MINIMISING MOTOR ACCIDENTS IN ER...Road Safety Commission, VELD, MTTU show the way (PAGE 20)

EASTERN Region, the third most populous political entity after the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions, boasts of some of the finest roads in the country.
As expected, the region also has a large fleet of vehicles plying the 1,453 kilometres of trunk and 3,150 kilometres of feeder roads, some of which could not be said to be among the best.
Some of the roads which have been rehabilitated to meet the required standard, include the Ayi Mensa-Mamfe stretch of the Adenta-Mamfe road and the portion of the Accra-Kumasi highway that passes through the region.
The periodic reconditioning of most of the feeder roads in the region has also put them in good shape and enhanced transportation and made travelling safe and comfortable.
However, there are some portions of the roads with dangerous curves, especially places such as Nyamebekyere and Amamprobi underneath the Akuapem Scarp on the Adawso-Koforidua road, the Suhum Roundabout and almost the whole stretch of the Suhum-Asamankese road, which have not been rehabilitated for sometime now. Those portions are dangerous for vehicular traffic.
Apart from the dangerous nature of such curves and roads, which had led to a number of motor accidents, other factors such as human error, mechanical faults, drunkenness and fatigue on the part of drivers, as well as overloading of vehicles with some passengers even sitting on top of the vehicles, have compounded the situation.
Those problems make the accident rate in the region one of the highest in the country.
For instance, between January and June 2007, the region recorded 596 motor accidents involving 764 vehicles, which claimed the lives of 125 people.
Between January and June, this year, 685 motor accidents involving 783 vehicles of which 137 people perished were recorded in the region.
A large number of passengers, operators of the vehicles, as well as pedestrians, also sustained various degrees of injury, with some of them maimed for life while property worth thousands of Ghana cedis were also destroyed.
Such a startling revelation has compelled the regional branches of the National Road Safety Commission, the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and the Regional Co-ordinating Council to work in concert to reverse the trend.
For instance, regional branch of the Road Safety Commission under the supervision of Mr Stephen Anokye, has put in place measures to minimise the high rate of the motor accidents.
Some of the measures include an outreach programme whereby periodic durbars are held at lorry parks. So far the main towns such as Koforidua, Asesewa, Oda, Begoro, Asamankese, Kade and Anyinam have been covered.
Apart from that, the commission has been periodically organising radio programmes on the issue on the local FM radio stations in the region, as well as involving traditional rulers such as the Omanhene of New Juaben, Daasebre Oti Boateng, all of which are contributing significantly to make our roads accident-free.
Mr Anokye said, “We are going all out to make travelling on our roads safe in the region and our methods have won the confidence and support of the Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Affram Asiedu, who even created a platform for us at the recently organised People’s Assemblies to educate the public on road safety.”
“The personal commitment of the regional minister to ensure road safety has helped a lot and judging by the way the educational programme is going, an awareness on road safety is being created,” Mr Anokye stressed.
The MTTU and the DVLA, the two other important stakeholders as expected, are also playing their required roles with vigorous checks on both drivers and the vehicles to ensure that the proper thing is done.
The MTTU under its acting Regional Commander, Assistant Superintendent A. Bansah, has put his men on the road both day and night as directed by the Police Headquarters, to impound faulty vehicles and arrest drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol, for prosecution at the law courts.
“My outfit is going all out and the officers are always on the ground with equipment, such as alcohol censors to check drunk drivers, as well as a traffic safety radar, to track down vehicles which speed, so that they conform to the approved speed limits of between 50 and 70 kilometres per hour for big trucks and 50-80 for saloon cars on the highways while those plying within the towns and municipalities should not go beyond 30 kilometres,” ASP Bansah stated.
“The officers also ensure that the lighting system of vehicles conforms to road safety regulations and a typical example is those with defective head lights, which are instantly impounded until the proper thing is done.
“Documents of drivers and vehicles are also thoroughly examined to apprehend car thieves or ensure that the drivers have the permission from the owners of the vehicles to drive such vehicles,” ASP Bansah stated.
Although ASP Bansah’s men are making inroads in addressing the issue, they are, however, confronted with problems, notably the inability of some drivers to give out their licences for inspection with the explanation that their car owners or employers have taken custody of the licences.
The situation makes it possible for drivers to operate with the wrong licences while others, who are not licensed to drive, manage to be at the steering wheel at the peril of passengers and other road users.
To solve such a problem, ASP Bansah suggested that under no circumstance should employers, especially public organisations, take custody of their drivers’ licences, since the law required drivers to keep their licences with them while they are behind the steering wheel.
In complementing the efforts of the MTTU and the Road Safety Commission to make travelling on the roads safe, the regional office of the DVLA has been thoroughly scrutinising driving licence applicants through theoretical and practical examinations.
Before the examinations are conducted, prospective applicants after submitting their applications, are provided with textbooks some of which are “Save Driving”, “Drivers’ Companion”, Pass Your Driving Theory” as well as the “Highway Code”, for study for at least three months.
According to the Regional Officer of VELD, Mr Vincent Fiati, those who come out with flying colours then undergo eye tests before those with good eyesight are taken to the roads for practical examinations.
Mr Fiati said apart from examining the applicants, his outfit also conducted unexpected checks on the roads to prohibit faulty vehicles from operating.
Qualified drivers, he further stated, were also taken through outreach programmes on road safety.
“Most of the time, I personally take charge of the examinations to ensure that the right people are given driving licences to take passengers safely to their homes or workplaces but not to unqualified ones who will send commuters to their graves,” Mr Fiati stated.
It is hoped all the efforts being put in by the three major players on road safety coupled with the fast rate at which the highways and feeder roads are being rehabilitated for easy driving, would reduce accidents to the barest minimum in the region in the near future.
This would not only make travelling comfortable for commuters, but also accelerate the development of the region.

