhance effective and efficient operation of the assemblies could be defeated “if we who are responsible for checking the chief executives are vulnerable to influence”.
He, therefore, entreated members of the various district assemblies to stay clean by dissociating themselves from attempts to demand money or other incentives from persons who had been nominated for the post of chief executives before voting to confirm them.
“Since we are perceived as honourable members of the various assemblies we must always, now and after the appointment of the President’s nominees, demand development for our electoral areas to raise the living conditions of our people,” he stated.
To those so far confirmed as chief executives, Mr Ampofo urged them to be accountable, honest and transparent to the assembly members to ensure effective and efficient team work at the local level
Thursday, April 23, 2009
POLICE DID NOT ASSAULT WOMAN (PAGE 54)
THE Eastern Regional Police Command has denied that policemen from the Effiduasi Police Station subjected a 96-year old woman reported missing to severe interrogation and assault, leading to her death.
An Accra-based media house in a report on April 16 attributed the cause of death of the unidentified woman to brutalities meted out to her by police personnel of the Effiduasi Police during interrogation.
A press release issued in Koforidua last Monday and signed by the Public Affairs Officer of the command, Chief Inspector Christopher Tawiah, said the police neither subjected the woman to severe interrogation nor beatings as was being speculated in some sections of the media.
According to the release, on April 13, this year, the Koforidua Railway Police Station officially received a report of a missing old lady.
It said while efforts were being made to trace the whereabouts of the woman, one Mr Osei Karikari reported to the Effiduase Police on April 16 that he had found an old lady sitting on a plot of land belonging to him at Aberewa-Nkwanta, a suburb of Koforidua.
The release said a team of policemen was therefore dispatched to the scene, where an old woman looking very weak and half naked was found lying down.
According to the statement, she passed away when she was being sent by the policemen to the Regional Hospital at Koforidua.
It said that the police were humane and would always live up to their ethics of protecting life and property.
An Accra-based media house in a report on April 16 attributed the cause of death of the unidentified woman to brutalities meted out to her by police personnel of the Effiduasi Police during interrogation.
A press release issued in Koforidua last Monday and signed by the Public Affairs Officer of the command, Chief Inspector Christopher Tawiah, said the police neither subjected the woman to severe interrogation nor beatings as was being speculated in some sections of the media.
According to the release, on April 13, this year, the Koforidua Railway Police Station officially received a report of a missing old lady.
It said while efforts were being made to trace the whereabouts of the woman, one Mr Osei Karikari reported to the Effiduase Police on April 16 that he had found an old lady sitting on a plot of land belonging to him at Aberewa-Nkwanta, a suburb of Koforidua.
The release said a team of policemen was therefore dispatched to the scene, where an old woman looking very weak and half naked was found lying down.
According to the statement, she passed away when she was being sent by the policemen to the Regional Hospital at Koforidua.
It said that the police were humane and would always live up to their ethics of protecting life and property.
MORE CRACKS DETECTED ON ADOMI BRIDGE (BACK PAGE)
LESS than nine months after repair works had been completed on some of the steel beams supporting the Adomi Bridge, the bridge has developed fresh cracks.
A section of the concrete that the steel beams are supporting has developed new cracks that could deteriorate if prompt attention is not paid to the current condition.
The cracks — mostly confined to the area that developed the deep cracks that were repaired in July, 2008 — have exposed some of the iron rods in the concrete.
A visit to the facility on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, revealed that although some attempts had been made to seal some of the cracks, further cracks kept occurring causing some of the concrete to peel off into the water beneath.
Sources close to the Ghana Road Fund Board told the Daily Graphic at Atimpoku that the cracks were first detected in early March, this year.
According to the sources, the continued use of the bridge by heavy trucks with loads exceeding the stipulated 30 tonnes had adversely compromised the safety and stability of the 52-year-old bridge.
The sources said the danger being posed by the overloaded trucks had persisted due to the extortion of money from drivers by some policemen and officials of the Ghana Highway Authority.
To escape the attention of those who are concerned about the safety of the 805-feet bridge, most drivers of the overloaded heavy trucks often park their trucks from the Juapong end of the bridge during the day and cross it either late in the evening or at dawn.
“We do not blame these recalcitrant drivers who flout the safety measures on the bridge, since those who are responsible to check their illegal act have turned a blind eye to the safety of the bridge,” the sources added.
