Mr Tony Black, an IA Consultant who participated in a recent workshop in Accra told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at the weekend that, a national address gazetteer would be built alongside the street naming project.
He said IA employ’s the technique of Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and the Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) which would transform national security and other service providers’ ability to respond rapidly to distress calls.

Mr Black, who is IA Operations Director, explained that, Ghana stood to benefit tremendously from the technology of the property addressing system as it would improve the quality of location information relating to the delivery of services and protection of life and property.

He said IA would establish a spatial information management through National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and the National Street Gazetteer (NSG).

He said both the NLPG and NSG would create a new standard of currency and completeness for location data as the definitive list of addresses in the country.

He said the NLPG was arguably the most successful initiative of its kind and size in the world and had won European recognition for its implementation.

Mr Black said Ghana stood to benefit from the Intelligent Addressing consultants who were instrumental in the development of the national address gazetteer for England and Wales, which is now managed by a public sector partnership, GeoPlace.

Dr Emmanuel Boakye-Danquah, IA Consultant and Project Director, said Ghana should therefore adopt a holistic approach to the street naming and property addressing project by incorporating a wider access to definitive addressing.

On the challenge of data collection based on the haphazard way of buildings in some parts of the country, he said IA had the technical background to use information communication and technology system to collate data on every household in the country.

President John Dramani Mahama in March this year directed the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development at the launch of the National Urban Policy Framework and Action Plan to implement the street naming within 18 months.

President Mahama, then Vice President, in 2012, also launched the National Policy document and operational guidelines on street naming and property addressing system for Ghana.

The Document was designed by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in collaboration with the German International Cooperation, United States Agency for International Development, World Bank, European Union among other partners.

It would among other things provide Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies with the policy framework of implementing the street naming and property addressing system, help improve the quality of life in communities and business environment.

The street naming and property addressing system would also facilitate the delivery of services especially mail delivery and location for disasters such as fire outbreaks and flooding.

Intelligent Addressing is a United Kingdom based information management specialist and data provider, focusing on land and property data, particularly addresses.

It creates synergy and works in partnership with local government in the development of the NLPG, manages the national datasets for local government; the NLPG and the NSG.

Source: GNA

Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru, the Upper East Regional Minister, made the call on behalf of the President Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the launch of the ADB Water project at Dakola in Burkina Faso over the weekend.

He said the decentralization of the bank’s operations would allow the free flow of funds for projects and avoid the usual request for pertinent approvals to be sought from the Headquarters which often caused undue delays.

He also called on the chiefs, landowners and all other stakeholders to provide land and other resources needed to start worthwhile projects.

“Many projects have failed because our communities have failed to provide land for the funding agency. You must therefore do all that it takes to derive maximum benefit from this project, for water is life”, Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru said.

He said the ADB had supported Ghana in executing similar projects saying since 1973 when its operations began in the country; it had invested over 1.6 billion dollars on concessionary terms in all sectors of the economy.

“In the Water and Sanitation Sector, the Bank has financed two projects for close to 88.2 million dollars. The Bank’s funding in the water and sanitation sector is fully in line with the country’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy”, the Regional Minister said.

He said the Bank’s current project portfolio includes the on-going water supply and sanitation projects accounting for almost 13 per cent of net commitments in the Ashanti Region among other areas.

Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru said through the projects, Community Water and Sanitation Development Boards have also been formed and trained for the management of the facilities.

The Project in Dakola which has a sanitation component is mechanized and powered through solar energy and it is expected to help address the acute shortage of portable water in Burkina Faso.

It is estimated at the cost of 134,553, 405 CFA of which the Government of Burkina Faso is expected to provide 20 per cent of the total cost with the ADB bearing the rest.

Earlier at Tiakane, Nahouri Province of Burkina Faso, 20 mechanized boreholes and standing pipes powered through solar energy were commissioned at the cost of 75million CFA.

The Minister, who led a 10-member delegation on behalf of the President, thanked the Burkina Government for the invitation and said the two nations are like two sisters from different mothers adding that “we will continue to share ideas and experiences in order to improve upon our developmental goals”.

