Mental Health Authority offers trauma therapy to flood victims (Daily Graphic, Tuesday October 31, 2023 Page 38)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Mental Health Authority (MHA) has deployed staff to communities in the Lower Volta area impacted by the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams to provide crisis and trauma therapy to affected persons in displaced camps.

 

The objective is to assess the situation on the ground and provide psychological support for the affected residents.

The acting Head of Research of the MHA, Samuel Hanu, in an interview with the Daily Graphic last Monday, said a mental health team, made up of psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses, visited the various camps and provided various psycho-social support to victims of the disaster.

“We observed that some of the community members are experiencing some mental health conditions such as anxiety, fear, sleepless nights, nightmares, crying spells, palpitations, muscle stiffness and forgetfulness,” he said.

Mr Hanu indicated that others were also reporting hypertension, which was not present prior to the floods.

“There would be the need to support the Mental Health Authority to undertake extended intervention in the affected areas,” he said.

He said the next step for the MHA was to get the necessary support to augment the mental health support as the few mental health professionals on the ground were overwhelmed.

“It is worthy to note that the mental health effects will linger on long after life returns to normalcy,” he said.

He also encouraged the displaced persons and community members to remain calm and cooperate with authorities as they work around the clock to alleviate their plight.

Background

The Volta River Authority commenced the spillage of excess water on September 15, due to rising levels of the Akosombo and Kpong hydro dams.

 As a result, many communities along the Lower Volta Basin including communities in the South, Central, and North Tongu districts in the Volta Region were affected by the spillage.

The situation rendered residents homeless and some shelters had to be created for them in safe havens.

 via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghananewsmental-health-authority-offers-trauma-therapy-to-flood-victims.html

 

Haulage trucks invade Community 7 Chemu Park (Daily Graphic, Monday, October 30, 2023 Page 23)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tema children’s park under threat: Citizens oppose conversion to residential space(Daily Graphic, Saturday, October 28, 2023 Pages 12/13)

Community recreation facilities are vital spaces that enable social connections and add up to better physical and mental health of community members 

A children’s park in any part of the world provides an opportunity for parents to connect with their children, a place where children can build their social skills, be empowered and be able to build their mental faculties, emotional stability, social dynamisms and relations among others.

The Tema Metropolis boasts of one of such centres that was crucial for helping young people develop lifelong healthy habits, especially after school programmes that helped them solidify their teamwork and leadership.

The 6.18-acre land located adjacent the Tema Senior High School, which also houses the only public library in the harbour city, has been left to rot.

Sadly, the facility has been neglected and the environment is overgrown with weeds. Parts of the facility have become a haven for all manner of miscreants. Some squatters have also erected shacks which serve as a dwelling place for them.

Swings and other play items have all been vandalized, while a chain link fencing mounted to secure the land have all been removed by scrap dealers.

Recently, users of the library spotted heaps of sand and stones being deposited on the land. Not long after, some artisans were seen digging trenches in a bid to fence the land.

Enquiries revealed that the land had been leased to a private developer by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly for high rise residential facilities instead of the original plan as a recreational centre.

Agitations

These developments have since incurred the wrath of some citizens of Tema, who have vowed to oppose any such plans to alter the original purpose of the land.

A Dental Surgeon, Dr Grace Andoh, who is a leading voice for the Zonta Club, an international organisation that works to make gender equality a reality for women and girls worldwide, expressed concern about the intended re-development of the land.

It was previously given to the Zonta Club by the TDC under the leadership of the then Managing Director, Ebenezer Aryee- Bonte, to manage.

She said sometime in the mid 80s, the club under the leadership of Dr Deborah Cubagee, initiated the idea of replicating the Efua Sutherland Children's Park in Tema.

Dr Andoh said the team received support from Ralph Sutherland, son of Efua Sutherland and one Bentsi-Enchill, an architect who came up with architectural drawings of the children’s park and the library.

She said the Zonta Club held various fundraising events to develop the place while the Volta Aluminium Company, known as Valco, also supported by installing play items at the park.

“We had play items such as swings, slides and even swings for adults all installed at the park,” she said, adding that with advocacy, the club managed to put up toilet facilities and other amenities to develop the land into a recreational facility.

She insisted that the place was designed to be a children’s park and Zonta would not sit back and allow the land to be redeveloped for other purposes.