DAN URGES SUPPORTERS TO WORK HARD (PAGE 17)

THE immediate past General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Dan Kwaku Botwe, has called on polling station chairmen to work hard for a resounding victory at the December polls.
Speaking after he was elected unopposed to contest the Okere Constituency seat in the Akuapem North District of the Eastern Region, he appealed to the rank and file of the party in all constituencies to put aside their differences and unite to win both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Earlier, Mr Botwe, who is also a former Minister of Information in the Kufuor Administration, did not show interest in contesting the parliamentary seat, and so he did not file his nomination papers for the slot; but he later rescinded his decision after almost all the 96 polling station chairmen, constituting the Electoral College, had persistently appealed to him to do so.
That was after three persons, Messrs Paul Larbi, Clement Ofori and Charles Okraku Budu, a polling station chairman, who filed to contest the elections were disqualified for going contrary to the NPP Constitution.
At the primary at Adukrom on Tuesday, the Akuapem North District Electoral Officer, Mr Addo Boateng, declared Mr Botwe duly elected, after which the Eastern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Sub Lt. Christian Kofi Tettey, (retd) introduced him to the gathering to a thunderous applause.
Mr Botwe traced the history of the party, pointing out the difficulties it went through before coming to power.
“The NPP has come out with initiatives such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and the numerous poverty alleviation initiatives which are going a long way to alleviate the economic difficulties of the people,” Mr Botwe stated.
The outgoing MP for the area, Mr B.D.K. Adu, the District Chief Executive, Mr Edward Adu Aboagye, as well as Sub Lt (retd) Tettey, have called on all to support Mr Botwe to win the seat since he had the potential of once more becoming a Cabinet Minister.

GRANT NEWMONT OPERATIONAL LICENCE (PAGE 20)