A section of the concrete that the steel beams are supporting has developed new cracks that could deteriorate if prompt attention is not paid to the current condition.
The cracks — mostly confined to the area that developed the deep cracks that were repaired in July, 2008 — have exposed some of the iron rods in the concrete.
A visit to the facility on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, revealed that although some attempts had been made to seal some of the cracks, further cracks kept occurring causing some of the concrete to peel off into the water beneath.
Sources close to the Ghana Road Fund Board told the Daily Graphic at Atimpoku that the cracks were first detected in early March, this year.
According to the sources, the continued use of the bridge by heavy trucks with loads exceeding the stipulated 30 tonnes had adversely compromised the safety and stability of the 52-year-old bridge.
The sources said the danger being posed by the overloaded trucks had persisted due to the extortion of money from drivers by some policemen and officials of the Ghana Highway Authority.
To escape the attention of those who are concerned about the safety of the 805-feet bridge, most drivers of the overloaded heavy trucks often park their trucks from the Juapong end of the bridge during the day and cross it either late in the evening or at dawn.
“We do not blame these recalcitrant drivers who flout the safety measures on the bridge, since those who are responsible to check their illegal act have turned a blind eye to the safety of the bridge,” the sources added.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
KOKONTE POWDER USED AS FIRE EXTINGUISHERS? (PAGE 20)
THE Eastern Regional office of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has expressed concern over the increasing use of fire extinguishers filled with cassava powder (konkonte) by some commercial drivers in the region.
According to the GNFS, the use of the konkonte powder, which is to deceive policemen on patrol, could not extinguish fire on vehicles.
Such a practice, it said, had arisen due to the inability of the personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) to use the appropriate device to thoroughly inspect the contents of fire extinguishers on vehicles, especially those plying the highways.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Mr Paul Opoku, made this known at the launch of road safety campaign at Nkawkaw recently.
He stated that his outfit seized a total of nine fire extinguishers filled with cassava powder from vehicles that were involved in accidents in 2008.
Mr Opoku, therefore, warned that any driver who would be caught with a fake extinguisher would be prosecuted.
ACFO Opoku also warned that his outfit would not shield drivers whose vehicles used the konkonte powder as fire extinguisher and would apprehend them for prosecution when approached for assistance for insurance claims when such vehicles are involved in accidents.
He stated that many of the fire outbreaks on vehicles could have been prevented if the drivers had genuine fire extinguishers with them.
Mr Opoku said in order to make the gadgets more accessible to motorists to ensure the safety of life and property on the roads, his outfit had provided the Koforidua office of the Driver, Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) with fire extinguishers to be sold to drivers at subsidised prices but some of the drivers had declined to buy them.
According to the GNFS, the use of the konkonte powder, which is to deceive policemen on patrol, could not extinguish fire on vehicles.
Such a practice, it said, had arisen due to the inability of the personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) to use the appropriate device to thoroughly inspect the contents of fire extinguishers on vehicles, especially those plying the highways.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Mr Paul Opoku, made this known at the launch of road safety campaign at Nkawkaw recently.
He stated that his outfit seized a total of nine fire extinguishers filled with cassava powder from vehicles that were involved in accidents in 2008.
Mr Opoku, therefore, warned that any driver who would be caught with a fake extinguisher would be prosecuted.
ACFO Opoku also warned that his outfit would not shield drivers whose vehicles used the konkonte powder as fire extinguisher and would apprehend them for prosecution when approached for assistance for insurance claims when such vehicles are involved in accidents.
He stated that many of the fire outbreaks on vehicles could have been prevented if the drivers had genuine fire extinguishers with them.
Mr Opoku said in order to make the gadgets more accessible to motorists to ensure the safety of life and property on the roads, his outfit had provided the Koforidua office of the Driver, Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) with fire extinguishers to be sold to drivers at subsidised prices but some of the drivers had declined to buy them.
Monday, April 20, 2009
BRIBES, EXTORTION THREATEN SAFETY OF ADOMI BRIDGE (BACK PAGE)
Some officials of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) have been accused of extorting money from drivers to allow them to cross the Adomi Bridge with their overloaded trucks, at the risk of the safety of the bridge.
As a result, a section of the bridge which developed deep cracks but was repaired in July last year has started developing the same problem.
Under normal circumstances, vehicles that weigh more than the stipulated 31 tonnes are not allowed to use the bridge, but some policemen and GHA officials have allegedly turned a blind eye to that requirement because of their selfish interests.
