The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) together with a team of police men and the media over the weekend raided some spots in Odokor where illegal insecticides are produced.
The exercise resulted in the arrest of some of the producers of these harmful insecticides and seizure of some of the products which will be tested by GSA to know its components.
The Head of the GSA task force that carried out the raid, George Kojo Anti told the media that they will be embark on a similar exercise with a joint team made up of FDA and GSA to halt the manufacturing of these unauthorized products.
He described the activities of the manufacturers as horrendous and deadly than activities of terrorists.
George Kojo Anti also added that a joint team of personnel from GSA, FDA and EPA will visit the area again to ensure that those arrested and all the closed shops will not resume their unapproved activities.
Details
Sunday’s raid embarked on by a joint team made up of GSA, the police and the media was aimed at clamping down on illegal activities of insecticides manufacturers based in Odorkor.
The GSA team had earlier on Friday January 17 carried out a similar exercise but Sunday’s exercise resulted in the arrest of two people namely rukaya Issah and Francis Attabah who claimed they were simply caretakers and not manufacturers.
The worrying trend about their activities was the fact that they were operating in residential areas thereby threatening the health of residents living close to where these toxic products were produced.
Another concern was the fact that the products had labeling with GSA logo although it had not been certified and approved by the GSA.
The affected youth told the Atinka news team that they were not against the exercise by GSA however, they were worried that the exercise will affect their livelihood since they had no other source of income and should it happen that they lose their livelihood they will resort to robbery.
Some residents also shared some of the health conditions they had been battling with which included body rash and asthma.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Celestina Damoah
GSA Clamps down on manufacturers of illegal insecticides
Three snakes killed in Liberty Professionals-Hearts clash
Three snakes were killed at Carl Reindorf park on Sunday during a league match between Liberty Professionals and Hearts of Oak.
The three were killed during the match that ended in a three-goal thriller, raising questions over the safety situations at the venue.
Fans reportedly killed the three reptiles on 3 separate occasions, creating fear and panic during an ecstatic football duel.
The game that ended in dramatic fashion had its scary moments as fans got distracted over whether there were more snakes to deal with.
It is not known where the dangerous reptiles emerged from but it is believed they came from the nearby bushes.
The presence of such reptiles means the pitch is not suitable and a major health risk.
Liberty have been using the stadium for some years now, and according to ghahaguardian source, it was not the first time fans have been put in scary moment by snakes during a league match.
Before the start of the season, the CLB inspected all venues for approval, but it looks like they got it wrong with the Liberty’s home ground.
The park is partly surrounded by some bushes, which make it obvious that more dangerous reptiles are housed in.
The Carl Reindorf Park had a huge crowd on Sunday, dominated by Hearts of Oak fans.
The Phobians came from an early goal down to secure a 2-1 win.
It is not yet known.which action will the taken next by the football authority.
Source: 3news.com
Government supplies food items to School Feeding Caterers
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has begun the distribution of food items to caterers under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) across the country.
The items include Ghana Rice (50kg), Cooking Oil (25 litres), Tin Tomatoes and Texturized Soy Protein (TSP) which are all sourced from local farmers and processed by local companies.
The caterers will no longer have to contract huge loans from the banks to pre-finance the cooking but will receive the food items on credit from GSFP and pay back only when Government releases their payment.
The distribution which began on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 in some regions was as a result of an agreement the Ministry reached with the National Buffer Stock Company Limited for the supply of these items.
According to the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Cynthia Mamle Morrison, the food supply is ultimately meant to relief the Caterers from the huge financial burden involved in pre-financing or procuring food items for the preparation of meals for the school children.
She said the Caterers, hitherto, used to procure food items by themselves from different suppliers and markets at different prices, which accounted for over 80% of their total income.
The Minister expressed her profound appreciation to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Chief Executive Officer of the National Buffer Stock Company Limited, Mr. Abdul-Wahab Hanan Aludiba for making the initiative a reality.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection dated 14th January, 2020 requested all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to offer the needed cooperation for the smooth implementation of the initiative.
Hon. Cynthia Morrison noted that, the distribution of the locally produced food items to the caterers is not only to prepare wholesome foods for the school children, but to fulfill the NPP’s manifesto promise of encouraging the consumption of locally produced foods; creating jobs for women in the local communities; boosting agricultural production; reducing poverty among local farmers and increase income at the district level among others.
She was upbeat about potential of the distribution of the food items to increase school enrollment and retention; and to ultimately meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Minister is optimistic that it will also eliminate the inconsistencies in cooking on school going days by some caterers due to insufficient funds and sometimes shortage of food items.
“With this initiative, all that the caterers need to do is to just buy a few local ingredients and they are good to go to the kitchen satisfactorily,” the Minister emphasised.
Hon. Cynthia Morrison was confident that the food supply will be sustainable, as a result of Government’s Planting for Food and Jobs initiative and the high agricultural productivity by smallholder farmers in the districts.
