THE National Petroleum Authority (NPA), will by the close of this year colour kerosene and put identity markers on all petroleum products for easy indentification.
According to the regulator this would stem the rampant adulterations of the products by dealers which, it maintained causes numerous havoc to consumers.
Addressing a meeting of the Petroleum Retailers Association (PRA) in Accra, Mr Daniel Amoah, a Director of Pricing, Planning and Research at the NPA said the authority was always facing challenges on the quality and quantity of petroleum products in the country.
The meeting which was on the theme: “The role of the retailer in a deregulated petroleum industry” had the Executive Secretary of the NPA and the Director General of the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) as guest speakers.
Mr Amoah, who represented the Executive Secretary of the NPA said some of the products were always adulterated.
To forestall those actions and further protect consumers, the Director said “the NPA is going to colour kerosene as we have done to premix fuel. We would also introduce identity markers, a small quantity of a chemical put in the fuel, such that if you add even a drop of product ‘A’ into product ‘B’ the chemical would be able to show that product ‘A’ has been added to product ‘B”.
The NPA has for sometime now been grappling with issues of adulterations of the various petroleum products refined or imported into the country.
The authority has always maintained that less costly products like kerosene and premix fuel, which are mostly subsidised for rural folks are always added to the more costly ones like petrol and diesel by dealers as a way of maximising quantity and profit.
The authority last year coloured premix fuel, a product used for marine activities as a strategy to prevent its adulteration with other petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene by dealers.
He said anyone, be it tanker drivers, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) or retailers who would be caught adulterating the various products after the measure was implemented “would be dealt with” .
The director called on OMCs to model their operations to be in line with the various laws governing the country’s petroleum sector.
“Your business models can’t change the laws of the petroleum sector but you can change your models to conform with the laws. This is our resolve and we would peruse it to the ultimate”, Mr Amoah cautioned the OMCs.
The President of the PRA, Mr Sylvester Apedu appealed to the NPA to compel the OMCs to pay the retailers their margins as was recently revised by the authority.
The verification of products delivered at the stations, according to the President also creates problems for them.
“Whereas the refinery and bulk traders use flow meters as instruments of measurement when loading products, we the retailers use the dipsticks to verify the volumes and this results in disagreements between drivers and retailers”, Mr Apedu said.
Mr Ade Acquah, Head of Material Science, at the Ghana Standard Board explained that while the retailers normally maintained that carrying the flow meters from the refinery to the stations by the tanker drivers could cause the calibrations to be altered, the tanker drivers also insist that dipsticks kept by retailers at their various stations could be tampered with.
The Managing Director of TOR Mr Ato Ampiah, who chaired the meeting pleaded with the NPA to collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to solve the problem.
He said “proactivity is what is needed to safe the petroleum industry from collapse. If we sit down and talk about trust, people would go home empty handed. The dipstick is too archaic to be talked about at this time”.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
VETURE CAPITAL Capitalises to the Tune of Gh$100m
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
The management of the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) says it is increasing its fund pool to over US$100 million in 2011 to enable it support small medium enterprise investments.
To achieve that, the management said it expected to leverage its new capital injection with funds from foreign investors as well as local financial institutions to establish new funds.
It will also intensify its public awareness campaign as a way of educating SMEs on the benefits of equity investments as it seeks to attract more funds from local financial institutions.
Addressing a press conference in Accra to launch the fund’s vision for 2011, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the VCTF, Mr Daniel Duku, said the fund had partnered both local and foreign investors to create a pool of GH¢ 83 million for SME investments as at 2010.
“In doing so, the Trust fund has established five venture capital funds and invested the Ghana cedi equivalent of US$ 17 million, adding that more than 1,000 direct jobs have been created by 39 portfolio companies.
The VCTF was established in 2006 by the Ghana Government tasked with the responsibility of providing capital to SME’s and also to promote venture capital, funds set aside to use in assisting SME’s to expand.
The fund started operations with GH¢22.4 million as seed money from the then government and has since vetured into many SME’s in the country.
The CEO said the VCTF recognised the need to complement the government’s efforts toward supporting SMEs and “wil1 continue to secure additional funding through our flagship public private partnership mode”, adding that the VCTF would continue to work closely with permanent source of funding to the fund.
Mr Duku said the fund, in collaboration with its partners, had committed GH¢3.7 million in commodity value chain activities which included sorghum and soybean production as “import substitution”.
According to him, the said capital had yielded an estimated 12,600 metric tons of sorghum, which had a market value of GH¢7.4 million, twice the cost of the capital invested.
The CEO noted that 8,000 smallholder farmers were integrated into the value chain activity which led to the creation of 1,400 full time employment in the participating communities and farmerbase organizations, adding “GH¢45,400 were paid to those communities and districts as local councils tax”.
Touching on the fund’s plans for 2011, Mr Duku said an “Investor Learning Journey” to attract both local and foreign strategic investors will be organised to raise funds.
“Emphasis will be placed on new initiatives such as yellow maize financing to support the poultry and livestock industry”, the CEO said, adding that the vegetable sector would also receive the needed attention from the fund.
Mr Duku said the fund had also resolved to establish and deepen relations with various professional bodies including the Bankers’ Association, Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Bar Association and the Private Enterprise Foundation.
He said the Ghana Club 100, an annual award scheme for companies that had excel in their areas of operations, had not targeted the SME’s a situation Mr Duku observed had not motivated the SME operators to excel.
“To spur entrepreneurship within the economy”, VCTF, he said, had thus resolved to collaborate with various industry associations and stakeholders to “institute an SME awards scheme to honour Ghanaian SMEs entrepreneurs who have established and sustained successful profitable businesses”.
The management of the Venture Capital Trust Fund (VCTF) says it is increasing its fund pool to over US$100 million in 2011 to enable it support small medium enterprise investments.
To achieve that, the management said it expected to leverage its new capital injection with funds from foreign investors as well as local financial institutions to establish new funds.
It will also intensify its public awareness campaign as a way of educating SMEs on the benefits of equity investments as it seeks to attract more funds from local financial institutions.
Addressing a press conference in Accra to launch the fund’s vision for 2011, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the VCTF, Mr Daniel Duku, said the fund had partnered both local and foreign investors to create a pool of GH¢ 83 million for SME investments as at 2010.
“In doing so, the Trust fund has established five venture capital funds and invested the Ghana cedi equivalent of US$ 17 million, adding that more than 1,000 direct jobs have been created by 39 portfolio companies.
The VCTF was established in 2006 by the Ghana Government tasked with the responsibility of providing capital to SME’s and also to promote venture capital, funds set aside to use in assisting SME’s to expand.
