Day: June 5, 2024

Mr Frankline Addai, the Head of the Legal Department of the Bui Power Authority, says it is important to maintain transparency with the media regarding Ghana’s nuclear power project.

That, he said, will help foster a well-informed public and ensure that accurate information is consistently disseminated.

Mr Addai, also the Board Secretary for Nuclear Power Ghana, was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop for media professionals on the theme: ‘Media Support for Ghana’s Nuclear Power Project: The Journey So Far.’

The annual workshop, organised by Nuclear Power Ghana, is in collaboration with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Private and Online Newspaper Publishers Association (PRINPAG).

He said nuclear power, despite its enormous benefits, often faced public scepticism.

Addressing those concerns, he said, required engagements with major stakeholders, including the media as part of efforts to demystify nuclear power and address fears with accurate information
.

Mr Addai said as much as there was a Right to Information Law, which required disclosure under Article 21 of the Constitution, there were some exemptions that prevented particular information from being shared with the media.

However, he noted that Right to Information, information disclosure and transparency were not the same.

He explained that the three must go together to ensure that all stakeholders were guided by the law to give out information to help demystify the misconceptions about nuclear power.

‘These three are not the same but move together for a successful implementation of the Ghana Nuclear Power Project,’ he said.

Mr Addai said the parties to that trilogy must endeavour to demonstrate a high sense of responsibility in their application.

The media, he said, must exercise a great sense of responsibility and that, ‘there should never be a time where the media are left in the dark or speculate about the project.’

He emphasised that the Implementer (NPG) must disclose fully what they were
allowed to disclose.

The NPG would live up to its responsibilities, and so should the media. We are in this together as partners, Mr Addai noted.

Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), expressed the Association’s support for the country’s nuclear project and urged practitioners to collaborate and ‘harness the power of media for sustainable energy future for Ghana.’

He said discussions on nuclear power had become ‘more relevant’ as the country dealt with issues of energy security.’

The GJA President said, ‘Let us shun away from politicising everything…We should start a campaign which is sustainable. Nuclear power project must not be politicised…any government that comes should ensure that this project is sustained in the interest of citizens.’

Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, General Manager, GNA, said continuous training on nuclear energy was relevant as the media played a crucial role in national development.

He observed that reportage on nuclear energy had improved over
the years, however, the media needed to intensify education as sections of the public remained sceptical about the country’s nuclear project.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Stakeholders in the poultry industry have called for policies that would ensure Ghana’s food security.

Ms Gifty Rodor, Chairperson, Greater Accra Regional Association of Poultry Farmers, who led the appeal, emphatically said Government must prioritise the poultry industry.

If food security was not protected and Ghana allowed competitors to dump their products on its citizenry, farmers would soon be out of business and Ghana would be faced with food imperialism, she said.

This was during the launch of the fourth Ghana Poultry Festival, which would take place on July 1, 2024.

It was organised by Agrihouse Foundation in partnership with Ghana Tourism Authority.

She called on the government to keep to its promise during the launch of ‘Planting for Food and Jobs,’ to increase the volume of maize and soya production to help the sector compete internationally.

The Chairperson said the nation should be sufficient in food security, which was a basic human right, adding that government’s intervention was needed
for the development of the sector.

She said the sector was not developed yet continued to face stiff competition from developed countries.

Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, Founder /Executive Director of Agrihouse Foundation, urged poultry farmers, especially women to take advantage of the upcoming international conferences to better their lots.

She asked Ghanaians to take part in the poultry festival where poultry products would be promoted through cooking competition.

In all, 40 chefs made up of politicians, among other stakeholders would take part, she said.

Madam Comfort Kyerewaa Acheampong, Coordinator for Ghana National Egg Campaign Secretariat, asked that July 1, every year, be declared ‘Egg Day,’ when consumption of Ghanaian egg would be promoted just as every second Friday of October is recognized internationally as World Egg Day.

She said the importation of exotic eggs should be minimised and those in Ghana, which had more nutritional value encouraged and asked the public to support the campaign.

The
re was a session to discuss how hospitality and poultry sectors could promote development and create jobs.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Jonas Asare, Director of Animal Production Directorate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, commended Agrihouse Foundation for efforts to explore new ways of growing local businesses in the agric value chain and resolving challenges in the sector.

Mr Bright Manye, who read the speech, said the government was committed to supporting the sector, but was quick to add that the task was a shared responsibility.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Emerita Professor Elizabeth Schandorf, the Chairperson of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), has urged the government to prioritise funding of project involving oil monies rather than co-mingling funds for such projects.

She noted that paying attention to projects with a single dedicated fund, particularly oil revenue, was paramount for Ghanaians to see real evidence of the oil benefits in terms of capital projects

Emerita Professor Schandorf made the comment when she visited some oil funded projects within the Western Region to ascertain the level of completion and utilization.

All the five projects visited had component of funding from different sources, which had stalled the progress of work, incurring cost overruns, delay in project deliverables as well as completion dates.

The professor led the team from PIAC to visit projects, including the modernisation of the locomotive workshops complex, drainage systems and the Railway Training school.

Other projects visited were the Ghan
a Health Service holding and treatment centre, the asphalt overlay of Anaji critical collectors, race course and Dupaul area roads, the construction of durbar grounds at New Takoradi and the Kojokrom- Tarkwa railway line.