Source: GNA

He said the economy had been resilient in the face of those challenges and government was tapping all necessary avenues to restore stable long-term electricity supply to the citizenry.

President Mahama gave this assurance when the Asantehene, Nana Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, led a high powered Asanteman delegation of chiefs to call on him at Flagstaff House, Kanda.

The Asantehene who was in Accra at the invitation of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to deliver a lecture on democracy took time off to pay a courtesy call on President Mahama so they could deliberate on some burning issues in the country, particularly relating to the current skirmishes in Kumasi and other parts of that Region.

President Mahama said while he was meeting chief security heads and traditional chiefs to deliberate on ways of solving the Kumasi crises, government was also making conscious efforts to re-visit the Dagbon crisis that had been stalled for sometime.

He appealed to Otumfuo to take a centre stage in resolving the Dagbon chieftaincy conflict when peace talks resume.

The President called for cooperation from all parties in the crisis and re-assured that government would fix all the challenges in the country to create an atmosphere of peace and unity that would advance its development.

“I want to encourage all Ghanaians to cooperate for the future is bright. Ghana belongs to everyone irrespective of our ethnic, socio-political affiliations,” President Mahama added.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he would continue to accord every leader of the country the respect they deserve, adding “I know that the election issues are in court, but until the court rules otherwise, we know that President Mahama is our leader.”

He appealed to the Ministers and other government officials to collaborate effectively on issues that would accelerate national development.
Source: GNA

Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, Vice-Chancellor and Mr C. Y. Akwaah-Mensah, Registrar, were among 52 personalities and organisations world-wide who received the awards in various categories.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency in Winneba yesterday, Mr Steve Kamassah, International Relations and Public Affairs Director of the University, said the two Ghanaians were awarded with the International Arch of Europe (IAE) Quality Award in the Gold category.

They were recognized for “Commitment to Quality, Leadership, Technology and Innovation”.

Professor Jose E. Prieto, President and Chief Executive Officer of BID, who presented them with the awards, said: “The award recipients are symbols of commitment to Leadership, Technology and Innovation, making them models for others in their sectors”.

He said the IAE commended the UEW for making quality a core focus for continuous improvement of management to maintain leadership in its sector and the community.

The Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar thanked the IAE for the honor done them.

Professor Asabere-Ameyaw said though the UEW was barely 20 years old, it was committed to total quality management principles in all its operations to ensure effective utilization of resources.

He said it was in this regard that, the University was ranked the third best in Ghana in a report released by World University Ranking in 2012.

Madam Ayitey made the call in Accra, yesterday, when she inaugurated two committees, namely the Bioequivalence Center committee and the Healthy Living and Lifestyle committee.

She said the Bioequivalence Center committee would make recommendations for the establishment of a Bioequivalence Center in the country to ensure that, medical products supplied for procurement by international agencies met the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) norms and standards of quality, safety and efficacy.

Through the Center, she said, medicines produced locally for the treatment of priority diseases, would be able to compete internationally and regionally for the Global Fund and also create more confidence in the population for medicine produced locally and eventually reduce the cost of locally-produced medicines.

According to Madam Ayitey, the lack of a standard Bioequivalence Center in the country was depriving local manufacturers the opportunity to access the Global Fund because they were not World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalified.

Ms Ayitey noted that, millions of dollars were released under the Global Fund to procure anti-malarial, anti-retroviral and anti-tuberculosis medicines which were used in managing AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in many developing countries.

She said instead of accessing such funds, the tax payer’s money was used to support the economies of the Far East and Europe, from where such medicines were procured, while Africans continued to wallow in poverty.

She expressed the hope that, the positive co-dependence between technological innovation and human development would eventually alleviate poverty in Africa and add value to the continent’s wealth base.

On the Healthy Living and Lifestyle committee, Ms Ayitey said, the committee would make proposals and recommendations for implementation to promote healthy lifestyles of Ghanaians and also to determine the kinds of foods to be eaten which would prolong life and reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases.

She said, statistics had showed that African countries would need to invest about US $35 billion into its health sector if the continent would enjoy improved and enhanced living conditions.