The fund started operations with GH¢22.4 million as seed money from the then government and has since vetured into many SME’s in the country.
The CEO said the VCTF recognised the need to complement the government’s efforts toward supporting SMEs and “wil1 continue to secure additional funding through our flagship public private partnership mode”, adding that the VCTF would continue to work closely with permanent source of funding to the fund.
Mr Duku said the fund, in collaboration with its partners, had committed GH¢3.7 million in commodity value chain activities which included sorghum and soybean production as “import substitution”.
According to him, the said capital had yielded an estimated 12,600 metric tons of sorghum, which had a market value of GH¢7.4 million, twice the cost of the capital invested.
The CEO noted that 8,000 smallholder farmers were integrated into the value chain activity which led to the creation of 1,400 full time employment in the participating communities and farmerbase organizations, adding “GH¢45,400 were paid to those communities and districts as local councils tax”.
Touching on the fund’s plans for 2011, Mr Duku said an “Investor Learning Journey” to attract both local and foreign strategic investors will be organised to raise funds.
“Emphasis will be placed on new initiatives such as yellow maize financing to support the poultry and livestock industry”, the CEO said, adding that the vegetable sector would also receive the needed attention from the fund.
Mr Duku said the fund had also resolved to establish and deepen relations with various professional bodies including the Bankers’ Association, Association of Ghana Industries, the Ghana Bar Association and the Private Enterprise Foundation.
He said the Ghana Club 100, an annual award scheme for companies that had excel in their areas of operations, had not targeted the SME’s a situation Mr Duku observed had not motivated the SME operators to excel.
“To spur entrepreneurship within the economy”, VCTF, he said, had thus resolved to collaborate with various industry associations and stakeholders to “institute an SME awards scheme to honour Ghanaian SMEs entrepreneurs who have established and sustained successful profitable businesses”.
New entertainment centre opens in Accra
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Chief Executive Officer of the Eldorado Gaming International, Mr John Kivinen, says the springing up of more entertainment centres in Ghana will go a long way to enhance the country’s foreign investor attraction potentials.
He said entertainment centres such as Eldorado which operated slot casinos, roulette, and lounge bars “help the overall package of foreign investor attractions”.
Mr Kivinen said tourist and business investors who came into the country always needed entertainment places such as casinos where they would spend their time.
He made the remarks during the opening of Delfino Entertainment Limited (DEL) in Accra. The DEL is the first unit of the Eldorado Gaming International, a Sweddish and Canadian owned entertainment company which operates 70 casinos in 10 countries throughout four continents.
The DEL, located at Osu, currently operates 32 slot machines in the ordinary session and eight in the Very Important Personalities’ (VIP) session.
Mr Kivinen said plans were far advanced to open more gaming centres in Accra and in other regional capitals before the end of the year.
Mr Jerry Hanson, a sound engineer who himself had done numerous researches on gambling and the society said such a game “is the fastest paying and killing game in the world”.
He said the habit of people wanting to win more prices after an initial win is what makes most to loose instead.
According to him “games like these are just for fun and if you want to take them as money making ventures, then you would spell your own doom”.
“In this game, the word is always enough; if you come in with Gh¢ 50 you may leave with Gh¢ 100, but some think they should get more than that and that is what leads most to loose instead”, Mr Hanson added.
An Administrator at the DEL, Mr Alex Kwasi Wiredu, told the Daily Graphic that the focus of the DEL was for its customers to win.
“Our focus here is for you to win; we don’t leave you empty handed”, he said.
THE Chief Executive Officer of the Eldorado Gaming International, Mr John Kivinen, says the springing up of more entertainment centres in Ghana will go a long way to enhance the country’s foreign investor attraction potentials.
He said entertainment centres such as Eldorado which operated slot casinos, roulette, and lounge bars “help the overall package of foreign investor attractions”.
 |
| The Managing Director of the DEL, Mr Tomi Korpela, (left) with the CEO of EGL (the mother company of the DEL), Mr Jon Kivinen playing with the slot machines at the ordinary session. |
Mr Kivinen said tourist and business investors who came into the country always needed entertainment places such as casinos where they would spend their time.
He made the remarks during the opening of Delfino Entertainment Limited (DEL) in Accra. The DEL is the first unit of the Eldorado Gaming International, a Sweddish and Canadian owned entertainment company which operates 70 casinos in 10 countries throughout four continents.
The DEL, located at Osu, currently operates 32 slot machines in the ordinary session and eight in the Very Important Personalities’ (VIP) session.
Mr Kivinen said plans were far advanced to open more gaming centres in Accra and in other regional capitals before the end of the year.
Mr Jerry Hanson, a sound engineer who himself had done numerous researches on gambling and the society said such a game “is the fastest paying and killing game in the world”.
He said the habit of people wanting to win more prices after an initial win is what makes most to loose instead.
According to him “games like these are just for fun and if you want to take them as money making ventures, then you would spell your own doom”.
“In this game, the word is always enough; if you come in with Gh¢ 50 you may leave with Gh¢ 100, but some think they should get more than that and that is what leads most to loose instead”, Mr Hanson added.
An Administrator at the DEL, Mr Alex Kwasi Wiredu, told the Daily Graphic that the focus of the DEL was for its customers to win.
“Our focus here is for you to win; we don’t leave you empty handed”, he said.
 |
| Mr Korpela in a "freaky-treaky" move |
GRA adds new component to its Employee Well-being Programme
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) have added another component, financial wellness and social security, to their Employee Well-being Programme (EWP).
The EPW is an initiative of the two institutions meant to oversee to the well-being of their respective employees, their immediate families as well as their areas of operations.
The country Co-ordinator of the EWP, Dr Aduana Ignea, who announced this at a sensitisation workshop in Accra, explained that the new component was aimed at counselling employees on how to manage their finances, expenses, investments and also on retirements.
The workshop was among others meant to review the operations of the EWP in 2010 and was attended by representatives from the GRA, GCNet, and the EWP as well as the Ghana Aids Commission, Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Services, National Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis Control Programmes, National Disaster and Management Organisation, all partners of the programme.
Dr Ignea said the EWP evolved from an HIV/AIDS screening exercise in 2006 -2009 for the respective workforces of the then revenue agencies; Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), and the Value Added Tax (VAT) which have now been merged to form the GRA.
She said staff of the GRA and GCNet under the financial wellness component would be individually counselled on how to handle their finances to check mismanagement.
Dr Ignea later dispelled notions that the new component was meant to bring employees of the two institutions money.
