Day: October 23, 2023

Dr Archibald Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, has said a crunch meeting among major actors in combating the effect of the spillage of the Akosombo Dam and matters arising is scheduled for Battor on Monday. He said the meeting would among others, fashion a blueprint on how best to coordinate humanitarian and relief gestures to the affected victims in the three Tongu districts, North, Central and South. He said traditional leaders, Members of Parliament, political leadership, Assemblies and some notable individuals and institutions are expected to participate. Various people and institutions are receiving relief on behalf of the people, which needed to be well-coordinated to derive the utmost utility and the purpose for donating such items. He said apart from the relief, cheques were also being received on behalf of the people and ‘all these must be streamlined for equity and accountability purposes.’ The Minister said the Emergency Operation’s Centre at Battor should be the key receptacle to build all data into the receivables and re-channel items to benefit all affected communities. He disclosed there are two warehouses at Adidome and Sogakope to store humanitarian and relief items. Dr Letsa said, ‘if caution is thrown to the wind, some communities will be marginalised in receiving relief as the inflow is favouring some districts at the expense of others.’ He thanked state institutions playing key roles in bringing some comfort to the affected victims and praised Ghanaians in general for rising to the task of raising support to assuage the difficulties of the people in the enclave. Some more than 31,000 people are displaced and staying in 20 safe havens across the three districts needing humanitarian interventions emanating from the spill of the Dam by the Volta River Authority since September 15 till date. This has forced out people from their abodes and now displaced and seeking support. Support from water, food, medicine, mosquito nets, cooking utensils, beddings, buckets among others, though supplied, are still insufficient and calls are going out to all and sundry to extend warmth to these victims.

Source: Ghana News Agency

We may face challenges as Christians, who are in exile in this world, but God still has plans for us for eternity’, Right Revered Dennis Debukari Tong, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Tamale has said. He entreated Christians to be steady with their works bearing in mind that they had citizenship in heaven. He was delivering the sermon in Tamale on the theme: ‘Citizens of Heaven.’ Reverend Tong urged Christians to aim at a second life in heaven, which was the eternal life God promised them. He noted that heaven was the real home of Christians, adding ‘God’s plan is to take us to our real home, which He has promised us through Jesus Christ.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

Residents of Kukuo, a community in the Nanumba South District of the Northern Region have lamented the effect of inadequate social amenities on their livelihood. ‘We appeal to the authorities to come to our aid. We lack so many things as a community’ They appealed to government and non-governmental organisations to tar their road, provide them with potable drinking water, a refurbished health centre, teachers’ bungalow, and classrooms. Most residents of the Kukuo community are farmers, who cultivate all kinds of crops, but their produce is unable to get to the market on time as result of bad road network. The GNA’s visit to the community revealed that the road from Kukuo to Bimbilla, which is about 14 kilometers, is in a bad state and flooded anytime it rained making it difficult for commuters to access. Classrooms of the community school are without furniture with an abandoned dilapidated teachers’ bungalow. Madam Barikisu Abdullah, a resident, who is a farmer, told the GNA that she cultivated vegetables on commercial scale but incurred losses repeatedly due to transportation challenges. She said commercial vehicles did not work on the Kukuo – Bimbila Road due to its bad state, hence transporting the produce to the market was challenging. She appealed for the road to be fixed to ease transporting farm produce to enhance their livelihood. Interacting with residents, the GNA found that lack of accommodation for teachers in the community and inadequate infrastructure affected punctuality of both teachers and school children. Mr Alhassan Abdul-Razak, also a resident, said teachers, who were posted to the area, rejected the offer, adding that the few who did faced accommodation challenges, which affected their ability to be punctual to class. He stated that an NGO provided a mechanised borehole to alleviate water crisis, but it was inadequate to serve every part of the community.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Madam Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, has asked the government to turn the negative narrative of nurses leaving the country to seek greener pastures abroad into a positive one. She advised the government to enter into bilateral agreement with countries recruiting the nurses to earn foreign exchange. She was speaking at the 2023 Military Nightingales’ Week Celebration at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. Madam Ofori-Ampofo said the development was impacting negatively on the labour force of the health sector and that it would be unfortunate for the country to also lose out on the financial gains. She noted that the Philippians had taken advantage of a similar predicament. Madam Ofori-Ampofo said the Philippines made about $54 billion every year from exporting nurses and midwives. He said what Ghana needed was to amend the training module for nurses and midwives. ‘ We need to change our training model. We need to do our homework as a country. Let us change the training module of our nursing and midwifery profession to the degree level. ‘Nobody wants an auxiliary nurse to come and work in their high-income earning country. That is a fact. They will not come and recruit our community nurses, who are certificate holders. They want the degree holders who have add on specialties and have working experience. That is the target,’ she said. The Director, Ghana Armed Forces Medical Service, Col. Rex Adzagba , said the government ought to put measures in place to retain health workers. Nightingale Week Celebration is marked by nurses and midwives globally to commemorate the international nurses’ week, which is celebrated globally in honour of Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing. Nurses and midwives are expected to use the occasion to reflect and take stock of their past activities, evaluate them, and adjust for the future. Some senior and junior officers were given awards to mark the celebration.

Source: Ghana News Agency