Stakeholders

Gideon Kodzo Tetteh, a leading member of the Concerned Citizens of Tema who is also opposed to the rezoning of the recreational park and library into a residential dwelling unit, said although there was evidence to back their claims that the children’s park land had been leased to a private developer by the TMA, they won’t sit back to watch the land use plan changed from a library and children’s park into a residential or commercial facility.

He appealed to development partners to get on board to develop the land into a modern recreational facility which grandparents, parents and children can utilise.

Mr Tetteh said the group had met with the Board and Management of TDC, Management of TMA and Tema West Municipal Assembly, as well as the security agencies where they expressed their concerns and got the assurance that the issues around the children’s park would be addressed.

He indicated that following concerns raised by stakeholders, the TDC, in collaboration with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and Tema West Municipal Assembly, had met with stakeholders to address concerns regarding the Tema Children's Park.

He said he was so far satisfied with the explanation offered and the assurances given by the city authorities that the children’s park and library facility would be maintained and not converted into a residential or commercial facility.  

City managers

The immediate past President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Full Gospel Church International (FGCI) who added his voice to the call to preserve the children’s park in Tema said the institutions responsible must not mortgage it for residential or commercial activities.

“This is the only park available for the children in the city and we have authorities who would rather think of other commercial activities instead of improving the lives of our people,” he said.’

He said the facility had the potential of helping reduce crime and yet the city managers would rather opt to sell or lease it out to a private developer at the expense of empowering young people.

Bishop Mensah urged the city managers to focus on developing the city as envisioned by the former President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

He called on the TDC and TMA to rather give the land to responsible people who would turn it into a modern recreational facility for the sake of the children. 

Assurance

Checks by the Daily Graphic at TDC Development Company Ltd indicated that the 6.18-acre land was subleased to the TMA in 2013 by the TDC upon request by the then MCE, Robert Kempes Ofosu Ware, to be developed into a modern high rise and commercial facility over a 60-year period.

In leasing out the land, TMA was expected to pay peppercorn rent of GH¢1.00 per annum. However, in February 2013, the TMA applied to the TDC for consent to sublease the plot to WB Impex Limited for a term of 55 years.

In 2018, the then MCE of TMA, Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, repeated the application and impressed on the TDC to grant the application. Thereafter, the sublease application was granted and the land leased to a private developer.

The Protocol and Administrative officer of TDC, Ian Okwei, in an interview with the Daily Graphic he explained that the land in question was leased to the TMA in 2012, based on a formal request from the assembly.

He refuted allegations that the land had been sold to a private developer by the TDC, adding that the land was still designated as a site for a recreational facility for children in Tema.

Meanwhile the MCE for Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, has indicated that the assembly is studying the contract document signed between the

TMA and the private developer 11 years ago for further action.

via:  https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/features/tema-childrens-park-under-threat-citizens-oppose-conversion-to-residential-space.html

GNAT assists displaced teachers in Volta Region(Daily Graphic. October 26, 2023)

The leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has toured the communities inundated as result of the spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong dams and presented GH¢100,000 to affected teachers.  

The Teachers Fund also presented GH¢50,000 to the affected teachers in the North and South Tongu districts where most of the affected teachers could be found.

This was after the GNAT leadership had assessed the impact of the disaster on education because both learners and teachers have been affected.

The visit was also aimed at assisting GNAT to map out strategies for restoring teaching and learning services in the affected communities.

The flood disaster in the lower Volta basin has inflicted significant devastation on the communities in its path.

Seriously impacted are educational infrastructure, some of which now serve as safe havens for displaced persons.

Both learners and facilitators have all become victims as some have lost educational materials and are putting up with family and friends while others are in settlement camps.

The team from GNAT was led by its President, Rev. Isaac Owusu; the General Secretary, Thomas Musah; the Volta Regional Chairman of GNAT; David Kata, and other national and regional executives of GNAT.

The delegation made the presentations when they visited displaced teachers putting up at the St Kizito Senior High Technical School at Mepe. 

 

Emergency measures

The President of GNAT called on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to put in place interim measures to ensure learners in the affected areas were not left behind.

Rev. Owusu assured the teachers and the learners that GNAT would continue to provide whatever support was needed to ameliorate their plight.

The General Secretary of GNAT, Mr Musah, emphasised the need for learners to have access to continuous, equitable, inclusive and quality education under emergency situations, such as the flooding in line with UNESCO education in emergencies (EiE) principle.

He said GNAT would engage the inter-ministerial committee formed to address spillage-induced flooding on the need to come out with measures, including compensation packages, for affected teachers.

Mr Musah said that was important to address the challenges in education in the affected communities and prevent social vices such as teenage pregnancies and child labour.