THE chiefs and people in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region where Newmont Ghana, a gold mining company, is currently prospecting for the mineral, last Friday asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant the company operational license to enable it to start full operation.
This, they said, had become necessary, since Newmont had satisfied all the requirements to begin work, which, according to them, would be beneficial to the affected communities.
Some of the chiefs and opinion leaders who made the call were Osabarima Owusu Gyamedu III a representative of the Omanhene of Akyem Kotoku, the traditional overlord; Nana Kwame Fosu who represented the Afosuhene, Opanin Kwadwo Kyei, from Agyenoa, Mr Joseph Tetteh, a spokesman for all the hamlets surrounding Adausena, and Mr Appiah Darkwa from Yaw Tannor.
Two persons, Mr Kwabena Frimpong from Yayaaso and Madam Ama Dapaah, a 70-year-old cocoa farmer from Hweakwae, who claimed Newmont had not yet compensated her for her cocoa farm which it destroyed, however, dissented.
They made the call at a public hearing on the activities of the company at Yaayaaso, one of the main communities in the company’s operational areas.
The public hearing, the third in a series, brought together chiefs, opinion leaders and people from about 13 communities within the company’s operational areas, some of which are Ntronang, Akyenoa, Afosu, New Abirem, Old Abirem, Adausena, Yaw Tanor and Hweakwae.
Also present were representatives from the EPA, Forestry Commission, Minerals Commission, coalition of non-governmental organisations on mining, as well as the Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Madam Esther Obeng Dapaah.
Making the call on behalf of the people, Osabarima Gyamedu III, said since Newmont had satisfied laid-down conditions and its activities would be beneficial to the people, it should be given licence to go into full operation.
He, however, called on the sub-chiefs in the area to unite to enable the people, as well as themselves, to get the full benefits such as royalties otherwise Newmont would take advantage of any disagreement among them to withhold financial packages that would be due them.
Osabarima Gyamedu, who appealed to the people to co-operate with Newmont to enable the company to assist the communities to improve the living condition of the people, was of the view that Newmont would live up to expectation.
Addressing the gathering, Madam Esther Dapaah asked Newmont to honour all its environmental and other related obligations under the legal framework to ensure that the affected communities and the nation did not become worse off after the company had completed its operations.
She also asked the regulatory agencies such as the Minerals Commission, the EPA, the district assembly and chiefs in the area to ensure that Newmont followed the right procedures in its operations.
The minister, who expressed the hope that Newmont would put sustainable corporate social responsibility projects in place to tackle any misgivings of the people in the area, was of the view that when the processes permitting mine development were completed and all issues addressed, it would ensure “a win-win situation for all stakeholders”.
The Regional Vice-President of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited in charge of Environment and Social Responsibility, Mr Nick Cotts, said the company had designed its project in the area taking into consideration, technical, environmental and social aspects, as well as engineered solutions and developed plans that would maximise the benefits and mitigate the negative impacts in accordance with Ghanaian laws and internationally accepted standards.
Mr Appiah Kusi Abodum, the Environmental and Social Responsibility Co-ordinator of the Akyem Project, took the gathering through the operational activities of the company, as well as a number of social amenities provided for the people in the area, who he said would be assisted in diverse ways to make a living.

SUPPORT WOMEN TO TAKE UP LEADERSHIP POSITIONS (PAGE 11)

PANELLISTS at a public forum on women advocacy have called for moral, material and financial support for women to take up responsible positions to enable them to take part in decisions that would advance their welfare.
This, according to the panellists, has become necessary due to the limited number of women in responsible positions, particularly in politics although they formed the majority of the country’s population.
The forum, which was organised at Koforidua by Abantu, a gender advocacy organisation, and attended by a cross-section of society, brought together resource persons namely Mrs Hamida Harrison, a lecturer of the University of Ghana, Legon; Mrs Roseline Obeng Ofori, a gender consultant; and Mr Emmanuel Quaye-Sowah, the Eastern Regional Director of the National Commission on Civic Education, who took turns to call for support for women to take up top positions in society, especially politics.
That, according to the panellists, would enable them to take part in decisions that would advance their development. Mrs Harrison, who set the ball rolling, expressed regrets that although Ghanaian women constituted 51 per cent of the country’s population only a few of them were in decision-making positions and attributed such an unfortunate situation to a number of factors that should be addressed.
The factors, according to her, were low rate of illiteracy, poverty, discrimination, socio-cultural subordination that had deprived them from owning property such as land, and heavy domestic duty such as child-bearing and care which normally take most of their time to the advantage of men.
She said these problems, which had confronted women for ages, had, however, been brought to the fore through the initiative of the United Nations (UN), which organised a number of international meetings such as the 1980 Copenhagen and the 1985 Beijing conferences to advance the cause of women.
Mrs Harrison — who indicated that the governments of various countries, especially Ghana had, in accordance to the dictates of the UN, taken steps to address the factors militating against women and had appointed some women to top positions — expressed the hope that more of such appointments would be forthcoming to enable women to take part in the decision-making process in all the socio-economic as well as political sectors.
Mrs Rosaline Obeng Ofori for her part said since Ghanaian women were considered as the pillar of the family, the nucleus of society, it would be absurd to relegate them to the background in decision-making.
She said although women and men had the same capabilities, most often women with good characters could not get to top positions, particularly in politics due to poverty as a result of which rich men with dubious characters managed to use their wealth to ascend to such high positions only to mess up in the process.
Mrs Obeng Ofori therefore called on the people to throw their lot behind women so that they would be able to improve their lot and society in general.
When it came to his turn, Mr Quaye-Sowah, who spoke mainly on how to make the December elections violence-free, called on journalists, security personnel and politicians to be circumspect in their activities to make the event a peaceful one.
That, he said, would preserve the country’s’ democracy for succeeding generations.
Earlier in her welcoming address, the Programme Officer of Abantu, Ms Matilda Odei, had said her outfit would continue to agitate for the improvement of the lot of Ghanaian women to enable them to take part in decisions that affect them.
A member of the Steering Committee on the Women Manifesto Coalition, Miss Adwoa Sakyi, who chaired the function, commended Ghanaian women who in spite of a lot of difficulties were able to occupy top positions in society.

