Wednesday, December 2, 2009

NEXANS EDUCATES ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS (PAGE 26, DEC 2)

Electrical contractors have been advised to keep abreast of the most advanced systems and technologies used in installing electrical cables to enhance quality service delivery.
The Assistant Marketing Manager of Nexans Kabelmetal, Mr Mahama B. Dollah, who gave the advice, said it was equally important for them to build their capacity in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to enable them to appreciate modern ways of sourcing for business and build partnerships with other companies.
At a seminar in Kumasi to sensitise the members of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Electrical Contractors Association to the need for them to source for quality electrical cables that met the requirements of contractors in particular and their clients in general, Mr Dollah noted that the use of substandard cables undermined quality work because the cables could easily catch fire to destroy lives and properties.
About 120 members attended the seminar, which also sought to introduce members to the products of Nexans Kabelmetal, one of the leading cable manufacturers in the country.
Mr Dollah charged the members to strictly adhere to specifications in installing outdoor and underground cables, as well as those specified for earth wires, conductors and binding wires.
He also educated the participants on the technology of cables and took them through the various types, their uses, characteristics and safety measures that should be taken to prevent cables from catching fire.
He said his company, which is affiliated to the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and other renowned companies in the country, was conscious of the danger of using substandard electrical cables any constructional work and would extend its educational campaign to other regional capitals to sensitise members of the industry to appreciate the need to use only quality electrical cables.
He called on electricians who had not joined the association to do so to enable them to share ideas and experiences on how to improve upon their work “to enable you to overcome every challenge you encounter in the industry”.

POWER PROJCT YET TO TAKE OFF...5 Years after sod-cutting (PAGE 26, DEC 3)

FIVE years after the sod had been cut for work to begin on a $136 million power plant to generate electricity from garbage in Kumasi, there is nothing to show for the project.
The project, which was the initiative of the Ministry of Local Government and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), was the first attempt to undertake a waste-to-energy project in any local authority in the country.
The project, which was to be undertaken by Cinergex Solutions, a Canadian firm, under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) system, was programmed to take 14 months to complete.
After five years, however, the KMA has nothing to show in respect of the project.
Confirming this, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Kumasi, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said, “I have not seen anything about the project since I assumed office about five months ago.”
“Indeed, all that has been said about the project is mere paper work. Not a single thing has been done with respect to the project,” he added.
In June 2004, then President J.A. Kufuor performed the sod-cutting ceremony. That was after the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the KMA had signed the contract for the construction of the plant
with the contractors, Cinergex Solutions of Canada, in November 2003.
Cinergex Solutions was said to be the major financiers of the plant, which was to generate between 30 and 52 megawatts of electricity from garbage at the KMA’s landfill site at Dompoase.
The company was said to have come on board on a BOT basis. Electricity to be generated from the plant was to serve the Kumasi metropolis and its environs. Cinergex, consequently, signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) under which electricity produced by the waste-to-energy plant would supplement the ECG’s power supply from the Volta River Authority (VRA) to the Kumasi metropolis.
The sod-cutting ceremony was performed at a time when Ghana was experiencing a serious energy crisis and many saw the project as one of the best things to happen to the metropolis.
The Kumasi metropolis generates about 1,000 tonnes of waste per day, which was seen as good enough to feed the plant if it came on board.
At the sod-cutting ceremony, former President Kufuor had said the government, through the Ministry of Local Government, would encourage other metropolitan and municipal assemblies which had the capacity and capability to explore the possibility of turning their waste into energy.

BY-LAWS TO GET PARENTS ALIVE TO RESPONSIBILITIES (PAGE 21, DEC 2)

THE Upper Manya Krobo District Assembly in the Eastern Region has started drafting bye-laws to punish parents who refuse to send their children to school.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Mr Joseph Tetteh Angmor, made this known when he addressed the Apimso congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) at the weekend to mark its centenary celebrations.
The main occupation of the people of the Apimso area who are mostly Presbyterians is farming, and most parents prefer their children to be on the farms rather than in being in school.
According to Mr Tetteh Angmor, true Christians should be concerned about the future well-being of their children, and that could only be accomplished by educating them.
He said if parents in the area would not live up to their responsibilities of taking care of their children’s education, then the assembly would come up with punitive measures to compel them to take up such responsibilities.
He advised parents, especially Christians, to take keen interest in the education of their wards and children, so that children would grow up to become responsible adults.
“The assembly is in the process of drafting bye-laws which will apportion appropriate punishment for parents who will refuse to send their children to school and rather engage them on the farm and other menial jobs, and I want all of you to see to the educational needs of your children to avoid being punished,” he stated.
He said the Government was concerned about the education of children. That was why it came out with initiatives such as the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme to ensure that all parents who could also access health care through the National Health Insurance Scheme would equally be able to send their children to school.

