Lesotho Wire

The Ghana Chamber of Shipping (GCS) has paid a visit to the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) to deepen collaboration.

The move is aimed at forging stronger bond between the two organisations and propelling the growth of the maritime, shipping, and logistics sector.

The Chamber was represented by a delegation that included its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Kofi Mbiah, Vice President Captain Aron Turkson, and Executive Secretary, Nora Gloria Bamfowaa.

Highlighting the Chamber’s strategic prowess, Captain Turkson spoke of their extensive expertise in providing advisory services to various entities within the maritime, shipping, and logistics sectors.

Dr. Mbiah restated the Chamber’s capability in adeptly navigating public sector regulations, underlining their commitment to offering unparalleled advice.

The Chief Executive Officer of GSA, Mr Kwesi Baffour Sarpong, expressed gratitude for the visit and assured that the Authority would not hesitate to tap into the Chamber’s vast reservoir of expertise as needed
.

He underscored GSA’s dedication to advancing the sector’s growth while also ensuring the protection and promotion of shippers’ interests.

The Ghana Chamber of Shipping, a leading trade association and think tank in the maritime domain, is steadfast in its commitment to nurturing partnerships with stakeholders in the maritime industry.

The Organization’s mission is to champion the interests of its members and stakeholders within the maritime industry, ensuring their voices are heard and their interests protected.

The visit concluded with a mutual agreement to identify and explore potential areas of collaboration, focusing particularly on enhancing efficiency, innovation, and sustainability within the maritime and shipping sectors of Ghana.

In a news brief, the two institutions said they were poised to drive significant advancements, fostering an environment that benefited all stakeholders and would cement Ghana’s position as a leader in the maritime space.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dr Nana Tandoh, the Wassa Amenfi West Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) in the Western Region says the Assembly will explore all revenue mobilisation options to improve upon its Internally Generated Fund (IGF) this year.

He told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the Assembly generated GHC355,000 in 2021 but increased to GHC642,000 in 2022 after series of stakeholder sensitisation on revenue mobilization drive.

According to him, the Assembly also mobilised about GHC1 million in IGF last year through enhanced revenue mobilization strategies and looking to build on the successes to increase its IGF for this year.

‘We have targeted GHC2 million this year including the 2023 property rate arrears, so to achieve this, we have now operationalized all the Zonal Councils and with the active participation of assembly members will hit our set objective,’ he said.

Dr Tandoh noted that the move was geared towards generating enough revenue to support the Assembly to undertake more infrastructural projects in the
area.

On security issues in the Municipality, he mentioned robbery cases on the Asankragwa to Kwabeng road due to the nature of the road as a major challenge to the Assembly.

He, however, said such cases had reduced because the Assembly had reshaped that stretch twice within the last year to help make it motorable for commuters who fell victim to robbery incidents.

The MCE said: ‘I have arranged with the Amenfi Central District Chief Executive, and we will collaborate to ensure spot improvement before the contractor comes back to site.’

On infrastructural projects, Dr Tandoh mentioned the construction of water projects at Wassa-Dunkwa, Asankragwa, and other communities, and hospital project at Wassa-Dunkwa among others as some of the completed projects by government in the Municipality.

He also mentioned the construction of market sheds at Mumuni and Asankragwa, a two-kilometre bypass to ease traffic congestion at Asankragwa as some other projects completed by the Assembly.

‘Government has improved upon
health, education and other sectors of the economy so I am optimistic that Amenfi West will vote for the New Patriotic Party this time,’ he added.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Nana Mprah Besemuna III, President of the Oti

Regional House of Chiefs, has welcomed Mr Daniel Machator, the regional minister-nominee, assuring him of his full support and prayers in the pursuit of his ambition.

He said he was confident that Mr Machator would sail through the parliamentary vetting and get the nod as the minister to utilise his expertise and experience to work in the interest of the people.

Mr Machator commended the Overlord and his sub-chiefs for their prior endorsement when he was nominated by the President.

He acknowledged the role played by the chiefs, especially for conceiving the idea of getting the Oti Region created.

