Day: December 18, 2023

The Community of Alogboshie, a suburb in the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly, will be the first to benefit from infrastructural projects under Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) project.

The GARID project, worth $200 million and funded by the World Bank, is to support communities along the Odaw river with construction of access roads, primary and secondary drains, extension of street lights and water network.

The goal is to improve public services, reduce perennial flooding challenges and enhance the living conditions of low-income communities in the Greater Accra Region, a category Alogboshie falls into.

This was revealed during a sod cutting ceremony at the Alogboshie durbar grounds by Mr Francis Asenso – Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, officials of State Agencies, together with the Chief of Alogboshie after undertaking scoping, preparation of community upgrading plan, environmental and social impact assessment and engineering designs, amongst others.

Mr Asenso-Boakye
said the project was the beginning of a transformative journey of Alogboshie and the interventions were a testament of the government’s commitment to enhancing basic social infrastructure and reducing the vulnerability of low-income communities.

He said the preparation and implementation of the resettlement action plan for Alogboshie had been carried out, adding the interventions alone cannot eradicate floods in Accra and parts of the country unless they were driven by positive attitudinal change.

‘Governments have invested significant resources in the national flood control. These investments have been undermined by inappropriate behaviours of some Ghanaians, including communities along the Odaw channel.

Some citizens build in water ways, others dump waste into drains,’ the Minister said.

He urged the Assemblies to work and strictly enforce building and sanitation regulations to nip any indiscipline in the bud with support from the media through their platforms.

Mr Asenso-Boakye said the Ministry of Wor
ks and Housing in collaboration with the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Water Resource Commission, Ghana Meteorological Agency and NADMO were establishing flood early warning systems under the GARID project for the Greater Accra Region.

The systems would provide advance notifications to flood prone communities so they could take the necessary steps to protect lives and properties and a variety of equipment had been handed over to the institutions.

Dr Ohene Sarfo, the GARID Project Coordinator, said construction works were beginning immediately to ensure the interventions were delivered as scheduled.

‘We are strengthening the Assemblies through training and giving grants for routine dredging. We have procured drones to enable the Assemblies to improve the management of the buffer (land closer to water bodies).

Madam Madhu Raghunath, Practice Manager, The World Bank, said risks to perennial flooding had often been occasioned by insufficient drainage infrastructure and solid waste management, however, the int
erventions would reduce these risks and improve the quality of environment for the Alogboshie community.

‘It is our hope that this project could be replicated in other parts of Accra. We call for continuous engagement between the project facilitators and the community for a smooth execution of the project,’ she said.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mrs Georgina Aberese-Ako, Acting Upper East Regional Director, Department of Children, has advised parents and major stakeholders to create an equal and conducive environment for children, particularly those with special needs to develop and thrive.

She observed that often, parents with disabled children or children with special needs tend to confine them away from the public and deny them access to opportunities like all other children.

Such a practice, she underscored, was unacceptable and an infringement on the rights of those children and denying them the opportunity to unearth their immense potential.

‘Mostly, we hide children with special needs in rooms thinking they are spirit children, and they should not be treated like the other children but no matter the condition, every child should be treated like human beings and those children have rights,’ he said.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Acting Regional Director encouraged parents, especially those with children with special needs
to enrol them in schools and give them the platform to explore the world to develop their potential and contribute significantly to the development of society.

‘The education policy says that at age four every child should be in kindergarten one and kindergarten two when the child is five years old, preparing them for formal education. So let every child enjoy his or her rights no matter the condition of that child,’ she stressed.

Mrs Abereseke-Ako said as part of activities to mark this year’s World Children’s Day on the theme: ‘For Every Child, Every Right,’ the Department undertook community sensitisation in the Nabdam District as well as collaborated with the National Commission for Civic Education to educate some school children in Garu on the rights and responsibilities of a child.

Mrs Aberese-Ako explained that parents had the responsibility to ensure that they provided for the needs of their children and urged them to prioritise the welfare of their children by investing in their education.

She id
entified superstitions surrounding children with special needs, harmful cultural practices such as child marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual abuse, and child exploitation among others as major challenges facing the development of children in the region.

She, therefore, called on stakeholders including government, non-governmental organisations, traditional authorities, and parents to view child protection as a collective responsibility and work to remove all barriers that would create an equal environment for the empowerment of all children.
Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has proven to be a sound banker to the government and a safe custodian of the country’s money.