Numbers

Mr Kata on his part, said 300 teachers in 70 schools from basic to second cycle schools in the Volta and Oti regions had been displaced.

Mr Kata added that 2,000 schoolchildren from the affected areas had also been impacted negatively by the spillage and denied access to education.

via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/education/ghananewsgnat-assists-displaced-teachers-in-volta-region.html

TMA seeks private sector support to renovate Tema Manhean Polyclinic (Daily Graphic, Monday, October 23, 2023. Page 23)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tema Metropolitan Assembly has commenced processes to renovate the Tema Manhean Polyclinic, a key public health facility in the fishing community of Tema.

The assembly has met with stakeholders, including private entities in the building industry, to solicit support to fund the renovation efforts.

The renovation efforts would also be extended to 24 other public basic school infrastructure which are also in a deplorable state. 

Report

The Daily Graphic in its September 28, 2023 edition reported that sections of the facility, including the Out Patients’ Department (OPD) and the offices, experience leaks whenever there is rainfall.

The polyclinic, located on the eastern plain of the fishing harbour near the Naval Base at Tema New Town, was started in 1969 by the Progress Party and completed in 1978 during the General I. K. Acheampong regime. It started full operation in 1979.

In November 2022, the facility was upgraded from a health centre into a polyclinic to provide a range of services to clients.

However, this upgrade did not come with a corresponding improvement of the facility.

Speaking at a meeting with stakeholders last Thursday, the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Tema, Yohane Amarh Ashitey, explained that although the assembly had captured the renovation works in its budget for the year and done the necessary estimates, the inflows had not been as expected, hence the need to touch base with corporate entities in Tema for support.

He said in cases where businesses could not get cash, the assembly would welcome support in the form of building materials and other ancillary logistics to address the challenge facing health as well as educational infrastructure in the metropolis.

The MCE who presented his proposals to the stakeholders urged them to either adopt projects and execute them on behalf of the assembly or provide the needed materials for the assembly to execute with its team of engineers.

Challenges

The Medical Director of the Tema Manhean Polyclinic, Dr Joseph Donkor, said apart from the leaking roof, the facility lacked office space for the operations of the various units as well as the delay in NHIS payments.

Dr Donkor said the facility, between January and June this year, catered for 23,548 patients, an average of about 3,900 patients monthly, excluding the public health activities, stressing that despite these services, the OPD unit was plagued with massive infrastructure problems.

“Service delivery becomes impossible when it’s raining because of roof leakages.The shelves in the records office are full but there is no space for expansion.The electric wiring is poor, which keeps destroying the bulbs and making the room dark always,” he said, adding that there were no chairs for the staff, while staff on night duties had no place to rest.

The Stool Secretary for the Tema Traditional Council, Nii Armah Sompunu II, urged the companies to support the TMA to address the infrastructure challenges facing Tema Manhean.

 

via :  https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/tma-seeks-private-sector-support-to-renovate-tema-manhean-polyclinic.html

 

 

 

President inaugurates Zonda Sinotruk Assembly Plant...cuts sod for phase 3( Daily Graphic, Wednesday, October 18, 2023)

  

 President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has inaugurated phase two of the Sinotruk Assembly Plant project and cut the sod for phase three of the company’s investment in Ghana for the manufacture of vehicle parts and lubricants.

 

The $30-million investment located at Golf City in the Kpone Katamanso Municipality of the Greater Accra Region will increase the current annual production capacity by the company from 850 trucks to more than 3,000 heavy-duty and light-duty trucks, including tipper trucks, wheel loaders, backhoes, trailers, semi-trailers, oil tankers, as well as a variety of light-duty vehicles assembled from semi-knocked down (SKDs) kits that adhere to international standards of quality and safety.

The assembly plant comes under the One-district, One-factory (1D1F) Programme initiated by the government.

The facility will double employment in the company from 356 to 700, with more than 1,000 indirect employment opportunities further projected to be created.

President Akufo-Addo commended the Managing Director of Sinotruk, Yang Yang, and her partners for the commitment to build a major hub in Ghana for the assembly of heavy-duty trucks for the sub-region.

“Sinotruk and partners have demonstrated how major players in the import and distribution chain have taken advantage of strategic interventions such as the 1D1F initiative to transition from importation and distribution of trucks to establishing assembly plants for both the local and export markets,” he said.
 

Skills transfer

The President said the unique feature of Sinotruk’s operation was the state-of-the-art training centre established alongside the plant to train artisans in the application of appropriate technology and skills to build their capacities in assembly processes, repair and maintenance.

