MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND PETROLEUM LAUNCHES FREE DISRIBUTION OF RURAL LPG PROMO AT DERMA

The Brong Ahafo version of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum’s free distribution of rural LPG promo was lunched at Derma in the Tano South District.

  

Picture above shows some of the LPG Promo and a recipient receiving her stove and cylinder from the MP

The free LPG promo which entails the free distribution of four thousand (4,000) each of gas cylinders and stoves to rural and urban dwellers in the Tano South District is in line with the government determination to cut down the use of wood fuel to the use of Gas fuel in our domestic homes.

In a speech at the launching ceremony, the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for the Tano South constituency Hon. Dr. Hannah Louisa Bisiw said government has realized that the use of wood fuel has led to the degradation of our forest since many tree species are cut down and burnt as   charcoal for use in our homes.

                                          

Hon Dr. Hannah Louisa Bisiw (MP) lunching the Promo

She said, the effect of cutting down trees and degrading the forest has a global effect on the environment and if not check  would not urger well for the country and for that matter the use of LPG in our homes is therefore been encouraged especially in our rural communities.

Hon. Bisiw said, the distribution of the four thousand (4,000) cylinders and stoves is the first phase of the implementation programme in the Tano South District and entreated the people to be patient when they are not part of the first recipients of the promo.

A chief Director of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum Professor Akabzaa in a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Energy and Petroleum said the programme stems from the Presidents wish to eliminate the burning of wood as charcoal for the use of LPG in our homes since there was the need to conserve our forest to avoid degradation.

                                

Prof. Akabzaa addressing the gathering

Prof.  Akabzaa said, the government through the Ministry lunched a pilot project at Garu Timpane where fifteen thousand Gas cylinders and stoves were distributed free of charge, He said, lessons were leant out of the pilot programme and through that modifications have been made to sustain the programme and said one such thing is the sitting of gas filling station nearer to communities and the availability of the product

Prof. Akabzaa said, in order not to let the people revert to the use of wood fuel, a gas cylinder manufacturing company has been set up to produce more cylinders and government through the Ministry  is also doing its best to bring gas to the door step of the people.

Prof. Akabzaa mentioned that during the exercise there would be a cylinder recirculation module whereby when you send your empty gas cylinder to be filled at the gas station you are given a filled one and yours is retained for further checks on them to avoid leakages and other faults before it is again released for use but cautioned that LPG is a form of fire which though friendly can also cause considerable damage and therefore safety measures must be abided in the use it.

Prof. Akabzaa again advised parents not to allow their children to play with the filled cylinders and stoves in the use of them 

Prof. Akabzaa  in conclusion urged the Tano South District Assembly to resource all stakeholders and the fire service to educate the public on the use of the cylinders and stoves and also the safety measures of the use of gas in general.

The Dermahene Nana Owusu Asante who chaired the function in his remarks commended the government and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for taking such a bold step in the distribution of free cylinders and stoves which he said would help eliminate the use of wood fuel thereby conserving our forest.

                                       

The Dermahene Nana Owusu Asante delivering his remarks

Nana appealed to the government for the construction of the Derma – Asuoso trunk road which is in a deplorable state and also the construction of an SHS at Derma to help boost the conveyance of farm products to the market center and help children of the area to access SHS education respectively and thanked the organizers of the programme for choosing no other place in the District for the lunching ceremony than Derma.

Presents at the lunching ceremony were Nananom, Officials from Ministry of Petroleum, the Clergy, the Muslim Community, the General public and the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba.               

TACHIMANTIA GETS A POLYCLINIC

A new polyclinic has been commissioned at Techimantia in the Tano South District of the Brong Ahafo Region.   

The Polyclinic which is one out of the five polyclinics built by the government in the Brong Ahafo Region was commissioned by the Minister of Health Hon. Shirley Aryitey with the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister Hon. Justice Samuel Adjei, the Tano South Constituency Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture Hon. Dr. Hanna Louisa Bisiw, the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba, Nananom and Officials of the Ministry of Health in attendance.

In a welcome address, the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba expressed his delight to have the honour welcome all present especially Nananom, Ministers of State and Officials from the Ministry of Health.

                           

        

The Tano South District Chief Executive in a welcome address at the commissioning ceremony

Hon. Anaba said he believed the commissioning of the Polyclinic is not only a special one but also a memorable one.  He said a healthy mind lies in sound body as a productive labour force depends to a large extend on an effective and efficient health care delivery system which entails availability, quality and accessibility of health care facilities and services and the commissioning of the Polyclinic is a manifestation of a resolve to fufil the commitment of government to providing quality health care delivery.