“Some people always think I will come and give them money, no; The financial wellness component does not give money, rather we counsel employees on how to handle their financial matters, be it indebtedness, investments, retirement planning among others”, Dr Ignea noted.
She said the EWP enjoyed both financial and technical support from the German International Corporation (GIZ), and thus, disagreed with suggestions that the EWP was venturing into an area it had no expertise in.
According to the Co-ordinator “the programme will reach approximately 38,000 people by 2012”
Mr Anthony A Minlah, Commissioner, Support Services at the GRA said the EWP had helped reduce sicknesses among the authority’s staff and further reduced their medical costs.
He said; “The authority would start budgeting for the programme this year” explaining that the partners in the programme had called for a spread of the cost incurred instead of them (the partners) fully taking care of it.
“The GRA needs a healthy staff to achieve its revenue targets for the year”, Mr Minlah said and thus advised the staff to take the programme seriously.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) have added another component, financial wellness and social security, to their Employee Well-being Programme (EWP).
The EPW is an initiative of the two institutions meant to oversee to the well-being of their respective employees, their immediate families as well as their areas of operations.
The country Co-ordinator of the EWP, Dr Aduana Ignea, who announced this at a sensitisation workshop in Accra, explained that the new component was aimed at counselling employees on how to manage their finances, expenses, investments and also on retirements.
The workshop was among others meant to review the operations of the EWP in 2010 and was attended by representatives from the GRA, GCNet, and the EWP as well as the Ghana Aids Commission, Ministry of Health, the Ghana Health Services, National Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis Control Programmes, National Disaster and Management Organisation, all partners of the programme.
Dr Ignea said the EWP evolved from an HIV/AIDS screening exercise in 2006 -2009 for the respective workforces of the then revenue agencies; Customs, Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), and the Value Added Tax (VAT) which have now been merged to form the GRA.
She said staff of the GRA and GCNet under the financial wellness component would be individually counselled on how to handle their finances to check mismanagement.
Dr Ignea later dispelled notions that the new component was meant to bring employees of the two institutions money.
“Some people always think I will come and give them money, no; The financial wellness component does not give money, rather we counsel employees on how to handle their financial matters, be it indebtedness, investments, retirement planning among others”, Dr Ignea noted.
She said the EWP enjoyed both financial and technical support from the German International Corporation (GIZ), and thus, disagreed with suggestions that the EWP was venturing into an area it had no expertise in.
According to the Co-ordinator “the programme will reach approximately 38,000 people by 2012”
Mr Anthony A Minlah, Commissioner, Support Services at the GRA said the EWP had helped reduce sicknesses among the authority’s staff and further reduced their medical costs.
He said; “The authority would start budgeting for the programme this year” explaining that the partners in the programme had called for a spread of the cost incurred instead of them (the partners) fully taking care of it.
“The GRA needs a healthy staff to achieve its revenue targets for the year”, Mr Minlah said and thus advised the staff to take the programme seriously.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
JOB OPPORTUNITY
A newly established hotel is seeking the services of an experience goal-oriented person for immediate employment as a
HOTEL MANAGER
Nature of Job
1.To advice management on other job category recruitment.
2.To come up with a vision plan for the hotel
3.To oversee to the day-to-day running of the hotel when operations begin.
4.All other duties as may be assigned by management.
Qualifications
Interested persons must have;
1. Three years working experience in management position, preferably in the hospitality sector.
2. At least a first degree in a hospitality related course from a reputable institution
3. Posses good inter personal relations
4.Computer literacy is an added advantage
Only short listed applicants would be considered.
Interested persons should contact 0271230070 for immediate discussions.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Media houses must have a capital base - Boateng
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akaalare
THE Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Alliance (GMA) has called for a specified capital base which prospective and existing media house owners should attain before being allowed entry into the media industry.
The former African Head of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), Mr Edward Boateng, said the lack of financial restrictions on entry into the media industry had led to lots of media houses popping up in the country.
He thus observed: “If we change the dynamics by coming up with a specified capital base for media entry in this country, most media houses would be forced to merge,” a situation Mr Boateng insisted would lead to improve service conditions for media practitioners in the country.
The CEO of the integrated media and entertainment company made the observations during a media day organised by the GMA in Accra.
The programme afforded participants and media practitioners from various media houses in the country the opportunity to share their frustrations and experiences in the field and propose ways of tackling future situations.
It was also used by the company to share, with the participants, the visions and programme line up for the company in 2011.
The media in Ghana, according to Mr Boateng, was positioned as a political tool instead of an economic one as was the case in other countries and thus called on the stakeholders to consider changing the phenomenon.
The public’s view of the media as a political instrument, he said, had made financial institutions in the country sceptical about the media when it came to lending them money for expansions.
“Financial institutions don’t see media houses as huge revenue earners as they see mining and telecom companies.”
But the media needed access to long term funding to be able to improve on their services such as holding government accountable as well delivering credible information to the general public, according to Mr Boateng.
“I think if we get it right, we would be able to fastrack our development in Ghana and Africa at large,” the CEO said.
He thus called on financial institutions to be supportive of the media as far as funding was concerned.
The Global Media Alliance is an integrated media and entertainment company with business offices in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, with affiliate offices in the London and Nigeria.
GMA Ghana comprises of Happy FM, Y FM, e-tv Ghana, all Accra based media houses and Anigye FM based in Kumasi, as well as Silver Bird Cinema Entertainment Ghana Limited which consists of a cinema, a lifestyle store and a game arcade, all in Accra.
THE Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Alliance (GMA) has called for a specified capital base which prospective and existing media house owners should attain before being allowed entry into the media industry.
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| Kabral Blay-Amihere, Chairman of the National Media Commission |
The former African Head of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), Mr Edward Boateng, said the lack of financial restrictions on entry into the media industry had led to lots of media houses popping up in the country.
He thus observed: “If we change the dynamics by coming up with a specified capital base for media entry in this country, most media houses would be forced to merge,” a situation Mr Boateng insisted would lead to improve service conditions for media practitioners in the country.
The CEO of the integrated media and entertainment company made the observations during a media day organised by the GMA in Accra.
The programme afforded participants and media practitioners from various media houses in the country the opportunity to share their frustrations and experiences in the field and propose ways of tackling future situations.
It was also used by the company to share, with the participants, the visions and programme line up for the company in 2011.
The media in Ghana, according to Mr Boateng, was positioned as a political tool instead of an economic one as was the case in other countries and thus called on the stakeholders to consider changing the phenomenon.
The public’s view of the media as a political instrument, he said, had made financial institutions in the country sceptical about the media when it came to lending them money for expansions.
