Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

Last Saturday’s crash of the Allied Airline cargo aircraft at the El-Wak Stadium which led to the closure of the 37 Hospital-Burma Camp road has resulted in traffic congestion in the immediate surroundings of the crash site. Motorists heading towards the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, La and their surrounding areas from the 37 Military Hospital have to endure endless periods of frustration. Crawling like tortoises on each side of the route, motorbikes, cars and cargo trucks, with some belching thick clouds of fumes from their exhaust pipes, jockey to squeeze into one lane of the annoying gridlock. Street hawkers have taken advantage of the traffic jams to peddle their wares. While some drivers switch of their roaring engines to preserve fuel, some impatient passengers in commercial vehicles file out of the vehicles, convinced that it is  faster to walk. When the Daily Graphic visited the accident scene, it was observed that while the road leading to the crash site from the...

Close to 400 pupils from Ayigbe Town, SCC, Bortianor and Broadcasting, communities behind the Weija Dam, who school at Weija get stranded every morning as a result of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) closing its gate, which is the only route to the schools by the pupils on foot.   Residents of Aplaku and its surrounding communities have, therefore, appealed to the government to construct a footbridge across the Weija Lake to ease the difficulties their children face on their way to school across the lake.   The gate was closed last year on the instructions of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing. While some parents contended that the decision of the GWCL was increasing the dropout rate in the community, an official of the GWCL who spoke to the Daily Graphic  on condition of anonymity, maintained that the decision was rather for the safety of the children. “This place is not a thoroughfare. We do a lot of...

The Electoral Commission (EC) is in the process of reviewing the country’s constituencies to create new ones, following the recent release of the final figures of the 2010 population census. Speculation had been rife since last year that the EC would create new constituencies following the government’s announcement of the creation of 42 new districts. But the EC had insisted that the creation of new constituencies for the December 2012 would not be automatic. There have also been concerns, particularly from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), over the essence of creating new constituencies in a period very close to the 2012 general election. However, speaking at a forum organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Accra Thursday, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the EC, stated that the creation of new constituencies was a constitutional responsibility of the EC, especially when new census figures had been released. The forum, on the theme, “Using ...

For fear of further reprisal attacks, about 923 residents of the Zongo community in Hohoe in the Volta Region have fled to Jasikan, about 40 kilometers away to seek refuge. More continues to flee in neighbouring towns and villages in view of the insecurity in the Hohoe area. According to the police, the displaced people had been registered at Jasikan, where the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) had provided them with relief items. In spite of the heavy police and military presence in the Hohoe municipality, the houses at the outskirts of the Zongo community were torched at dawn on Wednesday during curfew hours. The houses, said to belong to members of the Zongo community whose owners had fled, were ransacked before being set ablaze. The police are not ruling out the possibility of thieves taking advantage of the situation, even though there is a curfew in the municipality. “KEEP OFF” was boldly written on the wall of one of the houses which was reduc...

Agricultural experts are meeting in Accra to deliberate on how to revive Ghana’s cotton industry and make it one of the most competitive in Africa. The two-day workshop, under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNlDO), is aimed at creating awareness of suitable options to increase cotton productivity. It will also focus on the benefits of crop biotechnology in suitable economic development, with emphasis on insect-tolerant and herbicide-tolerant cotton. Additionally, it will discuss how to enhance quality through instrument classification of cotton according to international standards and increase the income of cotton farmers and co-operatives through value addition activities, including processing and marketing of cotton seed by-products. The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms Sherry Ayittey, who opened the workshop, observed that the negative ...

The Ghana Education Trust Fund has completed a 400-bed students’ hostel for the Regional Maritime University to ease the accommodation challenges facing students. The fund has also allocated GHc 12 million to the school for other projects in the university which include a 2000-seater auditorium. The Rector of the school, Mr Alock K. Asamoah, made this known at the 6th congregation of the university. In all, 124 students graduated with degrees in Marine Engineering, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Nautical Science, Ports and Shipping Management and Higher Diploma in Ports and Shipping Management. While seven graduated with first class, four other students graduated with distinction. On the focus of the school, the Rector stated that it was to get well equipped laboratories, workshops, lecture halls and more student hostels to create a more congenial atmosphere for teaching and learning. Mr Asamoah acknowledged the immense contributio...

Ghana is implementing a vessel traffic management and information system (VTMIS) to provide electronic surveillance and monitoring of the entire coast of the country. This is to prevent potential risk of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas. The system, according to the Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa A. Attivor, was to serve the needs of the maritime industry by becoming a centre for information gathering and sharing to alert industry players to potential hot spots. The deputy minister made this known at the 10th meeting of the Board of Governors of the Regional Maritime University (RMU) in Accra last Friday. The meeting was used by the five-member countries of the RMU, currently chaired by The Gambia, to take stock of the performance of the University, discuss critical matters and take decisions that would further enhance its growth and development. The Ghana Maritime Authority last year signed a contract with EL TEL Corporation Network based in Finland...

 Ghana is implementing a vessel traffic management and information system (VTMIS)  to provide electronic surveillance and monitoring of the entire coast of the country. This is to prevent potential risk of piracy and armed robbery on the high seas. The system, according to the Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Dzifa A. Attivor, was to serve the needs of the maritime industry by becoming a centre for information gathering and sharing to alert industry players to potential hot spots. The deputy minister made this known at the 10th meeting of the Board of Governors of the Regional Maritime University (RMU) in Accra last Friday. The meeting was used by the five-member countries of the RMU, currently chaired by The Gambia, to take stock of the performance of the university, discuss critical matters and take decisions that would further enhance its growth and development. The Ghana Maritime Authority last year signed a contract with EL TEL Corporation Network based in Finland fo...