BONES AT PRAYER CAMP WERE GOAT BONES (BACK PAGE)

THE police in Kumasi say it has been established that the bones that were buried at Rev Ebenezer Adarkwa-Yiadom’s prayer camp are not human bones but those of a goat.
“They surely belong to a goat,” the Suame Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Kwaku Duah, told the Daily Graphic yesterday.
Consequently, he said, the police could not proceed with any further investigations into the alleged ritual which involved the burying of bones, a dead snake and candles at the prayer camp
Suspicion that the bones were human bones raised a lot of concern among the public when the story about the alleged rituals broke.
One Frank Annor, who described himself as a former confidant of Bishop Daniel Obinim, the Head of the International God’s Way Church, had alleged that the bishop had asked him to perform the ritual at the Rev Ebenezer Adarkwa-Yiadom’s worship grounds for a fee of GH¢4,000.
DSP Duah said Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom was not part of the case in question and, therefore, inviting him to testify was out of the equation.
Meanwhile, Bishop Obinim has stated that he needs prayers to get him out of “the trap” set by his detractors.
Reacting to Annor’s allegations that he (Obinim) had asked him to bury suspected human bones, a dead snake and candles at Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom’s prayer camp, the bishop said the allegation was totally unfounded.
“I can’t fathom why people should be so wicked to put me in this trap,” he said.
Bishop Obinim suspected Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom to be behind all the moves to bring him down but expressed the hope that he would triumph in the end.
He said he did not bear Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom any grudge and that it was Adarkwa-Yiadom who had been casting insinuations at him without any justifiable reason.
“I am working for God so why should someone who is also working for God be my rival?” he asked.
Bishop Obinim was confident that at the end of the day the truth would come out for all to know who was, indeed, the false prophet.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

NHYIAESO CONSTITUENCY ELECTS OFFICERS (PAGE 16, DEC 1)

THE Nhyiaeso Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has by acclamation elected majority of the constituency executives to run the party for the next four years.
At the constituency delegates conference in Kumasi, officials of the Electoral Commission who supervised the exercise had very little work to do as almost all the candidates were returned unopposed.
It was the first time that any constituency executives in the region had been elected unopposed since the party started its constituency elections, something the Party Chairman, Mr George Kofi Agyei, described as a testimony of the unity of purpose within the constituency.
With the exception of the Youth Organiser, Mr Ernest Dwemoh, and the Second Vice- Chairman, Mr Augustine Mensah Bonsu, all the other executives were re-elected for a second term.
Those re-elected for a second term included the Chairman, Mr Agyei, who is a businessman; Ms Dianalove Opoku, First Vice-Chairperson; Mr Dominic Agyemang Opambuo, Secretary; Mr Stephen Oti Appiah, Assistant Secretary; Mr Kwasi Kankam, Organiser: Ms Helena Badu Fofie, Women’s Organiser, and Mr Kwame Owusu Donkor, Treasurer. The Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr Sam Cudjoe, swore in the executives.
Addressing the delegates after the exercise, the Constituency Chairman, Mr Agyei, said the Nhyiaeso Constituency of the party had blazed the trail for others to follow. He added that with unity there was no way the NPP would not get about 98 per cent of the votes in the constituency in the 2012 elections.
Mr Agyei promised that he and his colleagues would work hard to ensure that the NPP achieved its aim in 2012. He said Ghanaians had realised that the NDC had nothing good to offer the nation and were ready to vote them out in the next elections.
He said most of the people in the country were crying for the NPP to relieve them of the problems the NDC had created. “But coming back will also hinge on how well we organise ourselves, and avoid of petty squabbles”, he added.
Mr Agyei was happy about the good relationship between the Member of Parliament (MP) of the area, Dr Richard Anane, the party members as well as the entire people in the constituency and said “this is a plus for the party.”
He stated that the so-called Akufo-Addo-Alan Kyerematen divide was non-existent in the constituency, and expressed the hope that the same situation would prevail in other constituencies.