“Financial institutions don’t see media houses as huge revenue earners as they see mining and telecom companies.”
 |
| Edward Boateng, CEO, GMA |
But the media needed access to long term funding to be able to improve on their services such as holding government accountable as well delivering credible information to the general public, according to Mr Boateng.
“I think if we get it right, we would be able to fastrack our development in Ghana and Africa at large,” the CEO said.
He thus called on financial institutions to be supportive of the media as far as funding was concerned.
The Global Media Alliance is an integrated media and entertainment company with business offices in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, with affiliate offices in the London and Nigeria.
GMA Ghana comprises of Happy FM, Y FM, e-tv Ghana, all Accra based media houses and Anigye FM based in Kumasi, as well as Silver Bird Cinema Entertainment Ghana Limited which consists of a cinema, a lifestyle store and a game arcade, all in Accra.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Masloc assists Makola fire victims
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
SEVENTY-ONE out of the 684 victims of the Makola Number 2 fire disaster have received a total of GH¢99,000 as loans from the MacroFinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to restart their businesses.
The Public Relations Officer of the MASLOC, Mr Mustapha Abubakar, told the Daily Graphic that GH¢99,000 had so far been distributed to the 71 traders who lost many wares to the inferno two months ago.
The loan, which is as a result of President Mills directive the MASLOC to assist the fire victims to restart their businesses, has an interest rate of 1.5 per cent spread across a maximum repayment period of 12 months.
Per the loan, the executive members of the Makola Number 2 Traders Association are taken as main guarantors to the beneficiaries with individual beneficiaries in a group also serving as guarantors to one another.
According to the PRO, the distribution of the loans was based on a list presented to the MASLOC by the committee that was set up to investigate the cause and the extend of damage caused by the November 18, 2010 inferno.
Mr Abubakar explained that officials of the MASLOC,aided by the leadership of the Makola traders, did an appraisal of what individual traders claimed to have lost when they met with the committee.
The appraisal, he said was meant to “find out how much each of them actually lost and to find out how they are each going to pay back the loans”.
He agreed that the benefiting victims might not be contend with the amount given to them under the initiative but said, “the fact that you lost, say GH¢10,000 does not mean we should give you exactly that amount”.
The government, he added, “is only trying to give them something like a leverage, the amount the individual victim needs to start-up his/her business” after that disastrous inferno.
Following the fire incident which destroyed wares running into millions of Ghana cedis, President Mills, upon a visit to the market, directed MASLOC to help the victims with loans to restart their businesses.
A five-member committee, which was set up to investigate the incident, later concluded that 650 people were affected with goods estimated at GH¢25 million been destroyed.
As a result, MASLOC contracted UniCredit Ghana Limited, a savings and loans branch of UniBank Ghana Limited located in the market to do the distribution of the money to the assessed victims.
Each of the prospective beneficiaries was thus asked to open an account with the UniCredit or alternatively do same with any bank of choice for the money to be paid into it.
That, according to the PRO, was to forestall any eventuality that could have occurred should the MASLOC officials do the distributions in persons.
At the moment, Mr Abubakar said the second tranch of the disbursement is almost ready and will be available to UniCredit for redistribution in the coming weeks.
He added that a total of 648 of the victims have so far been assessed and was optimistic MASLOC will finish the distribution by the end of this month.
The PRO said the recovery rate of the centre of loans given out in June 2010 was 99.5 per cent and thus, was optimistic the centre will recover all the 1.5 million loan set to be disbursed to the victims.
He further called on the benefiacries to speed up with the repayment to enable others to benefit from the package.
When contacted, Trudy Crabb, Organiser of the Makola traders, said their members had received their money, adding that the group is currently working to ensure that the second batch of the money is released soon.
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| A distance view of the Makola No. 2 market before the fire |
SEVENTY-ONE out of the 684 victims of the Makola Number 2 fire disaster have received a total of GH¢99,000 as loans from the MacroFinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) to restart their businesses.
The Public Relations Officer of the MASLOC, Mr Mustapha Abubakar, told the Daily Graphic that GH¢99,000 had so far been distributed to the 71 traders who lost many wares to the inferno two months ago.
The loan, which is as a result of President Mills directive the MASLOC to assist the fire victims to restart their businesses, has an interest rate of 1.5 per cent spread across a maximum repayment period of 12 months.
Per the loan, the executive members of the Makola Number 2 Traders Association are taken as main guarantors to the beneficiaries with individual beneficiaries in a group also serving as guarantors to one another.
According to the PRO, the distribution of the loans was based on a list presented to the MASLOC by the committee that was set up to investigate the cause and the extend of damage caused by the November 18, 2010 inferno.
Mr Abubakar explained that officials of the MASLOC,aided by the leadership of the Makola traders, did an appraisal of what individual traders claimed to have lost when they met with the committee.
The appraisal, he said was meant to “find out how much each of them actually lost and to find out how they are each going to pay back the loans”.
He agreed that the benefiting victims might not be contend with the amount given to them under the initiative but said, “the fact that you lost, say GH¢10,000 does not mean we should give you exactly that amount”.
The government, he added, “is only trying to give them something like a leverage, the amount the individual victim needs to start-up his/her business” after that disastrous inferno.
 |
| Prez Atta Mills |
Following the fire incident which destroyed wares running into millions of Ghana cedis, President Mills, upon a visit to the market, directed MASLOC to help the victims with loans to restart their businesses.
A five-member committee, which was set up to investigate the incident, later concluded that 650 people were affected with goods estimated at GH¢25 million been destroyed.
As a result, MASLOC contracted UniCredit Ghana Limited, a savings and loans branch of UniBank Ghana Limited located in the market to do the distribution of the money to the assessed victims.
Each of the prospective beneficiaries was thus asked to open an account with the UniCredit or alternatively do same with any bank of choice for the money to be paid into it.
That, according to the PRO, was to forestall any eventuality that could have occurred should the MASLOC officials do the distributions in persons.
At the moment, Mr Abubakar said the second tranch of the disbursement is almost ready and will be available to UniCredit for redistribution in the coming weeks.
He added that a total of 648 of the victims have so far been assessed and was optimistic MASLOC will finish the distribution by the end of this month.
The PRO said the recovery rate of the centre of loans given out in June 2010 was 99.5 per cent and thus, was optimistic the centre will recover all the 1.5 million loan set to be disbursed to the victims.
He further called on the benefiacries to speed up with the repayment to enable others to benefit from the package.
When contacted, Trudy Crabb, Organiser of the Makola traders, said their members had received their money, adding that the group is currently working to ensure that the second batch of the money is released soon.
Inflation dip to 8.58 per cent
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
ANNUALISED rate inflation declined further to 8.58 per cent for the month of December last year from November’s figure of 9.08. The decline represents a 0.50 percentage lower than the previous month’s figure.
This indicated that the rate at which average prices of goods and services changed in the country declined by 1.13 per cent from November to December.
Announcing the figures at a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Director of Economic and Industrial Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan, said “the downward pressure could be attributed to both food and non-food components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The last time the Ghanaian economy recorded inflation figure in the 8 per cent digit was way back in June 1992 which recorded an inflation rate of 8.40 per cent.
Mr Ebo Duncan of the GSS attributed the further decline to the stable food prices and exchange rates experienced within the period.
The GSS’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which records the average monthly changes in price levels relative to the 2002 reference period, indicated that mineral waters, soft drinks and juices, jam, chocolate and fruits recorded the highest inflation rates in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group.
Education and communication also recorded “the lowest and most stable inflation rates during the year” in the non-food group, Mr Duncan explained further.
In the regional CPI, Mr Duncan said Greater Accra recorded the highest rate of 13.5 per cent followed by Upper East and West with 10.92 per cent while Volta Region recorded the least of 5.97.
For the past one and half years, monthly inflation rates in the country have consistently dipped, starting from a 20.74 percentage rate recorded in June 2009.
The highest marginal fall of the monthly CPI within the 18-month period was recorded between March and April when the figure fell by 1.6 percentage points, from 13.32 in March to 10.68 per cent in April.
The cumulative decline from January to December 2010, according to Mr Duncan, stood at 6.20 per cent.
The Director of the Economic and Industrial Statistics attributed the consistent downward pressure on inflation to the food and non-alcoholic beverages group and the non-food group.
Both groups, he said recorded “single digit inflation rates throughout the year”.
Ghana’s inflation rates hit a record high in the 1980s, recording over 100 per cent monthly rates after recording 1.7 per cent in 1962, the least in the inflation records of the country so far.
Since then, inflation rates have remained inconsistent, normally hovering below 30 and 10.
The rate, however, remained consistent from June 2009, dropping from a double digit to a single one.
With the current trend in inflation, the country rocks shoulders with fellow African countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and the likes who had also consistently maintained clean sheets of single digit inflation rates throughout 2010.
ANNUALISED rate inflation declined further to 8.58 per cent for the month of December last year from November’s figure of 9.08. The decline represents a 0.50 percentage lower than the previous month’s figure.
This indicated that the rate at which average prices of goods and services changed in the country declined by 1.13 per cent from November to December.
Announcing the figures at a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Director of Economic and Industrial Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan, said “the downward pressure could be attributed to both food and non-food components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The last time the Ghanaian economy recorded inflation figure in the 8 per cent digit was way back in June 1992 which recorded an inflation rate of 8.40 per cent.
Mr Ebo Duncan of the GSS attributed the further decline to the stable food prices and exchange rates experienced within the period.
The GSS’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), which records the average monthly changes in price levels relative to the 2002 reference period, indicated that mineral waters, soft drinks and juices, jam, chocolate and fruits recorded the highest inflation rates in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group.
Education and communication also recorded “the lowest and most stable inflation rates during the year” in the non-food group, Mr Duncan explained further.
In the regional CPI, Mr Duncan said Greater Accra recorded the highest rate of 13.5 per cent followed by Upper East and West with 10.92 per cent while Volta Region recorded the least of 5.97.
For the past one and half years, monthly inflation rates in the country have consistently dipped, starting from a 20.74 percentage rate recorded in June 2009.
The highest marginal fall of the monthly CPI within the 18-month period was recorded between March and April when the figure fell by 1.6 percentage points, from 13.32 in March to 10.68 per cent in April.
The cumulative decline from January to December 2010, according to Mr Duncan, stood at 6.20 per cent.
 |
| Ebo Duncan, Director of Economic and Industrial Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service |
The Director of the Economic and Industrial Statistics attributed the consistent downward pressure on inflation to the food and non-alcoholic beverages group and the non-food group.
Both groups, he said recorded “single digit inflation rates throughout the year”.
Ghana’s inflation rates hit a record high in the 1980s, recording over 100 per cent monthly rates after recording 1.7 per cent in 1962, the least in the inflation records of the country so far.
Since then, inflation rates have remained inconsistent, normally hovering below 30 and 10.
The rate, however, remained consistent from June 2009, dropping from a double digit to a single one.
With the current trend in inflation, the country rocks shoulders with fellow African countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and the likes who had also consistently maintained clean sheets of single digit inflation rates throughout 2010.
PZ Cussons, GMA sign pact
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
PZ Cussons, manufacturers of health-related products in the country, has
signed a two-year contract agreement with the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to promote healthy lifestyles among Ghanaians.
Per the agreement, PZ Cussons will be partnering the GMA to disseminate information to the public on all aspects of health, health care and the medical sciences through the association’s annual public lectures and other programmes.
The agreement would also see the GMA giving endorsements to all health-related products that would be introduced by PZ Cussons.
The Managing Director of PZ Cussons, Ghana, Mr Jim Judson and the President of the GMA, Dr Emmanuel Adom Winful, signed for their respective institutions.
Mr Judson said PZ Cussons had resolved to partner the GMA to “promote better healthy lifestyles and health conditions of the public.”
Mr Judson said Ghanaians should, in the coming days, expect a programme of action nation-wide from the GMA and PZ Cussons that would be targeted at the people through the creation of awareness of the deadly effects of unhealthy lifestyles.
As to why the two bodies decided to sign the agreement, Mr Judson explained that the idea of PZ Cussons and GMA separately carrying out their individual programmes on health education was rather not the best.
Mr Judson thus said: “People trust PZ Cussons, people trust GMA, put the two together and you would have a powerful brand.”
The President of the GMA, Dr Winful, disagreed with suggestions that the agreement would compel the GMA to compromise on its stance against the quality and health standards of PZ Cussons products.
The quality of PZ Cussons products in the country, he said, “was without question,” adding that PZ Cussons has the expertise in advertising, from which the GMA would tap to ensure successful dissemination of its information.
The GMA President added that although the signed agreement was for two years, both parties were looking beyond that.
signed a two-year contract agreement with the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to promote healthy lifestyles among Ghanaians.Per the agreement, PZ Cussons will be partnering the GMA to disseminate information to the public on all aspects of health, health care and the medical sciences through the association’s annual public lectures and other programmes.
The agreement would also see the GMA giving endorsements to all health-related products that would be introduced by PZ Cussons.
 |
| Jim Judson, MD, Pz cussons Ghana |
Mr Judson said PZ Cussons had resolved to partner the GMA to “promote better healthy lifestyles and health conditions of the public.”