These projects had financial contributions from others sources apart from the support from the Annual Budget Allocations Funding from the oil funds

It was observed that while some of the projects experienced variations arising from change in scope and thus project duration, others were bedeviled with the prompt release of funds from the central government.

Mr. Sampson Tetteh, the Regional Urban Roads Development Engineer, took the team to inspect roads within the Anaji and Dupaul enclave.

He said the project had witnessed some 76 percent completion.

Mr. Patrick Awuzah, the GHS Estate manager who took the team round the holding centre, said the project completion had delayed because of the lack of regular funds from sponsors, ‘the project was to have been completed in 2022.’

At the Rail
way training school, Mr. Michael Addison, Chief Civil Engineer, told the team that all planned deliverables at the locomotive workshops had been completed and waiting for handing-over to the company for use.

The facility, comprised seven sheds but for now, two which were commissioned together with the UMAT training school in Essikado were operational.

Professor Yakubu Issaka, the founding Dean of the UMAT Railway training school, noted the need for the facility to be retooled to fit the purpose of the modern day engineering syllabus.

He said, the training school with an initial intake of 200 now has a population of over 2000 offering various programmes in engineering which called for expanded infrastructure and workshops to meet the learning needs of the students.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Martin Adjei Mensah-Korsah, the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), has urged the various Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to champion the urban development agenda within their jurisdictions.

He said Ghana’s urbanisation trajectory post-2010 had seen several interventions that cut across sectors within the urban space.

The Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the two-day 2024 Ghana Urban Forum (GUF) held in Accra on the theme: ‘Nurturing Roots, Growing Futures: Combining Policies and Partnerships for Urban Resilience and Transformation.’

The Forum since 2009 has served as a collaborative platform for various stakeholders within the urban space to share knowledge and experiences as well as deliberate on important urban development issues while proffering solutions that are aligned with national and international frameworks.

Mr Mensah-Korsah said they encouraged stakeholders to take ownership of policies focused on urban deve
lopment to effect change and transform urban areas.

He said urbanisation presented many opportunities that had the potential to change the face of development.

The Minister said a major challenge to urban development as a country had been intersectoral collaboration and coordination, where the urban space saw many players including utility providers, telecommunications, roads and building infrastructure, and services including transport and health care.

He said the Ministry was charged with the mandate to promote and ensure good governance and balanced development at the local level enabling them to champion through laid down strategies, actions and partnerships to improve the living conditions of about 56.7 per cent of urban dwellers.

Mr Mensah-Korsah said the United Nation’s Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 identified sustainable urbanisation as one of the key priorities for global development.

‘The adoption of the New Urban Agenda in 2016 had engendered national and local governments a
round the world to embark on a transformative path towards making SDG11 a story of the past,’ he added.

The Minister said the government’s determination was reflected in the mandatory and periodic global and national reports, which showed the significant progress being made in urban spaces.

Madam Madhu Raghunath, Practice Manager at the World Bank, said Ghana was at a pivotal stage of urbanisation, where more than half of its citizens lived in urban areas, putting enormous pressures on service delivery, access to land and housing, and transportation, among others.

She said cities generated more than a third of Ghana’s GDP and were key to attracting talent and private capital, however, Ghana needed well-functioning cities and livable cities to usher the path towards a middle-income country.

The Practice Manager said cities had to be resilient in the face of climate change by preparing for the future onslaught of climate change as we were beginning to see increased intensity of natural disasters all over th
e world.

‘And cities where most of the population are getting impacted by these disasters, were not really what we saw in Accra a couple of years ago, where a huge flooding event basically flooded nearly most of the cities,’ she added.

She said the World Bank had also been engaged in the urban sector for the past three decades through analytical support in areas related to basic infrastructure improvements, flood protection, municipal revenue management and strengthening land administration.

‘We continue to provide technical and peer-to-peer support to cities and government on a wide-ranging topic as well as through sectors such as urban transport, water supply and sanitation, environmental management, social protection and private sector development,’ she added.

She said Ghana was setting a vision for its policy, which would be approved very soon, adding that some of these areas would make Ghana more livable and resilient.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Addis Ababa: Chinese Bridge’ Chinese Proficiency Competition is underway in Addis Ababa with a view to improve the Chinese language ability of Ethiopian students.

This 23rd Competition, which has a paramount role to consolidate the foundation of cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Ethiopia, some 11 Ethiopian students attending the annual worldwide Chinese-speaking and performance event.

Each of them made a Chinese speech, answer two questions related to Chinese cultures and present their talents in Chinese arts.

The champions will be recommended to attend the Final Competition as a contestant to be held in China this summer and the second winner will be invited to watch the Final Competition.

‘Chinese Bridge’ Chinese Proficiency Competition is an important platform for Ethiopian students to learn Chinese language and cultures, and have a better understanding of China, and has played a positive role in promoting exchanges and mutual learning between our two ancient civilizations.

Since it
s establishment 23 years ago, the competition has developed into ‘a bridge of culture’, ‘a bridge of friendship’ and ‘a bridge of heart and soul’ connecting China and the world.

Over the years, Chinese learners in Ethiopia have actively participated in the competition, exercising the spirit of “One World One Family”, improving their Chinese proficiency through the competition, making friends in the competition, constantly pushing Chinese learning to a higher level, exercising the spirit of Global Civilization Initiative.

It is also contributing much to the development of China-Ethiopia all-weather strategic partnership and the construction of China-Ethiopia community with a shared future.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency