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Monday, 23 March 2015
Over $100m needed to complete Tamale Airport upgrade – Manager
Over $100m needed to complete Tamale Airport upgrade – Manager
Mr Fynn said the $100 million cost approved by Parliament was based on initial estimates, which had now changed because of variations in the scope of work to be done.
He said the GACL had now done a detailed design of the design and build project, which amongst others, included a total reconstruction of the runway, instead of rehabilitation amongst other facilities, which necessitates an increase in the contract sum.
Mr Fynn stated this when he briefed members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport, on the progress of work on the upgrade and expansion of the Tamale Airport in Tamale on Sunday.
Members of the Committee, who visited the project site to observe the progress of work, later inspected on-going reconstruction works on the extended runway of the Airport.
The government, in September last year, cut the sod to officially commence work on the upgrade and expansion of the Tamale Airport to an international status, to enable it to amongst other things, admit international flights, as well as accommodate bigger aircraft.
This followed Parliamentary approval of $100 million to undertake the project, which is being carried out by Queiroz Galvao, a Brazilian construction firm, and scheduled to be completed by September this year.
Mr Fynn said other detailed designs were being done, adding that the additional funds needed to complete the project would be determined when the designs were completed.
Mr Charles Asare, Acting Managing Director of GACL, said the need for additional funds to complete the project would not affect its (project) delivery on schedule.
However, this revelation did not go down well with some members of the Committee, who said that Parliament approved the $100 million based on records submitted to it, which suggested that detailed costing of the project was done.
Mr Michael Boampong, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport, who expressed satisfaction with the progress of work on the project, urged GACL to submit the new cost of the project to Parliament for approval, to ensure its completion on schedule.
New Presidential Delivery Unit not duplication - Felix Kwakye Ofosu
New Presidential Delivery Unit not duplication - Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Deputy Information Minister Felix Kwakye Ofosu has argued that monitoring is different from delivery but explains that the Presidential Delivery Unit will “monitor” the progress of Government projects and policies “in real time”.
Dr. Tony Aidoo who headed the Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit publicly complained that the lack of funds for his Unit was making it difficult for it to live up to its mandate.
Tony Aidoo told the media that problems such as non-payment of salaries of his staff for the last six months were not issues that he would normally put out for public consumption. He, however, said his outfit had been "abandoned by the NDC administration for no apparent reason”.
His portfolio was later scrapped.
President Mahama has now reassigned his deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Valerie Sawyer to the Presidential Delivery Unit.
However, Political Science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Dr Richard Amoako-Baah says the new unit is a replica of existing ministries and the three wise men tasked to coordinate priority projects.
Dr. Richard Amoako-Baah said the new unit is confusing. He suspects the Unit was created because Dr. Valerie Sawyer who was deputy Chief of Staff may have realised and “complained” that she “doesn’t do anything”.
According to the lecturer, that position of deputy Chief of Staff was scrapped because of this realisation.
“You don’t need a deputy Chief of Staff because the Chief of Staff has his own assistants to work with,” he explained to Joy News.
In response, the Deputy Information Minister has explained that with the new unit, President Mahama will not have to wait for his ministers and other government officials to know what is happening to programmes Government was pursuing.
The deputy minister says the President bears “ultimate responsibility” for his government and needs to get a sense of progress under his government.
Ghanaians prefer buying beer to paying water bills – GWCL
Ghanaians prefer buying beer to paying water bills – GWCL
Mr Martey said he finds it unbelievable that people are willing to spend money on beer and other things rather than paying their bills, when the price of a bottle of beer costs more than what they will pay for a 1000 litres of water.
“People fail to pay their water bills, no matter how small it is, they fail to do so but the sad aspect is that they find it easier to buy credit or beer and other stuff which is more expensive than water.”
A family of four will only require 10,000 litres of water per week and that should cost less than ?30.00, “why should this be difficult for us, if you sit with your friends to drink beer you consume more than ?30.00 at a sitting”.
Why should people refuse to pay their bills if water is not expensive? he quizzed. We are not being fair when we do not pay our water bills.
He conceded that although the GWCL has not done exceptionally well in the collection of water bills, it is doing its best to ensure that consumers do not have to struggle to pay their bills.
This, he says, has been made possible through the provision of payment points in various communities and the use of mobile money payment systems to encourage consumers to pay their bills.
He also noted that consumers can make payments in various major banks across the country.
Our payment system is postpaid so after consuming the water it should not be difficult to pay for it, he said.
As the world celebrates World Water Day Sunday, Mr Martey said Government is doing all it can to ensure that potable water is made available to people across the country.
Places like Teshie-Nungua, Madina and Adenta, who hitherto struggled to access clean water have all been provided with water through the Kpong expansion rehabilitation and expansion project which was commissioned by the President last year, he indicated.
He was hopeful that with the many projects which are being undertaken by the GWCL, water rationing should be a thing of the past, making it easy for people to access clean water.