Mr Judson said Ghanaians should, in the coming days, expect a programme of action nation-wide from the GMA and PZ Cussons that would be targeted at the people through the creation of awareness of the deadly effects of unhealthy lifestyles.
As to why the two bodies decided to sign the agreement, Mr Judson explained that the idea of PZ Cussons and GMA separately carrying out their individual programmes on health education was rather not the best.
Mr Judson thus said: “People trust PZ Cussons, people trust GMA, put the two together and you would have a powerful brand.”
The President of the GMA, Dr Winful, disagreed with suggestions that the agreement would compel the GMA to compromise on its stance against the quality and health standards of PZ Cussons products.
The quality of PZ Cussons products in the country, he said, “was without question,” adding that PZ Cussons has the expertise in advertising, from which the GMA would tap to ensure successful dissemination of its information.
The GMA President added that although the signed agreement was for two years, both parties were looking beyond that.
Strengthen banking regulations
 |
| Dr Arthur Amissah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana |
A banking regulator with the United States Treasury Department Office of Thrift and Supervision has tasked banking regulators in the country to tighten and strictly enforce the rules and regulations governing the country's banking sector.
Mr Francis Baffour, who has over 20 years experience in banking relations and the financial industry, said the rapid development in the banking sector has the tendency of making regulators relax in enforcing the rules.
That, he observed made most financial institutions to go off-track, thereby plunging the entire economy into serious challenges as witnessed in the United States of America.
Mr Baffour made the observation when he delivered a public lecture on the theme "The causes of the financial crisis in the US, the activities that led to the near collapse of the entire financial system in the world and lessons learnt".
The lecture was by the Institute of Chartered Bankers and sponsored by First National Savings and Loans Company Limited, a non-banking financial institution and the Coconut Grove Regency hotel.
Mr Baffour further observed that financial institutions in the country had concentrated so much in credits, a situation that he said led to the 2008 financial crisis in the US.
"There is a lot of concentration on credit so if anything goes wrong, where do we go?" Mr Baffour asked.
According him, banking regulators in the country ought to know the actual assets of the financial institutions and further evaluate them against their capabilities to recapitalise after any internal disaster to the said institution.
He added that financial institutions as well as the regulators must take serious note of consumer complaints about the actions and inaction of their bankers, adding that “when numbers don’t make sense, then there is something wrong somewhere”.
Touching on the US financial crisis which subsequently plunged the entire world into a depression in 2008, Mr Baffour said lots of cash flow came into the US economy from outside sources which caused a boom in the housing sector and resulted in financial institutions engaging in crediting without due course to regulations.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
FOOD PRICES STABLE, Despite world record food price hikes
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
PRICES of food crops in the country last December, remained relatively stable despite record food price hikes in the global market.
Prices of local food staples such as maize, rice, millet, yam, cassava and vegetables such as tomatoes, and pepper remained stable throughout 2010, according to statistics obtained from the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Global food prices in December last year, hit a record high in the international market, higher than that of the June 2008 price hikes which caused lots of agitation in many countries world-wide.
The December 2010 edition of the monthly Food Price Index released by the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recorded 214.7 points that indicated an increase of 206 points over the November index, making it the highest since the index started in 1990.
The index tracks the monthly price changes in the prices for a food basket comprising wheat, corn, rice, oilseeds, dairy products, sugar and meats in the global scene.
Though the December 2010 index indicated a record hike in food prices, the December price, according to the FAO, was driven by the rising prices of sugar, cereal, meat and oil, making it different, and perhaps an encouraging news when compared with the 2008 price surge which was mainly due to lower food productions in most countries.
In Ghana, however, the situation as of December 2010 was encouraging with food prices in the local markets remaining relatively stable.
With the increment in the prices of petroleum products coming at the back of the global food price surge, local experts fear the situation could stretch food prices in the country up.
The Director of the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr Samuel Oku, was however optimistic that a food price surge would be avoided.
He told the Graphic Business that prices of local food crops had seen insignificant changes in December and 2010 as a whole.
The prices of stables such as maize, local rice, millet, cassava and yam, according to Mr Oku, had all been stable throughout the last twelve months with monthly average prices recording relatively insignificant changes.
The average price, he said, ranged between GH¢45 and GH¢80 for cereals; GH¢ 24 and GH¢220 for tubers, GH¢30 and GH¢180 for vegetables, and GH¢6 and GH¢25 for smoked herrings and a crate of eggs.
However, he said, imported rice consistently recorded increments in price from January to December 2010 with November recording the highest price hikes.
The SRID director attributed the stability in general prices to increased food production in the country and thus expressed optimism that the increases in food prices on the global market would have less effect on the local scene.
“If prices at the moment are even stable, then I don’t know when they would be up,” Mr Oku asked, adding that the coming harvest season was likely to stabilise the prices even further.
The present soaring food prices in the global market has already caused wide spread fears among policy-makers in some countries as it could lead to social and economic unrest as inflation would be induced.
The BBC last week reported protests already taking place in Algeria over soaring food prices in there.
The UN has warned that the current price levels, especially those of key grains, could rise even further.
As a result, the Group of 20 leading economies (G-20) plans to discuss ways of tackling the current soaring food prices in its Paris summit later this year.
The 2008 global food crisis rocked the globe at the time Ghana was recovering from the 2006 droughts, which caused poor harvests among most farmers as well as the 2007 floods that destroyed large hectares of farmlands in northern Ghana and further caused matured crops to rot, due to farmers inability to harvest their crops from the flooding waters.
While Ghana at the time was recovering from the 2006 droughts and the 2007 floods as well as their collective harshness in the country, the world was bracing itself for a food crisis in 2008.
PRICES of food crops in the country last December, remained relatively stable despite record food price hikes in the global market.
Prices of local food staples such as maize, rice, millet, yam, cassava and vegetables such as tomatoes, and pepper remained stable throughout 2010, according to statistics obtained from the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
Global food prices in December last year, hit a record high in the international market, higher than that of the June 2008 price hikes which caused lots of agitation in many countries world-wide.
The December 2010 edition of the monthly Food Price Index released by the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) recorded 214.7 points that indicated an increase of 206 points over the November index, making it the highest since the index started in 1990.
The index tracks the monthly price changes in the prices for a food basket comprising wheat, corn, rice, oilseeds, dairy products, sugar and meats in the global scene.
Though the December 2010 index indicated a record hike in food prices, the December price, according to the FAO, was driven by the rising prices of sugar, cereal, meat and oil, making it different, and perhaps an encouraging news when compared with the 2008 price surge which was mainly due to lower food productions in most countries.