The Minister disclosed that she will personally join forces with the Management of Ghana School Feeding Programme to monitor the distribution of the items to ensure the caterers do not abuse the opportunity by selling out the food items for personal benefit.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com
China has reported 139 new cases of a mysterious virus in two days
China has reported 139 new cases of a mysterious virus in two days, with the outbreak spreading from Wuhan to other major Chinese cities.
Beijing, the capital, reported two cases, while the southern tech hub of Shenzhen reported one suspected case.
The total number of confirmed cases now exceeds 200, and three have died from the respiratory illness.
The sharp uptick in those infected comes as millions of Chinese prepare to travel for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Health officials have identified the infection, which first appeared in Wuhan in December, as being a strain of coronavirus. They say it has led to an outbreak of viral pneumonia, but much about it remains unknown, including exactly how it has been spreading.
South Korea reported its first confirmed case of the virus on Monday, following Thailand and Japan.
The outbreak has revived memories of the Sars virus – also a coronavirus – that killed 774 people in the early 2000s across dozens of countries, mostly in Asia.
Analysis of the genetic code of the new virus shows it is more closely related to Sars than any other human coronavirus
Source: BBC
New virus discovered in China
A new virus has been discovered in China. Officials in China and the World Health Organization have concluded the infection is a coronavirus.
According to scientists, the number of people already infected by the mystery virus is far greater than official figures suggest.
Meanwhile there have been nearly fifty confirmed cases of the new virus, but UK experts estimate the figure is closer to one thousand seven hundred.
While the outbreak is centred on the central Chinese city of Wuhan, there have been two cases in Thailand and one in Japan.
Also, two people are said to have died from the respiratory illness which appeared in Wuhan city in December.
Source: CNBC
New Biometric Voter Management System will save Ghana GHS 173,077,650.00
Electoral Commission of Ghana has made available convincing data, which clearly confirms that the country will save millions of Ghana Cedis if its proceeds with the new biometric Voter Management System as compared to upgrading the existing system.
The EC’s quest to compile a new voter’s register for the 2020 election has encountered massive opposition from the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress and Some Civil Society groups. They argue “the EC has not demonstrated that there is a defect with the biometric data which was used as recently as 2 months ago on a nationwide scale.”
On Thursday, some 18 CSOs issued a joint press statement and concluded: “It is our view that under the present circumstances, the expense for an end-to-end system, as opposed to a precise surgical augmentation and improvement of the existing system, is not justified. Ghana can save considerable portions of the planned expenditure in a good variety of ways as suggested above”
However, EC IT team in an interaction with editors on Thursday in Accra debunked that assertion and instead provided data, indicating that, the country will save as much as $18 million or GHS 104, 677, 650.00 (using cedi-dollar rate of 5.7) if it goes ahead with the acquisition of the new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS).
It explained that the total cost of maintaining the old Biometric System is $74, 364, 500 while the total cost for new BVMS system is estimated at $56,000,000. These include Biometric Voter Registration Kits (BVR) kits and the Biometric Verification Devices (BVD).
Giving further breakdown of the cost of the entire process, it said the total cost of using the old BVR system for the 2020 election is $38, 692,500.00. This include; cost of refurbishment of some BVR kits used in 2016 and the acquisition of new ones. The number of kits used in the 2016 registration was 5,500 and number of kits that were refurbishable was 1,500 and the unit cost of refurbishment was $3500, pegging the total cost of refurbishment at $5,250,000. The EC further posits that the nation also needs an additional 6500 kits at a unit cost of $5145, pegging total cost of additional kits at 33,442,500.
However, for the new system, the number of BVR kits required for the 2020 election is 8,000 at unit cost of $3,000.00 , pegging the total cost for the new BVR @$24,000000.
Similarly, the EC intends to acquire some 80,000.00 BVD kits at a unit cost of $400.00 making a total of $32M compared to the $ 35,672,000.00 if it takes the path of refurbishing and purchasing additional BVDs from the previous vendor.
Furthermore, the EC opted against the proposal of the previous vendors to upgrade and refurbish their current datacenters and its equipment for a combined build and 1 year maintenance cost of $ 19M for a completely new datacenters equipment with current systems for a combined build and 3 year maintenance cost of $7M.
It total therefore the EC seeks to save the Ghanaian tax payer a combine total of GHS 173,077,650.00 (30,364,500.00).
Challenges with the old BVR system
The EC argues that none of the IT staff at the commission were trained on the BVMS, and that it (EC) was completely reliant on the vendor for the management of the system. Simply put the commission was “vendor locked-in.”
It further explained that the application server used for the online VMS was limited by allowing only 200 concurrent connections, adding that the EC has some 260 district offices nationwide each with at least 2 MVMS machines. This had hampered the online registration process significantly during the just ended limited registration exercise.
The EC said with the old system, there was no business continuity or an IT disaster recovery plan
Advantages of the New System
According to the EC, the new server hardware comes with three, four or five year’s warranty and support coverage.