He indicated that the government was not oblivious of the challenges confronting the manufacturing sector, adding that he was convinced that the progress being made in restoring macroeconomic stability and the determination to return to a path of growth would benefit the private sector in manufacturing and commerce, with a positive impact on easing the cost of doing business.

President Akufo-Addo described the Sinotruk phase three project as the most optimal transformation project which would ensure that Sinotruk Ghana Limited would be a fully integrated automobile maker in Ghana, with the capacity to supply its assembly lines with locally manufactured parts.

“This is a great leap forward that enables the company to export at scale into the regional market under the Rules of Origin arrangements of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” he said.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, disclosed that the number of 1D1F companies in operation had increased to 169 in 2023 from 126 in 2022, stressing that the increase in industries inspired the ministry to continue to support the private sector to invest in strategic sectors.

He said the Sinotruk facility, which was a fully self-financed 1D1F project, had received a support of GH¢29 million in import duty waivers for plant and machinery and auto assembly kits from the government.

While acknowledging the important roles heavy-duty trucks play in the economies of West Africa, especially in haulage in areas such as sanitation, construction, agriculture and trade logistics, Mr Hammond said the story of Sinotruk Ghana, in particular, was also a story of the high entrepreneurial spirit and fortitude embodied in its managing director, whose business interests expanded and rapidly transformed from importing spare parts for sale to operating an auto garage service before establishing seven branches in six regions of the country.
 

Industrialisation

Ms Yang said the choice to shift from trade to industrialisation was a pivotal step in building a self-sustaining ecosystem for the society.

She said her outfit, beyond serving the domestic market, was actively exploring opportunities to increase its export of high quality vehicles to countries in the West African sub-region, thus solidifying its presence in the broader West African automotive landscape.

Ms Yang said she recognised the efforts being made in Ghana to promote industrialisation, particularly through the 1D1F initiative, saying it was helping local industries to thrive and contribute to the nation's economic growth.To further empower the company’s efforts to become more competitive in the Ghanaian market, Ms Yang appealed to the President to grant zero VAT on the locally assembled heavy-duty trucks, stressing that the move would be a transformative step.
 

GIADEC

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC), Michael Ansah, said the expansion of the production line provided opportunities for agencies such as the Ghana Bauxite Company to work with a world-class company that would provide equipment and logistics solutions to assist in ramping up production, making it more attractive to investors as it expanded from a production base of 1.5 million metric tons to five million metric tons even as government was working towards the establishment of a refinery in Ghana.

Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@
graphic.com.gh

via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/president-inaugurates-zonda-sinotruk-assembly-plant-cuts-sod-for-phase-3.html

 

High Court to rule on contempt case against EC (Daily Graphic, Tuesday October 17, 2023, Page 18)

The High Court in Tema has set November 24, 2023, to deliver a ruling on the contempt case brought against the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, and her two deputies who have been dragged to court for contempt of court over the limited voter registration exercise

The applicant, Precious Ayitah, had prayed the High Court to commit Mrs Mensa, Dr Eric Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey for contempt of court for going ahead with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC despite her injunction application that sought to put the exercise on hold.

The Court presided over by Justice Patricia Quansah, directed the parties in the matter to file their written submissions by November 16, 2023.

The parties will then return on November 24, 2023, for the ruling.

The respondents, Mrs Mensa, Dr Asare and Mr Tettey, were presented in court amidst heavy military and Police escort.

In her contempt suit against the EC Chairperson and her deputies, Precious Ayitah, a resident of Otsebleku, near Afienya in the Greater Accra Region, which is about 44.3 kilometres from the district office of the EC in Prampram, said the originating motion on notice and interlocutory injunction was served on the respondents on September 8, 2023, to restrain them from going ahead with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC.

She argued that the respondents disregarded the said injunction application and proceeded with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC.

Ms Ayitah, in her affidavit in support of the application, said the respondent’s intention to proceed with the limited registration exercise at the district offices jeopardised the outcome of the initial interlocutory injunction application and the substantive suit that was brought to the court, hence contemptuous of the court.

Order

One of the lawyers for the applicant, Reindolf Twumasi Ankrah, who held brief for Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, indicated that since the records show that the origination motion on notice has been overtaken by events, their client was left with no option than to proceed with the contempt application.  

Mr Ankrah then sought leave of the court to make an oral submission.

However, Justice Patricia Quansah ordered lawyers of both parties to file their written submissions by November 16 and adjourned the hearing to November 24 for the ruling on the contempt case.