In Ghana, however, the situation as of December 2010 was encouraging with food prices in the local markets remaining relatively stable.
With the increment in the prices of petroleum products coming at the back of the global food price surge, local experts fear the situation could stretch food prices in the country up.
 | |
| Kwesi Ahwoi, Minster of Agriculture |
The Director of the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate (SRID) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Mr Samuel Oku, was however optimistic that a food price surge would be avoided.
He told the Graphic Business that prices of local food crops had seen insignificant changes in December and 2010 as a whole.
The prices of stables such as maize, local rice, millet, cassava and yam, according to Mr Oku, had all been stable throughout the last twelve months with monthly average prices recording relatively insignificant changes.
The average price, he said, ranged between GH¢45 and GH¢80 for cereals; GH¢ 24 and GH¢220 for tubers, GH¢30 and GH¢180 for vegetables, and GH¢6 and GH¢25 for smoked herrings and a crate of eggs.
However, he said, imported rice consistently recorded increments in price from January to December 2010 with November recording the highest price hikes.
The SRID director attributed the stability in general prices to increased food production in the country and thus expressed optimism that the increases in food prices on the global market would have less effect on the local scene.
“If prices at the moment are even stable, then I don’t know when they would be up,” Mr Oku asked, adding that the coming harvest season was likely to stabilise the prices even further.
The present soaring food prices in the global market has already caused wide spread fears among policy-makers in some countries as it could lead to social and economic unrest as inflation would be induced.
The BBC last week reported protests already taking place in Algeria over soaring food prices in there.
 |
| Ban Ki-Moo, UN Secretay General |
The UN has warned that the current price levels, especially those of key grains, could rise even further.
As a result, the Group of 20 leading economies (G-20) plans to discuss ways of tackling the current soaring food prices in its Paris summit later this year.
The 2008 global food crisis rocked the globe at the time Ghana was recovering from the 2006 droughts, which caused poor harvests among most farmers as well as the 2007 floods that destroyed large hectares of farmlands in northern Ghana and further caused matured crops to rot, due to farmers inability to harvest their crops from the flooding waters.
While Ghana at the time was recovering from the 2006 droughts and the 2007 floods as well as their collective harshness in the country, the world was bracing itself for a food crisis in 2008.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Nestle supports Calvary Presby School
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE pupils of the Calvary Presbyterian School at Chorkor in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will start pairing five pupils to a computer instead of their initial 12 pupils to a computer following the presentation of fifteen (15) reconditioned computers to the school by Nestle’ Ghana Limited.
The school has a pupil population of about six hundred (600) and has since been relying on six computers to serve the twelve classes, both primary A and B .
As a result, upper primary (primary six to four) went to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) center twice a week while those of lower primary (primary three downwards) went there once in a week, according to Kotey Caleb, the school’s ICT teacher.
Three of their initial six computers, Mr Caleb said, were a donation to the school by Plan Ghana, while the remaining three came from the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA).
But with the additional fifteen computers from Nestle’ Ghana, the ICT teacher was optimistic “it would help reduce the tedious and hectic nature of my job”.
Mr Caleb further called on other corporate bodies operating in the country to emulate the gesture of Nestle Ghana by donating ICT facilites to schools nation-wide, otherwise, he added, “the nation as a whole would be lacking behind in the near future”.
The headmaster of the school, Mr Marcus Kobla Agbeyone later lamented the poor state of facilities in the school to the Graphic Business.
He said the school which was established about fifty (50) years ago has no Junior High School (JHS), a situation, he said compelled him to go “around lobbying for JHSs for my students after they have completed”.
And these JHSs, he added, are not even in Chorkor, except those at Manprobi and Sempe, two and a half kilometers away from the Chorkor community.
According to him, after its establisment about (50) years ago, the Chorkor Calvary Presbyterian School has since not undergone any major renovation adding that the classrooms are always hot making it unconducive for the students to learn.
Chorkor, Mr Agbeyone stressed, “is not far away from Accra, the capital city, so why should we be treated as a deprived village?”.
He, however, commended Nestle’ Ghana Limited for coming to the aid of the school and promised to ensure that the computers are put to good use.
In an interview with the Graphic Business after the presentation, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestle’ Ghana Limited, Mrs Cecilia Dei-Anang insisted the gesture is not the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, but “an investment in the community and the children in particular”.
On the monetary value of the fifteen reconditioned computers, Mrs Dei-Anang stressed “it is not the monetary value that we are interested in. It is the future of these young ones that we are. Some of these pupils will one day work on your pension, so you better groom them properly for the tasks ahead”.
Earlier, Mrs Freda Duplan, the Head of Nestle’ Africa Business Services had said the computers have been installed with child-friendly software and networked for efficiency to the benifit of the children.
THE pupils of the Calvary Presbyterian School at Chorkor in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will start pairing five pupils to a computer instead of their initial 12 pupils to a computer following the presentation of fifteen (15) reconditioned computers to the school by Nestle’ Ghana Limited.
The school has a pupil population of about six hundred (600) and has since been relying on six computers to serve the twelve classes, both primary A and B .
As a result, upper primary (primary six to four) went to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) center twice a week while those of lower primary (primary three downwards) went there once in a week, according to Kotey Caleb, the school’s ICT teacher.
Three of their initial six computers, Mr Caleb said, were a donation to the school by Plan Ghana, while the remaining three came from the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA).
But with the additional fifteen computers from Nestle’ Ghana, the ICT teacher was optimistic “it would help reduce the tedious and hectic nature of my job”.
Mr Caleb further called on other corporate bodies operating in the country to emulate the gesture of Nestle Ghana by donating ICT facilites to schools nation-wide, otherwise, he added, “the nation as a whole would be lacking behind in the near future”.
The headmaster of the school, Mr Marcus Kobla Agbeyone later lamented the poor state of facilities in the school to the Graphic Business.
He said the school which was established about fifty (50) years ago has no Junior High School (JHS), a situation, he said compelled him to go “around lobbying for JHSs for my students after they have completed”.
And these JHSs, he added, are not even in Chorkor, except those at Manprobi and Sempe, two and a half kilometers away from the Chorkor community.
According to him, after its establisment about (50) years ago, the Chorkor Calvary Presbyterian School has since not undergone any major renovation adding that the classrooms are always hot making it unconducive for the students to learn.
Chorkor, Mr Agbeyone stressed, “is not far away from Accra, the capital city, so why should we be treated as a deprived village?”.
He, however, commended Nestle’ Ghana Limited for coming to the aid of the school and promised to ensure that the computers are put to good use.