“If we can maintain good lifestyles, then government can use the money to build other infrastructure such as good roads, schools, hospitals, provide electricity and good systems for the majority of Ghanaians,” she added.

For his part, Mr James Ohemeng Kyei, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana and chairman of the bioequivalence committee, said the committee would make proposals and recommendations for the establishment of a Bioequivalence Center in the country.

He said Ghana had twenty-two active local pharmaceutical industries and among the medicines manufactured locally by these industries were those used to manage what the World Health Organisation described as high impact diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Mr Kyei said the committee would work assiduously to submit its report within the 8-week deadline.

The chairman for the Healthy Living and Lifestyle committee, Professor Akossah, said their task was to ensure that all Ghanaians ate well and maintained a healthy living in order to increase life expectancy from sixty years to seventy and beyond.

Source: ISD (Lawrencia Ziwu and Isaac Parbey)

He said Ghana was determined to build on the existing relations between the two countries to step up its socio-economic development.

President Mahama made these remarks when he hosted Mr David Johnston, Governor-General of Canada, Sharon Johnston and the entire 200-member delegation that is currently on a three-day working visit to Ghana to a dinner at the Flagstaff House, Accra.

The Governor General had already held a joint news conference with President Mahama at the Flagstaff House, laid wreaths on the tombs of late President Kwame Nkrumah and his wife Fathia Nkrumah

Mr David Johson is expected to leave for Kumasi today, where he would call on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, and also meet officials of Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research.

President Mahama said “Ghana is not only a political and a democratic model in Africa, but also a destination of tourism’’, and urged the Government of Canada to collaborate with Ghana and take advantage of the tourism and other potentials.

He said Canada had been synonymous to the provision of potable water, health facilities and support in agriculture, and gave the assurance that his administration would work around the clock to consolidate the gains the two countries had achieved over the years.

Mr Johnston called on the two countries to use their friendship to strengthen areas of cooperation such as science and technology, innovation and trade among other areas to the benefit of the people.

He said: “Canadian organisations are also working with Ghanaian partners to promote volunteerism and corporate social responsibility.

“Your government has made tremendous progress in these areas and continues to achieve much for your citizens…as partners and friends; we strive to do this together”.

Mr Johnson commended the Government of Ghana for exhibiting high quality leadership over the years, and gave the assurance that Canada would sustain its support for Ghana to be able to achieve all her development goals.

Source: GNA

Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, who announced this, said: “The media network is intended to increase the awareness of ordinary citizens on public financial management issues as well as to enhance information flow between citizens and the local government authorities’’.

The Minister, who made these remarks at a sensitization workshop organised for media practitioners in Accra, reminded journalists that, they were important partners in consolidating democracy and alleviating poverty.

Mr Akwasi Opong-Fosu said the initiative formed part of a World Bank funded project titled: “Local Government Capacity Support,” which seeks to provide an integrated package support to strengthen the capacity of urban assemblies.

The 175-million dollar Government of Ghana-World Bank initiative, which targets 46 Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies, which would be implemented over a five-year period.

Mr Opong-Fosu said following a review of the decentralization concept in 2008, a lot of resources would be made available to the Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies, which would require the involvement of the media in monitoring and evaluating the activities of the assemblies.

Mrs Irene Messiba, Head of Social Accountability Unit at the Ministry, said the media network had already been rolled out in 9 regions in the country.

She said the network would be responsible for disseminating information on relevant issues such as budgeting, auditing and financial accounting.

Mrs Messiba said the Ministry had developed new (but yet to be approved) budget, audit and financial templates for easy reading and analysis for use by the metropolitan and municipal assemblies.

Source: GNA

Mr Iddrisu assured the delegates that Government was committed to providing the enabling environment for the public-private partnership to thrive and indicated that, areas opened for investment included construction of hospitals, roads, model markets, fertilizer plants and sea defense.

“Government needs the assurance that any investor coming into the country has the funding to undertake such projects,” he stressed.
Mr Iddrisu said Government considered “build, operate and transfer” type of business relations in the productive sectors of the economy, adding that it was ready to partner any investor.