GT BROADBAND FOR NSAWAM (PAGE 20)

THE Nsawam Municipality, one of the densely populated areas in the Eastern Region, has now been covered with the Ghana Telecom (GT) Broadband 4U, an internet facility.
The facility which was inaugurated at Nsawam last Thursday would enable users, either for domestic or commercial purpose, to access uninterrupted information on the Internet on a 24-hour basis.
Under the initiative, a mechanism had been put in place for educational institutions that would acquire the facility to access only materials that would be beneficial to pupils and students.
Inaugurating the facility, the Eastern Regional Manager of GT, Nii Amaa Fleisher-Brock, said under a programme, the facility would be extended to all parts of the region and such towns as Abetifi, Nkawkaw, Mpraeso, Akim Oda and the Kwahu North District (Afram Plains) as some of the areas that would soon be covered.
He appealed to the public to help arrest all those who had been stealing the company’s cables to enable it render good services to the public.
GT, he said, had made available between GH¢500 and GH¢1000 to reward any person who would offer information that would lead to the apprehension of the cable thieves.
GT’s Broadband Manager, Mr Kingsley Seme, explained the technicalities of the facility could be used by people with or without fixed telephone lines.
To ensure that both the poor and the rich would have access to the facility, he said GT had come out with a modality under which one could access the facility from the lowest sum of GH¢40 or more per month, depending on one’s financial standing.

K'DUA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD SCHOOL MAKES PROGESS (PAGE 20)

IN 1946, the Assemblies of God Church, one of the oldest Pentecostal churches in the country set foot in the Eastern Region and established its first church at Mpraeso on the Kwahu Scarps.
About 33 years later in 1979, the church’s activities were extended to the New Juaben Municipality, where a church was built in Koforidua, its capital, which also doubles as the regional capital.
In line with its tenets, the early reverend ministers initially shepherded the new converts through the teachings of the gospel with the ultimate goal of achieving happiness and salvation.
However, with time, when education became the bedrock of scientific and technological advancement, the Assemblies of God Church, like many of the Christian religious organisations, decided to invest in education by establishing schools for not only its members, but also the communities in which it operated.
Such initiative, which was to broaden the horizon of the people to better serve God and humanity, took off in the region late in September 1989 with the establishment of a kindergarten with 25 kids placed in the care of four teachers.
The school, which is located within the premises of the regional church building in the centre of the Koforidua and started with a very few children, was turned into a modern school complex made up of a crèche, kindergarten, primary and junior high school (JHS), all with a total pupil population of 400.
The school, Assemblies of God School Complex, due to its adherence to Christian principles and discipline, has become one of the best in the New Juaben Municipality by both academic and moral standards.
For instance, the JHS section currently ranks among the best 10 in the municipality.
In view of that, most of the products of the JHS normally enter the best senior high schools (SHS) in the municipality, notably Pope John Senior High School and the Ghana Secondary Senior High School.
Such products finally enter tertiary institutions, as a result of which many have now become professionals such as medical doctors, teachers, engineers and lawyers.
The school complex, which is closely associated with the church and managed in line with Christian principles, is under the proprietorship of Mrs Joyce Donkor, a renowned educationist, with the assistance of Mrs Christiana Agbetie, also an educationist, well versed in basic education as the headmistress.
It is, therefore, not surprising that the school should achieve such a remarkable feat in terms of academic performance within the New Juaben Municipality.
According to Mrs Agbetie, the strict disciplinary measures instituted in the school, coupled with dedication on the part of the teachers, propelled the school to such an enviable status.
“Although we are not among the old JHSs in the municipality, we have made a mark, because many of our products who enter the best SHSs in the area or other parts of the country come out successfully as professionals in the various disciplines such as medicine, law, engineering and education,” Mrs Agbetie said.
Other significant aspects of the school are its computer laboratory, provision of a balanced diet for the pupils at a reasonable cost and fees that are affordable by all parents.
In the words of the Regional Superintendent of the church, Rev. Alex Ofori Amankwa, “the church and the school’s Board of Governors have taken these initiatives to ensure that no child, irrespective of the financial status of parents, would be deprived of quality education”.
“It is the responsibility of the church and the Board of Governors to make education accessible to all children who are the gifts of God to be nurtured and properly schooled to become useful citizens to take over from us in the near future,” Rev. Ofori Amankwa stated.
It has also been programmed to hook the school on to the Internet in August, this year, thus breaking new grounds as the first basic educational institution in the New Juaben Municipality to be on the Internet.
To enable the junior high section of the school to admit more pupils, a four-acre land had been acquired on the outskirts of the town to construct more classrooms and offices to house it next year, the full cost of which would be taken care of by the church and the school.