200 COMMUNITIES BENEFIT FROM WATER FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY (BACK PAGE, DEC 1)

ABOUT 200 communities are currently benefiting from a new technology for the removal of manganese and iron from underground water.
The technology, developed by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in conjunction with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), was part of a Master’s degree programme in water and environmental sanitation at the university.
The Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. K.K. Adarkwa, who made this known at a special congregation for the award of honorary and postgraduate degrees at the university in Kumasi at the weekend, said the technology was aimed at building capacity for sustainable development in water supply and environmental sanitation in Ghana and the West African sub-region.
Three persons, including a businessman and member of the Council of State, Alhaji Asoma Banda; Prof. Dr Dr Sir George Wireko Brobby, a former Dean of the School of Medical Sciences, KNUST, and Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, St Michael, Barbados, received honorary doctorate degrees.
In addition, 410 postgraduate students from the School of Graduate Studies also graduated.
Prof. Adarkwa noted the strides being made by KNUST in its postgraduate programmes and said the momentum would be sustained for the benefit of the country and the world at large.
Touching on specific developments in the Master’s degree programmes, the vice-chancellor said transportation research seminars, which were now conducted annually to present the findings of course participants to road agencies and the general public, as well as receive feedback and suggest new research areas, were borne out of the Master’s programme in Transportation Engineering at the university.
He further stated that the MSc programme in Plant Breeding and Seed Sciences had resulted in various researches conducted into various crops, including rice, sorghum and cow pea.
For the programme to run smoothly, he said, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of KNUST had signed MoUs with the Crops Research Institute in Kumasi and the Savannah Agriculture Research Station in Tamale to enable the students to conduct their research in those institutions and also for joint supervision of student projects by scientists in the two institutions.
The Asantehene and Chancellor of the university, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, congratulated the honorary degree awardees on their contribution to societal development.
On behalf of the awardees, Alhaji Banda thanked the university for the recognition given them.

DON'T JOKE WITH ANTOA NYAMAA...Nsumankwaahene warns 2 clergymen (1B, DEC 1)

THE Nsumankwaahene (Spiritual Head) of Ashanti, Baafour Domfe Gyeabour III, has waded into the pastoral quarrel between Rev Ebenezer Adarkwa-Yiadom of the Ebenezer Prayer Mission and Bishop Daniel Obinim of the International God’s Way Church, with a warning that the invocation of the Ashanti deity, Antoa Nyamaa, could have dire consequences for the clergymen.
Reacting to the drama which unfolded at the Suame Police Station last Saturday where one Frank Annor, who described himself as a former confidant of Bishop Obinim’s, invoked Antoa Nyamaa to curse the bishop, the Nsumankwaahene warned of serious spiritual implications for Christians who resorted to the use of the river deity to settle personal scores.
“In Ashanti, one is likely to suffer serious ill-health and sometimes death if one makes false allegations against another, as is happening among people who claim to be Christians,” he told the Daily Graphic.
Annor, who alleged that Bishop Obinim had sent him to bury suspected human parts, a dead snake and red candles at Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom’s prayer camp at Ahenema Kokoben in Kumasi, used eggs and Schnapps to curse the bishop when the Bishop denied ever sending or knowing Annor.
Baafour Gyeabour said the gods could act swiftly to punish the guilty party in the matter involving Bishop Obinim and Annor, as had been happening to other people.
He pointed out that a staunch member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation who resided in Offinso in the Ashanti Region suffered an unfortunate death 18 years ago when he used the Antoa river god to curse a church member.
“His stomach started protruding and his legs also began swelling before he was rushed here to reverse the curse. But it was too late so he died a miserable death. I believe that if there is truth or not in what has happened, one of them will suffer a serious consequence,” Baafour Gyeabour said.
He said his outfit would not invite any of the parties in the curse but in their own interest they would have to go over to him to reverse the curse before the gods struck.
The Nsumankwaahene advised against the use of Antoa Nyamaa to settle personal scores, stressing that doing so could bring hardships to the guilty party.
The Anglican Bishop of Kumasi and member of the Kumasi Local Council of Churches, Rt Rev Daniel Yinka-Sarfo, asked the feuding men of God to cease fire immediately because what they were doing was a dent on their image and that of the church.
“What they are doing is a disgrace to themselves, their churches and their followers and they must cease,” he said.
He told the Daily Graphic that Christianity was a respected religion and that charlatan leaders who wanted to profit from unsuspecting congregation could end up disgracing themselves.
Rt Rev Yinka-Sarfo hinted that the Local Council of Churches might meet Bishop Obinim and Rev Adarkwa-Yiadom to find a way of settling their differences.
“The only problem is that the two pastors do not belong to any of the recognised Christian groups and so it has been very difficult sitting them down,” he said.