This was after Justin Amenuvor, lawyer for the EC chairperson and her deputies, had indicated in court that his clients had filed an affidavit in opposition to the contempt suit.

via : https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/high-court-to-rule-on-contempt-case-against-ec.html

Awareness campaign on small-scale cross border traders launched (Daily Graphic, Tuesday, October 17, 2023 Page 33)

 

Ashaiman Agenda 111 hospital projects takes off( Daily Graphic, Saturday, October 14, 2023. Page 10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Municipal Chief Executive for Ashaiman, Albert Boakye Okyere, has handed over the site for works to begin on the construction of a100-bed municipal hospital for the area. 

The MCE, accompanied by the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey, traditional chiefs, and political party executives in the Ashaiman constituency, joined the project consultants, Indigene Associates, for a brief site presentation ceremony at the project site near Community 22.

The hospital, being constructed under the government's flagship Agenda 111, will be constructed by three contractors including ASVAS Ltd and JOSANO Ltd at a cost of USD$ 12 million.The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2024

 At the sod-cutting ceremony, Mr Okyere said Ashaiman deserved a modern hospital to cater for the health needs of the people considering how fast the municipality was growing.

He explained that although the municipality boasts a polyclinic, which was recently upgraded to the status of a primary hospital to meet the health needs of the growing population of Ashaiman, some of the residents of Ashaiman and its environs were forced to travel to the Tema General Hospital and other private facilities to seek healthcare service

Mr Okyere commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his commitment to extend health facilities to every district in the country and gave an assurance that the Assembly would ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the project

He also commended the Ghana Armed Forces for releasing part of its lands at Michel Camp, the base of the First Battalion of Infantry for the project.

Access to healthcare 

 The Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey, welcomed the initiative aimed at improving access to healthcare facilities by the people of Ashaiman.

He said prior to the sod cutting ceremony yesterday, the previous NDC Government in 2015 had secured the land from the Ghana Armed Forces for the construction of the E-block project and a health facility and expressed his joy at the efforts of the current administration to pursue the vision and ensuring that the land was put to good use.

Multi-storey

The Project Consultant, Romeo Ohene Djan, said initially the project was designed to sit on a 15-acre land, but since the land offered in Ashaiman was just five acres, the facility was redesigned as a two-storey hospital.It would have units such as patient reception and processing area, administration, pharmacy, laboratories and diagnostics units, out patients department (OPD), physiotherapy, public health, 
Accident and Emergency Unit, surgical ward, pediatric ward, maternity ward, isolation ward and surgery. 

He said the facility would be supported by other structures like mortuary, waiting pavilions, security pavilions, residences for key medical staff, laundry, waste management, kitchen, central store, maintenance yard as well as a mortuary.

 

via:  https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-news-ashaiman-agenda-111-hospital-project-takes-off.html

New shoe factory opens at Akosombo(Daily Graphic, October 12, 2023. Back Page)

 

The Paramount Chief of the Akwamu Traditional Area, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, has inaugurated a $20-million local shoe manufacturing company which seeks to produce shoes from plastic materials Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA).  

World Shoes Limited Ghana has the capacity to manufacture annually five million pairs of EVA shoes ranging from casual boat shoes stylish brogues, smart loafers, to hiking shoes.

According to the promoters of the project, the siting of the factory in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region would create jobs for the residents in the area.

World Shoes, which operates from the premises of Akosombo Textile Limited, making use of the abandoned factory floors, has so far created 1,050 jobs for people in the Asuogyaman District, and is a classic example of the import substitution programme for rubber shoes.

Factory

The use of some of the ATL factory floors for other businesses forms part of an initiative by Akosombo Industries Company Limited, which also runs ATL, to utilise the vast infrastructure resources due to the collapsed textile business as a result of the importation of cheap textile products onto the Ghanaian market.

Speaking at the inauguration of the factory last Tuesday, the Omanhene of Akwamu commended the promoters of the factory, President and Founder of World Shoes, Emmanuel Ohonme, and Co-owner of the organisation,Benjamin Kojo Taylor, for extending their investment to his traditional area.

He said the ripple effects and acts of kindness exhibited through such an intervention would benefit the people of the area through the creation of employment, training opportunities and economic activities.

“This factory represents a beacon of progress and prosperity for our community, and embodies the spirit of our Akwamu Arising agenda,” he said.

Odeneho Akoto III expressed the hope that the ultimate outcome of the economic progress brought about by the factory would bring the people closer together with the aim of building a better, more prosperous Akwamuman.