He called on the delegation to put their proposals into concrete and specific text to inform Government of the areas of interest as well as to facilitate the needed action.

Mr Suha Ozkan, head of the delegation, lauded the country’s political stability, democratic dispensation and positive business environment.

He called for government’s assistance to enable him collaborate to establish a Ghana Trade Centre in Turkey to facilitate the trade in made in Ghana products.
Earlier, the delegation called on Mr Gideon Quarcoo, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and some members of staff for business discussions.

Mr Quarcoo told the Ghana News Agency that bilateral and trade relations between Ghana and Turkey had impressively improved over the years.

He observed that, the investors could look at the agricultural, the medical as well as fertilizer industry for business opportunities.

Mr Quarcoo said the Cardiothoracic, Orthopaedic and Neuro centers at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital among other institutions had gradually developed into excellent units that attracted huge “medical tourism” from across the globe.

He noted that, Ghana imported huge volumes of fertilizer and at the same time exported the products, stressing the sector was lucrative for investment.

Mr Alex Dadzawa, Director of Marketing and Exports Promotion, GEPA, said trade relations between both countries had deepened with cocoa butter, medicinal plants and parts, plywood, palm kernel oil, palm oil, crude and raw lead occupying the top list of Non-Traditional Export (NTE) commodities to Turkey.

Source: GNA

The Navrongo Solar Power Plant is a two-MW facility, the largest grid PV plant in West Africa apart from those in Cape Verd. The plant will ultimately be expanded to 2.5 MW.

Built at a cost of US$8,082,025 million, the Navrongo solar plant fits into the long term strategic policy of the VRA to diversify into renewable power generation in an efficient, cost effective and environmentally sustainable manner.

A top official of the VRA told the Daily Graphic that in support of this policy the authority had since 2010 set in motion various measures.

These include the setting up of five-year renewable capacity project project, deployment of renewable plants at both the national and mini-grid (Isolated ) systems based on local need, resource availability and cost effectiveness.

The authority has established a mix of renewable portfolio- wind, mini hydro, solar- in various locations within the country the country covering renewable resources in those locations.

Also, consistent with this policy, the VRA has set as a target, the development of about 160 MW of installed renewable energy capacity systems over a five year period (2010-2015).

At the end of the period, the VRA is expected to generate 150 MW from wind power and 14MW from solar energy.

There are feasibility studies for small hydro plants by tapping into available water resources.

“ Ghana needs energy that is secure, reliable, sustainable, improved public health , protects the environment addresses climate change and provides technological leadership”, the official emphasized.

Speaking on Ghana Television’s Breakfast show program last Tuesday, the Chief Executive Officer of the VRA, Mr Kwaku Awotwi, said in addition to the Pungu site, three other sites had been identified and acquired in the Upper West Region for the construction of the next phase of 12MW PV plants to complement power generation.

He stressed that funding had already been secured and work would start later this year.

Source: Daily Graphic

The discussions will center on the construction industries of Ghana and Liberia and how indigenous contractors in the two countries could co-operate in the provision of infrastructural projects.

A statement signed by Mr Samuel Essien, Chief Administrator of the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) – Ghana, copied to the Ghana News Agency yesterday, noted that, the Liberian delegation arrived in the country on May 5, for a six-day tour of construction projects.

It said after meeting the Minister, the delegation would sign a memorandum of understanding with their Ghanaian counterparts adding that, this will signify the establishment of a bond of co-operation between them.

The statement said the Liberian delegation consists of ten men and two women drawn from the ALCC, the Ministry of Public Works and the International Labor Organisation.

It said on May 6, the ALCC delegation led by Mr Foday M. Komora, the National President, met with the National Executives of ASROC – Ghana, led by its National Chairman, Mr Joseph Ebo Hewton.

It said the two sides discussed how contractors in both countries could co-operate in strengthening each other and contribute effectively to building up their respective economies and improving the lives of their people.

The statement said while in Ghana, the delegation will visit the offices and sites of some Ghanaian local contractors, the Koforidua Training Center of the Ministry of Roads and Highways and J. A. Plant Pool Limited in Accra.

Source: GNA