Hon. Anaba said, inspite of the efforts of Central Government and the District Assembly to provide the infrastructure, logistics and equipment at the health sector they are still inadequate and more still needs to be done.

Hon. Anaba said with the commissioning of the polyclinic he was hopeful and assured the Minister of health of proper usage and maintenance of the facility as we cannot afford to let the facility deteriorate and that we would endeavour to take good care of it so that future generation would also benefit.

Mr Alber Tackie, a branch manager of VAMED Ltd, the construction firm which  undertook the project said his company apart from the Construction of the building, supply, equip and train personnel to mann the facility and operate the equipments.

                                  

Mr. Albert Tackie of VAMED Ltd in an address at the commissioning

Mr. Tackie said his company in collaboration with the a Ministries of Health and Finance have for the past thirteen (13) years undertaking a number of health projects in the country and was grateful to the government of Ghana as payments for the projects have always been prompt to effect early  completion and supplies.

Mr. Kofi Opoku, a director of the Health Administration Support Services (HASS) at the Ministry of health who deputized for the Director General of Health Services in a speech said the putting up of the Techimantia Polyclinic is part of the development projects the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Health is embarking on to promote quality health care delivery system.

Mr. Opoku said the Ministry of health is putting measures in place to provide all communities with either chip compounds or other sectors of health care systems.

                                  

Mr. Kofi Opoku reading the Director Generals address

Mr. Opoku entreated the people to take environmental hygiene seriously as anything contrary would bring diseases to them and conveyed the Director Generals regret for not been part of the Commissioning.

The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister Hon. Justice Samuel Adjei in a short but impressive  speech said the contribution    of women in national development is enormous hence the government’s commitment in involving women is nation building.  He said the involvement of women in parliament also helps greatly and entreated the people of the Tano South Constituency to again endorse the candidature of Hon. Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw as Member of Parliament for the 2016 parliamentary elections as that would bring more development projects to the District as this would improve the lives of the people.

                                   

The Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister delivering his address

The member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture Hon. Dr. Hanna Louisa Bissiw, in a speech said, with the commissioning of the Polyclinic, what was left was an ambulance for the polyclinic and with the acquisition of an ambulance which she promised facilitating, it would be of no use when our roads are bad and again promised that she would use her good offices to ensure that the Bechem – Techimantia Road is re-shaped and tarred.     

                                          

The Member of parliament for Tano South Hon. Dr. Hannah Louisa Bisiw in a speech at the function

Commissioning the project, the Minister of Health Hon. Shirley Aryitey, disclosed that the Techimantia Polyclinic project was at the cost of (10) Ten Million U.S. Dollars and was part of the governments commitment to making health care delivery accessible to all and entreated the people to take good care of the facility.

Hon. Aryitey said, with the upgrading of the Techimantia Health Centre to a Polyclinic status more Nurses and Doctors would be posted to work there but advised the nurses and medical staff to be patient to patients as their work entails a lot of patience and to tolerance.

    

Hon. Shirley Aryitey addressing the gathering and commissioning the project

She said the Techimantia Polyclinic has all what it takes for a Polyclinic to function and urged the people to patronize the facility.  She again urged them to resister with the National Health Insurance Scheme so as to enable them visit the facility at no cost to access free health care delivery and again pleaded with parents   to patronize the Ministry of health’s immunization programmes to curb  malaria and other diseases and make available their children during such exercises.

Odeefour Nana Ampong Kromantang the Krotihene of Techimantia who charred the function in his remarks thanked the President and the Government of Ghana for the  gesture of providing Techimantia and it’s environs with a polyclinic which would enable them access health care delivery at its best and assured the Minister of health that they would ensure that proper maintenance culture is adopted   to ensure the proper usage of the facility.

                                         

Nana Ampong Kromantang devilling his remakes

FOOD VENDERS IN TANO SOUTH ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE ON FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT

The Tano South District Assembly in collaboration with the Food and Drugs Authority and the Ghana Traditional Caterers Association have organized a three days workshop for food vendors  in Bechem ,Techimantia, and Derma in the Tano South District to educate them on environmental  sanitation, food and Nutrition, Personal  hygiene  and Business management.

In a speech to open the workshop the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari Anaba on behalf of the President, the Local Government Minister and the MP for Tano South constituency welcomed participants to the workshop and wished them a fruitful deliberations. He said the Tano South Assembly is divided into eleven (11) departments of which health is part and briefed participant on the roles each department play.

The District Chief Executive said the environmental health department of the Assembly is responsible for health related issues and is mandated to give education to the general public on environmental sanitation  and personal hygiene. He said people at times meet their death on get sick as a result of poor sanitary conditions and urged the participants to pay attention to the lectures the facilitators would give them.