Water.Org estimates that approximately 750million people around the world lack access to clean water and more than half of that (385million) are from Africa.
Statistics again provided by Water.Org indicate that in Ghana approximately 7million rural folks/communities do not have access to potable water while 2.5 million people in urban communities also lack good, clean drinking water.
WaterAid reports that over 3,000 children under five years old die annually from poor water and sanitation in Ghana.
Teshie conquers Accra’s jama groups at Mogo Festival
Teshie conquers Accra’s jama groups at Mogo Festival
The group, which came on stage very organised, fused customised jama songs and ancient Ga traditional songs that typically advised inhabitants of the community to live upright lives, yet in a humorous and entertaining genre.
The group from Osu gave the winners a run for their money.
The energy from the largely very young men and women nearly brought the stage down. They sang contemporary jama songs which resonated well with hundreds of spectators at the Mantse Agbona park at James Town, popularly called British Accra.
The rest of the jama groups also gave very good accounts of themselves in the competition.
Before the various groups converged on the Mantse Agbona park, they had marched through some of the Ga communities with their jama songs.
They went through Akoto Lante, Mudor, Korleanaa, chanting their songs to alert members of the communities about the competition.
Martin Amidu should sue Gbevlo-Lartey
Martin Amidu should sue Gbevlo-Lartey
“This idea of Gbevlo-Lartey harassing him, I hope Amidu sues him in court for violating his human rights. I hope he sues that guy,” he said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday.
The former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and now a popular anti-corruption crusader, says Larry Gbevlo-Lartey sacrificed the potential security of the country by causing his unlawful arrest and detention.
"But has Gbevlo-Lartey forgotten that his actions in sending officials of the BNI to search my residence, arrest me and detain me for hours on 6th December 2012 without a Court warrant on the very eve of 2012 Election when tensions were very high in the country could have caused mayhem in the country if I had invited the media and others to my residence that day?" Mr Amidu wrote.
Gbevlo-Lartey has denied ordering personnel of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to raid Mr Amidu's home where he was detained for long hours on the eve of the December 2012 elections.
He has called it one of Amidu’s “falsehoods”.
'Dumsor': Ghanaians must show “rage” at Mahama Govt.
'Dumsor': Ghanaians must show “rage” at Mahama Govt.
He said although the existing power situation cannot be blamed entirely on the current administration, it is important that clear timelines are communicated to Ghanaians by officialdom as far as fixing the problem is concerned.
“I do feel for the people of this country, if you are wealthy, you can just get on the plane and look at Ghana from a distance but this is our country and we must look at it.
“If you look at it, your heart must bleed and your chest must heave and I just wish that people must get that sense of rage; the rage that can be transmitted to officialdom.
"And I think that officialdom must understand and feel the pain of the people,” the President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union stated in a monologue video posted on his Facebook wall.
He continued: “They must give us a historical breakdown of where we are, how we got here and how we are getting out of here. And let’s start getting people take responsibility for the mess that they are creating”.
Ghana’s energy crisis has worsened in recent years, especially in the past few months, with the authorities blaming the situation on low water level in the Akosombo, Bui and Kpong dams, and also the lack of gas to power the country’s thermal plants.
Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor has explained that the country is shedding close to 440 megawatts of power during off-peak periods and 650 megawatts during peak periods as against planned 250 and 350 Megawatts for those same periods.
Both the Minister and President John Mahama have all given the assurance that a lot of investments in thermal energy production have been made, which are expected to impact positively on the country’s power supply in the future.
Mahama meets Annan, Pianim over key national issues
Mahama meets Annan, Pianim over key national issues
The meeting was held in the private residence of the President.
Announcing the strategic meeting, Mr Mahama wrote the following on his Facebook: “The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, was my guest on Sunday for discussions on a wide range of issues.
“He was accompanied by a member of the Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy, Kwame Pianim”.
It is unclear which specific national issues the statesmen discussed.
However, matters regarding the declining economy and the unstable power supply have become matters of massive public concern in recent times.
Ghana had its credit rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service after the West African nation warned that tumbling oil prices will worsen its government budget deficit.
The sovereign’s foreign-currency rating was lowered one step to B3, six levels below investment grade, Moody’s said Thursday. The outlook on the grade is negative. Standard and Poor’s assesses Ghana at an equivalent B-, while Fitch Ratings has it one grade higher, at B.
The move was the second downgrade by Moody’s in less than a year for a nation that’s seeking a $1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The second-biggest economy in West Africa is struggling to rein in inflation and grappling with a sliding currency that’s the continent’s worst performer so far this year.
“The negative outlook reflects further downside risk to the country’s debt dynamics and liquidity pressure in the short-term if the country’s policies fail to successfully contain its fiscal deficit, stabilize its currency and address current impediments to higher economic growth,” Moody’s said.
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