It argues that other system components of the new system are latest technology, providing higher performance.
It also has higher memory capacity than the older server would support, and likely less expensive memory.
The EC intends to intensify education on the new BVR in the coming days to give the assurance that the new system is the best for the crucial 2020 election
Tetegu: Residents appeal to gov’t to intervene over impending demolition exercise
Residents of Tetegu, an Island in the Ga South Municipality in the Greater Accra Region are calling on government to halt an impending demolition exercise in the area.
A private developer has allegedly secured a court order to take over the disputed land, which covers over 2000 acres.
Thousands of residents in the area will be rendered homeless if the controversial demolition exercise is carried through. Hundreds of properties have been earmarked by the alleged private developer for demolition. Some structures have been marked with red ink while notices of the supposed court order have been posted on many of the buildings in the area. These include plush houses, schools, companies, shops and recreational centers.
Tetegu, a fast-growing community in the area has been a subject of dispute between the chiefs and elders of Aplaku, a neighboring community. They argue that they have jurisdiction over Tetegu lands and have not authorized anybody to take over the land.
Residents of Tetegu have accused the so-called caretaker of the land, one Nii Kofi Kumah, of conniving with the developer to take over the land,
The residents are calling on the government to intervene in the matter, adding the process being used to take over the already developed community, is fraudulent and arbitrary.
They warned that there will bloodbath in the area if the alleged private developer goes ahead with the demolition exercise.
More soon
We’re contributing to Ghana Beyond Aid by "empowering" over 4000 Ghanaians – IMMERI
This, according to business and financial experts has boosted the investor confidence; leading to the emergence of some local and foreign companies like IMMERI Ghana which has empowered over 4000 Ghanaians in the marketing and distribution of their products.
These are direct job opportunities created within just a year of their operation, thus contributing to the socio-economic development of the country in diverse ways.
They believe such an action takes off some burden from Government and as a multi-level-marketing firm, they give citizens the opportunities to earn extra income to supplement their over-stretched finances.
IMMERI Ghana is a subsidiary of IMMERI Global, a multinational company that is focused on improving the health and quality of life of people around the world.
They do so with their scientifically proven products which naturally formulated to help people function at their best and prevent diseases.
It operates in Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt.
Speaking at its first anniversary during a press briefing, IMMERI Ghana 1-Star Director, Mr. Daniel Cudjoe Sekpey mentioned that the health benefits derived from their products are enormous.
He boasted of how under just twelve months of operation they were able to engage over 4000 Ghanaians; earning from about Ghc 169 a day to over Ghc 500,000 in weeks and months.
“Do you ever know any company in Ghana that within 12 months of operation has employed 4000 Ghanaians, he quizzed”.
He therefore called on the unemployed, national service personnel graduates, the youth, workers and people from all spheres of lives to join the IMMERI Ghana team.
Mr. Daniel Cudjoe Sekpey again hinted that they are tax compliant where their 4000 employees pay tax to the Government through the withholding tax. Thus, Ghana Revenue Authority does not chase them for their tax contributions.
Furthermore, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, IMMERI Ghana gives out some percentage of their total revenue generated to the development of the needy, unprivileged and for social projects across the country.
Meanwhile, President for IMMERI Africa and Middle East, Mr. Yap Wai Yen in his address said they hope to see the number of their business partners increase steadily, adding that in the next five years his leadership intends to build a reliable e-commerce site by investing heavily in technology because Ghana is technologically inclined.
“So, the infrastructure if this country would definitely pick-up” He added.
He also said that he would put up a manufacturing plant in the next five years particularly if Government’s incentives for foreign investments are good.
Ghana |Atinkaonline.com |Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Registration of citizens in central and western sector begins soon – NIA
The National Identification Authority (NIA) would commence the registration of citizens within Western and Western North regions as well as the Central Region.
The exercise begins from January, 27 and ends on 18 February, 2020.
Professor Kenneth Agyeman Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the Authority, told a press conference that in all, 48 districts with over 800 centres have been earmarked to facilitate the process.
He said the exercise was solely a government sponsored programme and no registrant was expected to part with any facilitation fee.
“We don’t sell anything at the registration centre…not even a cover for the card issued… infact our activities have no commercial intercourse with any other business”, Professor Attafuah said.
Ghanaians wishing to take part in the process must possess a valid passport, birth certificate or oath of identity and evidence of acquired citizenship.
Applicants who lack the requisite documents could chose a relative who had already been issued with the card to identify him or her or two persons already registered could vouch for the person.
The card according to the Executive Secretary would be valid for ten years after which one has to part with some monies for renewal.
The Ghana Card identifies and affirms a person as Ghanaian and give access to benefits such as ease of travel, security from impersonation, speed in acquisitions of documents and help government factor the individual in development planning.
Professor Attafuah said successful applicants from 15 years and above receive cards instantly whiles those below that age bracket are issued with a collection slip for latter date.
He said any person found culpable of registration irregularities, would be liable to the payment of a fine or serve a jail term.
GNA
