Seth J. Bokpe's Ghana Newsreel

Toyota Ghana Company Limited, the exclusive distributor for Toyota vehicles in the country, last Friday launched the New Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in Accra with a pledge to promote customer safety. The new Land Cruiser Prado boasts features like Bluetooth compatibility, steering wheel control -mounted switches, USB/i-pod connection and the inclusion of a cool box within the centre console. Unlike previous models, the new vehicle offers a choice of 2.7- litre and 4- litre petrol engines alongside 3- litre diesel and turbo diesel engines. Launching the car, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh said Toyota has contributed in diverse ways to the development of the country, “notable among its contributions is the promotion of road safety campaigns.” This, she indicated included the mounting of road safety memorials on the Kasoa-Winneba-Apam and the Takoradi-Tarkwa roads. She said Toyota’s market share in Ghana was not only a remarkable achievement but a clear man...

A team of officials from the ministries of Finance and Economic Planning and Roads and Highways yesterday inspected work on some major road projects aimed at improving the road network in the country, as well as sanitising the traffic situation in Accra. The inspection tour was to enable the two sector ministers learn at firsthand the state of the various projects and interact with the contractors on issues concerning their completion. Led by the sector ministers of the two ministries, Dr Kwabena Duffuor and Mr Joe Gidisu, respectively, the team’s first port of call was the Achimota-Ofankor road. Here, work on the project, which is being undertaken by the Messrs China Railway Wuju Group Corporation, was in full scale. It is a Government of Ghana (GoG) funded project which commenced in 2006 and was expected to have been completed in 2009 but it is behind schedule. The Achimota-Ofankor road project is a 5.7km, three-lane dual carriageway with four foot bridges, a flyover at Ach...

THE chiefs and elders of Teiman, near Madina in Accra, have urged teachers of the local St James Anglican Basic School to collaborate with the elders and the Madina Police to apprehend the man who is alleged to have defiled and impregnated his 14-year-old foster child. David Otibu, 50, who is a resident of the area, is alleged to have defiled the girl, a pupil of the Teiman St James Basic School. The victim was said to have complained of illness when she reported at school on February 12, 2010 and was sent to the Pantang Hospital, where she was examined and declared pregnant, after which she mentioned her foster father, Otibu, as being responsible for the pregnancy. According to the Crime Officer of the Madina Divisional Police, Chief Superintendent Beatrice Amoako, the suspect had since been on the run, saying efforts were being made to get his photograph for publication. The elders of the town are enraged by the development and have called on all involved to help get to the b...

Aqua Vitens Rand Limited (AVRL) is installing bulk meters at the Weija Treatment Plant as part of a nation-wide loss control measure to deal with the loss of treated water. The meters will ensure effective monitoring of treated water to reduce loss that occurs during its distribution. The project, which is estimated to cost GH¢4.2 million, will see the installation of 473 bulk meters at all headworks, booster stations and major reservoirs throughout the country. In all, eight meters will be installed in phases at Weija. Available information indicates that 50 per cent of water distributed in the country, valued at US$100 million, cannot be accounted for, with the situation blamed on illegal connections. Briefing the media, an AVRL water distribution specialist, Mr John Abu-Ghansah, said monitoring water distribution in the country had been difficult because most of the meters in the system had broken down. He observed that the installation of the meters would help the compan...

Thirteen indigenous corporate bodies and a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, were last Friday honoured for excelling in their fields of endeavour. The awards, dubbed the TNG Corporate Excellence Awards, were under the auspices of the Intra-West Africa Communications Limited, publishers of The New Ghanaian (TNG) magazine, and meant to recognise the efforts of Ghanaians and Ghanaian companies that have distinguished themselves in their fields of endeavour. The awards ceremony, which was the second of its kind, had the award winners selected from the hotel and tourism, the educational, health, industrial and banking sectors. The Holy Trinity Spa and Health Farm won the Most Patronised Medical Tourism Centre of the Year award; Chances Hotel received the Most Patronised Regional Hotel of the Year award, while the Royal Richester Hotel took home the Fastest Growing Indigenous Hotel of the Year award. The Nyaho Medical Centre was the recipient of the Leading...

AN obesity and preventive medicine specialist, Dr Hayford Y. Tabiri, has advised Ghanaians to take issues concerning their health management seriously, as ill health affects productivity. Dr Tabiri gave the advice at a cholesterol and obesity management programme organised for the staff of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to educate them to understand the effects of obesity and possible means of mitigating weight gain. In a presentation on the theme, “Obesity and Healthy Lifestyle Modification for Improved Productivity”, he defined obesity as the “accumulation of fat (as a result of excessive energy intake) to the extent of causing adverse effect on one’s health”. He noted with concern that obesity affected three million people in Ghana, with a higher prevalence in the southern part of the country, especially Accra, adding that Ghana was the leading obesity nation in West Africa. “We should be concerned about obesity because of the health implications it poses,” ...

A US$332,000 surgical theatre has been inaugurated at the St Mary Theresa Hospital at Dodi Papase in the Kadjebi District of the Volta Region. The theatre houses various facilities, including an X-ray, a water purification equipment, laundry equipment, an incinerator, borehole drilling equipment, an oxygen concentrator and its auxiliary equipment and a storage facility. Funding for the project was made possible through a partnership between the Rotary Club of Accra and its counterparts in Ludenscheid (Germany), Canterbury (England), Leuven (Belgium), Utrecht (The Netherlands) and St Quentin (France). The German Government, through the Ludenscheid Rotary Club, provided funding for the construction of the operating theatre, while the Rotary Foundation of the Rotary International made available funds for the equipment. To further enhance health delivery at the hospital, the Rotary Club of Accra and its partners also donated a multi-purpose ambulance while, sponsoring seven nurses to acqu...