MAKE VOTERS REGISTER AVAILABLE — NDC (PAGE 17)

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) has asked the Electoral Commission to make available the final electoral register that would be used for the December elections to all the contesting political parties, especially those currently in opposition, at least two months to the elections.
This, according to the NDC, would make it possible for the parties to detect anomalies in the register for the corrections to be made to ensure a credible elections.
The NDC made the request at a press conference in Koforidua on Sunday.
That was after a three-day meeting of five regional chairmen of the party, namely Dr John Abu, Western, Messrs Julius Debrah, Eastern, Modestu Ahiable, Volta, John Owusu Agyeman, Brong Ahafo, Daniel Agyekum, Ashanti and Danny A. Anang, Greater Accra, to examine the circumstances that led to the bloating of the voters’ register, particularly in the Ashanti Region, with the view of ensuring a clean voters’ register in the forthcoming elections.
Mr Debrah, the main spokesman of the chairmen, said the NDC lost the 2004 elections because the voters’ register used for that election which was full of anomalies were not presented to political parties on time to enable them to correct the anomalies.
“We were given the 2004 electoral register less than two weeks to the elections so we could not detect the flaws but this time we will not sit by for the same problem to arise, as such the EC must make available the 2008 electoral register for examination and correction to make it possible for a credible election which result swill be acceptable by all,” Mr Debrah stated.
Asked about what the NDC would do if the final 2008 voters register was not released to the political parties within the stipulated period as being demanded since the EC had made it clear it was facing some financial difficulties, Mr Debrah said the government could call for financial assistance from development partners, adding, that that would go a long way to deepen the country’s democracy.
Failure to do that, he said, would compel the NDC to continue to pressurise the government, adding that the party was not beating war drums but rather taking steps to strengthen democracy for succeeding generations.
Mr Debrah who produced a copy of the 2004 voters’ register in some constituencies in the Western Region containing double registrations involving many voters, said the EC must quickly live up to its responsibility to ensure fairness in the 2008 elections by making available the voters register on time for scrutiny.
For his part, Mr Ohene Agyekum said since the EC had admitted that the present voters’ register for 13 constituencies in the Ashanti Region was bloated, and assigned the reasons to an inadequate computer system and human error, it had become clear that some officials at the EC had been manipulating the system in favour of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He, therefore, called for a centralised computer system at the headquarters of the EC to link those in the regions instead of the regions operating in isolation in order to easily detect discrepancies in the voters register.
“So many things went wrong at the 2004 elections which impacted negatively on the NDC and we even doubt the legitimacy of President Kufour’s presidency so we are keeping an eagle eye on the December elections for the country to have credible elections”, he stated.
When it came to his turn, Mr Ahiable said the EC’s explanation that the errors detected in the current electoral register was due to human error was something which should not be accepted because the NDC believed that it was deliberately done to make it impossible for the NDC to win the elections, and called on the EC to take prudent measures to identify its officials who caused the problem to be sanctioned.
‘We are not considering the EC as a corrupt organisation but all that we are saying is that there are some corrupt elements within the EC working for the interest of the NPP and must be dealt with”, Mr Ahiable stated.