“More importantly, these shoes go beyond covering the feet and protecting against disease, they facilitate education, transformation, dignity and empowerment, all very important weapons against poverty, and you are all already aware that I have declared war against illiteracy and poverty in this community,” he said

Vision

For his part, Mr Ohonme said the vision to establish the factory was borne out of having donated millions of World Shoes to needy children around the world through the Christian missionary, Samaritan’s Feet and their partners, stressing that there was the need to now establish a global brand that would not only transform lives but also uplift communities and nations.

He said World Shoe products would form part of an integrated bundle of healthcare services that addressed broader public health and environmental sustainability mandates.

He indicated that versatile designs of the footwear were intended to provide comfortable, breathable support in a variety of climates and conditions, stressing that the products, made from durable EVA foam and infused with antimicrobial and biodegradation agents, would contribute to a holistic strategy for public health, while reducing waste and the environmental impact of the footwear industry.

He expressed optimism that the company would use Ghana as its base to produce shoes for the local market, the sub-region, the African continent and the rest of the world.Mr Taylor said they believed the new World Shoe factory was a demonstration of how African innovation could propel African development and create change on a global scale.

Model

“By creating a model that provided people with affordable, high-quality, eco-friendly shoes, we can support education, health and economic outcomes while protecting the environment.” he added

He said the initiative offered a chance to create manufacturing industries and jobs for the youth, stressing that for any developing country to succeed with its economic development plan, governments must focus on industrialisation to address the youth unemployment challenge, by attracting private sector investments.

 

via : https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/new-shoe-factory-opens-at-akosombo.html

GRA Community 9 rewards top best tax compliant companies ( Daily Graphic, Mon October 9, 2023 Page 49)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tema Community 9 Taxpayer Service Centre (TSC) of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has adjudged Hapag-Lloyd Ghana Ltd, a shipping company as the Overall Best Taxpayer for the 2020 to 2022 years of assessment.   

A Citation of Honour and a plaque in recognition of this achievement was presented to the company at a ceremony last Friday at the premises of the organisation in Tema Two other institutions Multi-Pac Ghana Ltd, a beverage manufacturer and Cargill Ghana Limited, a licensed cocoa buying company which came second and third respectively have also been honoured by the Tema Community 9 Taxpayer Service Centre.

Presenting the citation to the organisations, the Office Manager of the Tema Community 9 TSC, Assistant Commissioner, Philip Apawu commended the three organisations for always filing and paying their tax obligations on time.

He applauded the three companies for being the most tax-compliant business within the Tema Community 9 TSC out of the over 1,500 active taxpayers.

Strategy

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Apawu said as part of GRA’s effort to become a world class revenue organisation, the Commissioner-General of GRA, Rev. Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah and his top management have mandated the various TSCs to identify and recognise clients who have excelled in fulfilling their tax obligations.

He explained that the winners were selected using a model that was an unbiased and took into account the compliance of filing and paying on time, how much they each contributed to revenue of GRA as well as the growth rate of the respective companies.

Mr Apawu added that although it was not common practice to give organisations which fulfil their tax obligations citations, the performance of  the three organisations were so admirable hence it was only appropriate to present them with the citation to encourage other clients to fulfil their tax obligations. 

 Appreciation

Receiving the citation on behalf of Hapag-Lloyd Ghana Ltd, the Country Manager, Robert Oram expressed gratitude to GRA for the award in recognition of their efforts in paying taxes and on time.

Mr Oram said being a company in their fifth year of operation in Ghana,such recognition showed the hard work they had been putting in within the first few years of conducting business in the right way and pledge to do more to contribute their quota to the nation’s development efforts.

The outgoing Managing Director of Cargill Ghana Limited, Aedo Van Der Weij said in his 30 years of work experience spanning nine countries worldwide, Ghana was the first country he had seen such positive recognition for tax payment adding that it would serve as an encouragement to other local companies to follow.  

The Managing Director of Multi-Pac Ghana Ltd, Hassan Jaber also expressed gratitude to the GRA for recognising the efforts of his outfit to the revenue mobilisation drive adding that it would spur them on to do more.

Present at the presentation ceremony were the head of Accounts Eric Dormenu, the Chief Revenue Officer, Taxpayer Services, Mavis Ayisi,and Chief Revenue Officer Return Processing,Nelly Tetteh,  all of the Tema Community 9 TSC.

via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/gra-community-9-rewards-top-best-tax-compliant-companies.html