The District Chief Executive said the contribution of food venders to the society is enormous and needs greater attention and proper care which would help prevent patrons of their operations from contracting diseases from the food they sell.

  The leading officer of the Traditional Caterers Association, Mr. Kwasi Mensah who facilitated defined food as a liquid or solid material which enters the body to provide energy to the body and took the vendors into various topics such as the preparation of vinegar, the disadvantages of using salt pelre (EKAWU), how to produce iodated salt, the uses of monosodium glotemate , the checking of expiring dates on canned food and the disadvantages of using contaminated water and advised the vendors and other stakeholders in the industry to the use of ginger, dawadawa, onions and prekese in the preparation of their food since consumers of such items live longer.

Speaking on environmental hygiene and  business management, the deputy Tano South District Environmental health officer Mr. Abro advised the vendors to properly wash their hands and ingredients such as vegetables   they use in the preparation of their food before boiling and also avoid exposing their food to flies to avoid contamination. Mr. Abro advised the vendors to manage well the little profit they get in their business so as to keep them in business always and said using the money on unnecessary expenditure would not help the business to grow.

Certificate of participation were awarded to all the participants at the end of the workshop.

NCCE HOLD SYMPOSIUM ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE AT BECHEM

The Tano South District directorate of the National Commission OF Civic Education has held a Symposium on Local Government Service for second cycle institutions at the St. Josephs Collage of Education  in the Tano South District at the collages auditorium at Bechem, the District Capital.

In an opening address, Miss Rhoda Akueteh of the NCCE said based on the principles and supremacy of the constitution Ghana has chosen  a constitutional multiparty democratic system of government and local government (Articles 35 and 240 respectively) as the best system of government.

She said, the NCCE was born out of this constitution under article 231 to create and sustain within the society the awareness of the constitution and to encourage the public to defend the constitution against all forms of abuse and violation which consequently will lead to the sustainability and consolidation of our democracy to ensure good governance.

Miss Akueteh mentioned that the patron in the exercise of its functions in spite of  its strenuous and limited resources the NCCE  is also focusing on the students within 1^st and 2^nd Cycle institutions to encourage them to read the constitution, appreciate constitution democracy  know their rights and to value what they as citizens are supposed to do for their country and stressed that she hoped after the presentation on the local government service it will enable the citizenry to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and disposition to deepen democratic culture which would lead to effective consolidation of our democracy.

In his presentation on the topic the Local Government Service   Act 2003 ( Act 656), the Tano South District Chief Executive Hon. Bukari Zakari  Anaba outlined  the topic under five headings namely,

.  Brief history of decentralization and local government service

. Structure and membership of local government service

. Pillars of Decentralization

. Departments and MMDA s and their factions

. The role of Students

Hon. Anaba said decentralization involves the transfer of formal authority from smaller to a larger number of actors who use this authority to perform some services to the public and mentioned that the Government of Ghana (GOG) since 1988 has embarked upon the implementation of a comprehensive decentralization and local government reform programme as an alternative development strategy which is aimed at establishing efficient decentralized government machinery as a means to provide strong support for participatory development and was further given a boost by chapter 20 of the 1992 constitution.

Hon. Anaba said Article 240(i) of the constitution provides that Ghana shall have a system of local government and administration, which shall as far as practicable be decentralized. He said the constitution further provides that:

 Parliament shall formulate law to enhance the capacity of Local Government   Authority to plan, initiate, Co ordinator, manage and execute policies in respect of matters affecting the local people within their areas.

Also, there shall be established for each Local Government Unit, a sound financial base with adequate and reliable source of revenue.      

Again, to ensure accountability of Local Government authority, people in particular Local Government area shall as far as practicable be afforded the opportunity to participate effectively in governance.

Hon. Anaba said, other laws were passed to herald the local government service and administrative decentralization concept into existence and mentioned the PNDC Law 207 in 1988 which established the District Assembly system and many more.

Touching on National level structures, Hon. Anaba said the service has a council known as the Local Government council which is the highest governing body of the service made of 15 members, the local government secretariat headed by the head of service who is assisted by the chief Director and the Local Government Service is also divided into various sectors.

Hon. Anaba said Ghana’s decentralization programme is anchored in four inter- related pillars namely political decentralization, decentralized planning, fiscal decentralization and administrative decentralization and outlined the functions of the four pillars and said Ghana has made a significant progress in all the pillars and what is important is for all of us to get involved in our communities and district levels to bring about the needed transformation in the lives of our people.

The vice principal of St. Josephs collage of Education who chaired the function called on the students to be ambassadors of the programme and preach the local government service and decentralization system to the people and adviced them  on the use of temperate language and respect their parents, teachers and the elderly and avoid bad societal  norms and values to enable them become good future leaders of the country.