He assured the chiefs and people of his readiness to work to harness resources in the region for development and appealed to them to take centre stage at bringing enduring peace to the area.

He referred to the ‘bitter dispute’ in Nkwanta South and urged the people to see themselves as one family and stop the needles fighting and bloodshed.

‘This has not been helpf
ul to the drive to attract investors and tourists to create wealth for the population,’ he said.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Bono Regional Directorate of the Department of Gender has appealed to the British High Commission in Accra, and other development partners for financial support to prevent early and forced marriages in the region.

Mrs Joyclen Adii, the Bono Regional Director of the Department of Gender, made the appeal when the British High Commissioner to Ghana Harriet Thompson, paid a courtesy call on Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister and interacted with the Heads of Departments and Agencies at a meeting in Sunyani.

Mrs Thompson was accompanied on the visit to the region by Miss Zoe Robson and Cecil Adrian Sampson, officials of the Commission, to explore and get herself acquainted with the economic potential of the region.

Mrs Adii, said early and forced marriages were resurfacing and gaining prominence in the region, as in 2023, the Department rescued five children being forcefully married off.

She said the girls were rescued from local communities in the Sunyani and Jaman South Municipaliti
es and more of such practices were going on in many other communities on the blindside of authorities.

Besides the worst forms of human rights abuses the victims went through, early and forced marriages were contributing to high teenage pregnancies and school dropout among girls in the region, she said.

Mrs Adii said inadequate funding to the Department posed a major constraint towards undertaking and intensifying outreach programmes, to sensitise the populace, to help control the situation.

She said sexual and gender-based violence remained another daunting challenge, which the Department needed more support to tackle, and appealed for increased assistance from all stakeholders to effectively tackle it.

Earlier, Madam Owusu-Banahene had told the High Commissioner that the Bono Region had numerous economic prospects in the tourism, cashew and poultry industries which remained untapped and encouraged the Commission to link the region to United Kingdom investors.

Mrs Thompson said the UK was committed to b
oosting trade in Ghana through value addition and expressed the hope that her visit would expose her to the potentials in the region.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has served a disconnection notice to the Yilo Krobo District Hospital, for the non-payment of accrued electricity bill.

Ms Sakyiwaa Mensah, the Public Relations Officer of the ECG, Tema Region told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the hospital had not made any payment to the power distribution company since April 2022.

Ms Mensah said the Hospital, which is located at Somanya in the Krobo district currently owed the ECG a total of GHs 1,398,955.40.

She said the notice of disconnection was served on the facility on Thursday, February 22, 2024, indicating that the Hospital had a 14-day ultimatum to pay or have the facility disconnected from the national grid.

She said the notice formed part of the ECG’s ongoing nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise.

Ms Mensah called on consumers to promptly pay their electricity bills to avoid disconnections.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr George Nkrumah Ansere, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) Director, Tema Region, has said the Authority has identified seven points on the imaginary Greenwich Meridian line for tourism development.?

Mr Ansere, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said even though it was an imaginary line, the GTA found it important to identify those points to be developed into attractive tourist sites.

He said those seven identified places gave the longitude zero degree reading when the compass was used, meaning that the line runs through them to the ocean to meet the equator, giving Tema the title: ‘Centre of the World’.

The seven areas include the premises of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Greenwich Congregation, the Tema Golf Club, Mankoadze, and the defunct Meridian Hotel area.

Mr Ansere disclosed that the Mankoadze area had been officially claimed by the GTA and earmarked as a tourism site, adding that plans were underway to officially have some coconut plantations there, along with other side attraction
s.

He explained that coconut plantations were preferred because it would allow the promotion of the health benefits of coconut.

?Mr Ansere further said plans were also advanced to expand the PCG Greenwich Meridian site to attract local and foreign tourists, which would bring more job opportunities to the community.

The Meridian Tower of the Presbyterian Church on the Greenwich Meridian, Tema, has a plaque with the inscription: ‘To the glory of God’, which was unveiled on Monday, November 8, 1999, by His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Source: Ghana News Agency