He said the Central Bank had distinguished itself to the admiration of all well-meaning people and had also been an efficient currency manager, a reliable source of liquidity and a dependable lender of last resort.

The President made the commendation during the Bank’s end-of-year cocktail event in Accra.

He said one of the challenges his government met when they came into power in 2017 was the state of the banking industry, where many of the Banks and financial institutions were in distress and kept on unsustainable life support by the then central bank.

‘The supervisory agencies of the BoG were not performing their duties, which allowed weak governance management structures in Banks to fester,’ he added.

He said when COVID-19 struck with dire consequences for the country, the BoG with the support of the Commercial Banks, instituted the GH?3 bi
llion credit and stimulus package to help revitalize industries, especially the pharmaceutical, hospitality and manufacturing sectors.

‘We have all seen the effects of this intervention, evidenced by the growth of the economy,’ he said.

He said the banks were in a desperate situation and radical measures had to be taken to prevent the collapse of the financial sector.

 The President said the BoG under the new leadership intervened and restored sanity in the sector and the process saved the funds of 4.6 million depositors.

Government funds of GH?21 billion were used for the clean-up exercise which has enabled a more robust financial sector to emerge to better finance the rapid development of the country.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose effects were exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict called for some corrective measures to address the imbalances and restore

stability and with the support of the BoG, macro-economic stability was restored.

‘The BoG has supported the government by providing
a sound platform to underpin the government’s economic diversification and transformation process,’ the President said.

He said there was clear evidence that inflation was being contained and from 54 per cent in December 2022 to 26.4 per cent in November 2023, we are also witnessing sustained stability of the exchange rate.’

The President said the effective partnership between the BoG and the International Monetary Fund under the terms of the government’s programme with the fund is yielding the right results.

He said he was encouraged by the many corporate governance measures put in place by the BoG to mitigate future bank failures and ensure a strong banking sector to drive the agenda of transformation.

He said the recent policy measures introduced by the BoG were commendable and in line with efforts to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid.

‘I have also taken a keen interest in the Bank’s role in the digitisation of the economy. The architecture of our payment system has been transformed completely and
financial

inclusion has been deepened to ensure shared growth for all Ghanaians,’ he added.

The BOG has won the Central Bank of the Year awards two times with the governor, Dr Ernest Addison, on one occasion being adjudged the Central Bank Governor of the Year.

He said this year had been challenging for the Bank but with the excellent leadership and the dedicated staff of the BoG, the Bank was able to surmount the difficulties and emerged even stronger.

He said the current economic challenges confronting the country required that every hand should be on deck, calling for stronger partnerships and a greater degree of policy coordination between the BoG and the Ministry of Finance.

This call is for the Bank within its remit of operational independence to play a pivotal role in helping to formulate and implement policies that will help usher in the desired economic transformation.

He urged the Management of the Bank to ignore the mischief of misguided elements and maintain its focus on executing its mandat
e.
Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr N.A. Da Wood, newly- elected Chairman of the Achimota Main Branch of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the government to help revive the Achimota New Station from dying a natural death.

He said the Achimota Transport Terminal popularly known as the Achimota New Station was under-utilised by both drivers and passengers, thereby rendering the facility ‘dead’.

Mr Dawood made the call after he had been elected as the new Chairman of the union at an election held in Accra on Sunday.

He polled 21 votes against 10 by Mr Nti Boahen, his contestant, to be elected as chairman to steer the affairs of the union for a four-year term.

Other officers elected were Mr Kwaku Sarfo, Vice Chairman, Mr Norbert Yao De Souza, Secretary, Mr Amadu Zakaria, First Trustee and Mr Rahim Abdallah, Second Trustee.

Mr Dawood said that built with the intent of reducing road carnages on the Achimota-Nsawam highway, the 800-vehicle capacity station constructed at the cost o
f GHc 4.5 million had not been utilised as was initially expected.

‘Majority of drivers and passengers prefer using the shoulders of the Accra-Nsawam Road than to use the terminal,’ he said adding that some of the drivers cited examples as they were not making much money when they operated at the terminal as compared to the old station.

Some passengers GNA interviewed indicated that they had difficulty in accessing the terminal adding that it took close to two hours for a bus to get the full set of passengers instead of the 20 minutes they were used to.

The terminal set to be one of the biggest in the West Africa Sub Region has a clinic, a Police Station, a passenger hall, passengers’ sheds, five canteens, toilet facilities and an administrative block.
Source: Ghana News Agency