Officials of the Ghana Road Fund Board and the Road Safety and Environment, who made this known, indicated that just last Tuesday three articulated trucks with excess load were allowed to cross the bridge at exactly 8.30 p.m.
The trucks, with registration numbers GT 5809 W, GW 6377U and GT 3126 H, weighed more than the permissible 31 tonnes allowed for heavy vehicles to cross the 52-year-old bridge.
Concerned about the safety of the bridge, the officials reported the blatant disregard for safety measures on the bridge by heavy truck drivers to the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, last Thursday.
They told the minister that last Tuesday, April 14, 2009, an operative of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) who attempted to stop the three articulated trucks from crossing the bridge was nearly assaulted by one of the drivers and his mates but the BNI official was rescued by some commercial drivers.
The driver of one of the trucks paid no heed to the BNI operative’s signals to stop and rammed into the back of his Golf 3 saloon car, destroying it.
The drivers and their mates are currently in custody to assist the police in their investigations, while the three trucks have been impounded.
A director of the Road Safety and Environment, Mr Joe-Fred Perseo, stated that when he personally contacted the staff of the GHA positioned at either end of the bridge on why they allowed the three trucks to cross, they explained that “the weighing machine became non-functional in the evening”.
Reacting to Mr Perseo’s concerns, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo described the action of the heavy truck drivers who flouted safety measures on the bridge as “a crime against the state”.
He, therefore, called for the immediate prosecution of the drivers and the mates of the three articulated trucks to serve as deterrent to other recalcitrant drivers.
According to him, since he assumed office as the Eastern Regional Minister, he had received countless complaints about the manner in which drivers were flouting safety measures on the bridge, which he said was a “national asset that must be preserved”.
He also called on policemen positioned at either end of the bridge to refrain from extorting money from drivers, since “your individual interest will endanger the safety of this national asset and innocent lives”.
The Adomi Bridge was closed to traffic for three weeks in July 2008 after three steel beams supporting the facility developed serious cracks, resulting in a depression on a section of the road.
As a result, a section of the bridge which developed deep cracks but was repaired in July last year has started developing the same problem.
Under normal circumstances, vehicles that weigh more than the stipulated 31 tonnes are not allowed to use the bridge, but some policemen and GHA officials have allegedly turned a blind eye to that requirement because of their selfish interests.
Officials of the Ghana Road Fund Board and the Road Safety and Environment, who made this known, indicated that just last Tuesday three articulated trucks with excess load were allowed to cross the bridge at exactly 8.30 p.m.
The trucks, with registration numbers GT 5809 W, GW 6377U and GT 3126 H, weighed more than the permissible 31 tonnes allowed for heavy vehicles to cross the 52-year-old bridge.
Concerned about the safety of the bridge, the officials reported the blatant disregard for safety measures on the bridge by heavy truck drivers to the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, last Thursday.
They told the minister that last Tuesday, April 14, 2009, an operative of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) who attempted to stop the three articulated trucks from crossing the bridge was nearly assaulted by one of the drivers and his mates but the BNI official was rescued by some commercial drivers.
The driver of one of the trucks paid no heed to the BNI operative’s signals to stop and rammed into the back of his Golf 3 saloon car, destroying it.
The drivers and their mates are currently in custody to assist the police in their investigations, while the three trucks have been impounded.
A director of the Road Safety and Environment, Mr Joe-Fred Perseo, stated that when he personally contacted the staff of the GHA positioned at either end of the bridge on why they allowed the three trucks to cross, they explained that “the weighing machine became non-functional in the evening”.
Reacting to Mr Perseo’s concerns, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo described the action of the heavy truck drivers who flouted safety measures on the bridge as “a crime against the state”.
He, therefore, called for the immediate prosecution of the drivers and the mates of the three articulated trucks to serve as deterrent to other recalcitrant drivers.
According to him, since he assumed office as the Eastern Regional Minister, he had received countless complaints about the manner in which drivers were flouting safety measures on the bridge, which he said was a “national asset that must be preserved”.
He also called on policemen positioned at either end of the bridge to refrain from extorting money from drivers, since “your individual interest will endanger the safety of this national asset and innocent lives”.
The Adomi Bridge was closed to traffic for three weeks in July 2008 after three steel beams supporting the facility developed serious cracks, resulting in a depression on a section of the road.
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