In an interview with the Graphic Business after the presentation, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestle’ Ghana Limited, Mrs Cecilia Dei-Anang insisted the gesture is not the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, but “an investment in the community and the children in particular”.
On the monetary value of the fifteen reconditioned computers, Mrs Dei-Anang stressed “it is not the monetary value that we are interested in. It is the future of these young ones that we are. Some of these pupils will one day work on your pension, so you better groom them properly for the tasks ahead”.
Earlier, Mrs Freda Duplan, the Head of Nestle’ Africa Business Services had said the computers have been installed with child-friendly software and networked for efficiency to the benifit of the children.
AMA fights tiGo over business operating permit
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE dispute between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and telecommunications giant, Milicom Ghana Limited, operators of tiGO, over the payment of the company's outstanding Business Operating Permit (BOP) levy is far from over as the AMA has threatened legal action against the company.
The Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Mr Numo Blafo III, told the Daily Graphic that the AMA would take the telecom operator to court to compel it to settle its GH¢194,000 BOP indebtedness to the assembly.
Nii Blafo III, however, added that the day of the court action was yet to be decided by the assembly.
Milicom Ghana Limited until last Thursday, owed GH¢294,000 as BOP to the AMA.
As a result, the AMA revenue collection team locked up the offices of the company's head office in Accra in an attempt to recoup the said levy.
The locking up of the company's offices resulted in a scuffle between the two groups.
The scuffle later led to the arrest of one of the company’s security staff who was subsequently processed before the community centre court in Accra, convicted, and sentenced to six months imprisonment for obstructing a public officer from carrying out his normal duties.
Consequent to that, Mr Blafo III said Milicom Ghana Limited last Friday paid GH¢100,000 out of its total arrears to the AMA.
The company has in the meantime, secured an interlocutory injunction from a circuit court in Accra against the AMA, thus, barring the AMA or its agents from entering, locking up or otherwise interfering with its operations .
With the interlocutory injunction from Milicom, Mr Blafo III said the AMA would respond to it.
Narrating events leading to AMA storming the tiGO head office last Thursday, the PRO said the AMA had on December 10, 2010, written to Milicom Ghana Limited reminding them of their indebtedness and further gave them up to December 22, 2010 to settle their arrears.
“But the company did not comply, forcing us to go there on December 23, 2010 to retrieve our money only to be treated that way”, the PRO said.
According to him, the company’s actions towards the AMA’s revenue collection team was rude. “The attitude from management was very rude. They even ordered us out of their premises and further called for a re-enforcement of their security team. We also called in the police, which then led to the arrest of one of them”, Mr Blafo said.
The AMA, he said had on separate occasions locked up the offices of the Ghana Post and then attempted to do same to the Ghana Bar Association except that the association quickly issued cheques to defray their debts.
He thus wondered why Milicom, which operates the mobile telecommunications company, tiGO, re-opened the locked-up offices and further engaged the team in scuffles when it attempted to re-lock the place, asking “is Milicom or tiGO bigger than Ghana Post?”.
The penalty for breaking up and destroying the AMA’s pad locks, according to Mr Blafo is 10 times the original cost of the equipment used in locking up the place.
“They had destroyed nine of our pad locks, six chains and one heavy duty chain. This means that they would pay 10 times the price of each of these items” the PRO said.
But the management of Milicom Ghana Limited would rather not comment on the matter except to say “the company has no comment on the matter”.
According to a front desk officer at the tiGO’s head office in Accra, known only as Belinda, she had been instructed to tell anybody seeking management’s view on the matter that “tiGO has no comment on the matter”.
The PRO’s office line was also not answered despite several calls to get him to comment.
THE dispute between the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and telecommunications giant, Milicom Ghana Limited, operators of tiGO, over the payment of the company's outstanding Business Operating Permit (BOP) levy is far from over as the AMA has threatened legal action against the company.
The Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Mr Numo Blafo III, told the Daily Graphic that the AMA would take the telecom operator to court to compel it to settle its GH¢194,000 BOP indebtedness to the assembly.
Nii Blafo III, however, added that the day of the court action was yet to be decided by the assembly.
Milicom Ghana Limited until last Thursday, owed GH¢294,000 as BOP to the AMA.
As a result, the AMA revenue collection team locked up the offices of the company's head office in Accra in an attempt to recoup the said levy.
 |
| The AMA boss, Alfred Vanderpuiye |
The scuffle later led to the arrest of one of the company’s security staff who was subsequently processed before the community centre court in Accra, convicted, and sentenced to six months imprisonment for obstructing a public officer from carrying out his normal duties.
Consequent to that, Mr Blafo III said Milicom Ghana Limited last Friday paid GH¢100,000 out of its total arrears to the AMA.
The company has in the meantime, secured an interlocutory injunction from a circuit court in Accra against the AMA, thus, barring the AMA or its agents from entering, locking up or otherwise interfering with its operations .
With the interlocutory injunction from Milicom, Mr Blafo III said the AMA would respond to it.
Narrating events leading to AMA storming the tiGO head office last Thursday, the PRO said the AMA had on December 10, 2010, written to Milicom Ghana Limited reminding them of their indebtedness and further gave them up to December 22, 2010 to settle their arrears.
“But the company did not comply, forcing us to go there on December 23, 2010 to retrieve our money only to be treated that way”, the PRO said.
According to him, the company’s actions towards the AMA’s revenue collection team was rude. “The attitude from management was very rude. They even ordered us out of their premises and further called for a re-enforcement of their security team. We also called in the police, which then led to the arrest of one of them”, Mr Blafo said.
The AMA, he said had on separate occasions locked up the offices of the Ghana Post and then attempted to do same to the Ghana Bar Association except that the association quickly issued cheques to defray their debts.
He thus wondered why Milicom, which operates the mobile telecommunications company, tiGO, re-opened the locked-up offices and further engaged the team in scuffles when it attempted to re-lock the place, asking “is Milicom or tiGO bigger than Ghana Post?”.
The penalty for breaking up and destroying the AMA’s pad locks, according to Mr Blafo is 10 times the original cost of the equipment used in locking up the place.
“They had destroyed nine of our pad locks, six chains and one heavy duty chain. This means that they would pay 10 times the price of each of these items” the PRO said.
But the management of Milicom Ghana Limited would rather not comment on the matter except to say “the company has no comment on the matter”.
According to a front desk officer at the tiGO’s head office in Accra, known only as Belinda, she had been instructed to tell anybody seeking management’s view on the matter that “tiGO has no comment on the matter”.
The PRO’s office line was also not answered despite several calls to get him to comment.
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