LOCAL distributor of Yutong vehicles in the country, J K Plant Pool Ghana Limited, has launched a four week retraining course for drivers and transport operators in the country.
Dubbed: “Traning drivers saves life”, the refresher course is a collaborative effort between the company and the National Road Safety Commission (NRSC), the National Drivers’ Academy (NDA), as well as other transport operators and road safety stakeholders in the country focused on equipping participants with basic rules and regulations of driving.
During the launch in Accra, the General Manager of the J K Plant Pool, Mr Lolo Akendele, said the J K Plant Pool as a vehicle distribution and servicing company in the country was concerned with the surging incidents of road accidents recorded in the country.
“We believe safety on our roads can be achieved by a collective responsibility of all concerned stakeholders of road safety”, Mr Akendele said and added that the company’s reason for organising the course was not to “train people to drive, but to train them to drive safely”.
Road accidents has, for sometime now being on the increase and is estimated to be causing 1,600 deaths annually in the country.
These accidents are estimated to cost the nation about 1.6 per cent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an equivalent of US$288 million.
According to the Transport Minister, Mr Collins Dauda, these road crashes were mainly due to road user behaviours and incompetence on the part of drivers in which “driver error ranks highest.”
During the launch, Mr Dauda said “Driver’s attitude in traffic is characterised by aggressiveness and impatience which leads to overspeeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, fatigue, wrongful overtaking and above all, disrespect for traffic laws and regulations”.
The minister, therefore, welcomed the initiative by the Yutong local agent and the other road safety stakeholders to refresh drivers on the various safety regulations necessary on the road.
Mr Dauda said the NRSC under the ministry had for sometime now trained over 300 drivers nation-wide.
He noted that these driver Training programmes had been restructured resulting in the setting up of the NDA last year March to provide upgrading and refresher training courses for drivers nation-wide.
The Managing Director of the NDA, Mr Franklin Asare, said the academy was currently liaising with the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) to make it mandatory for all drivers issued with a driver’s license to have completed a training course at the academy.
According to Mr Asare, if suggestions that road accidents in the country would in the coming years kill more people than malaria does are “truth, then it is a shame on us as a nation”.
The J K Plant Pool Limited has so far distributed over 600 million species of Yutong vehicles throughout the country. The company also imports and trades spare parts of the various vehicles it deals in and further engages in servicing of the distributed vehicles.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
AMA finds land for a new cementery
THERE is increasing pressure on the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to find an alternative resting place for the dead as the present three cemeteries operated by the assembly are filled to capacity.
Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the said cemeteries were not “alarmingly full” adding “this no space thing would soon be over”.
The AMA’s health director observed that the assembly was responsible for all burials in the metropolis “and if there is no place for the dead in the metropolis, then this must be a concern”.
Dr Anim Boateng last year indicated that the three cemeteries managed by the assembly were “technically full” and could only operate for the next two years.
He, however, told this paper that the assembly had earmarked a place in Accra to replace the present burial sites and thus gave the assurance that the lack of space for the dead would soon be over.
Dr Anim Boateng would, however, not disclose the location of the said site except to say “the new site is well-situated in Accra and could even be larger than the Awudome cemetery”.
The Awudome cemetery is presently the largest and busiest graveyard among the 25 cemeteries operating in the Greater Accra Region. The walled cemetery is only younger to the Osu cemetery and currently receives about 30 bodies a week apart from being used as a site for mass burials.
Dr Anim Boateng bemoaned the inability of the assembly to re-use the present sites as burial grounds except after 25 years, a situation he attributed to the unprofessional manner in which those sites have been managed by people with little knowledge in that area.
“Cemeteries all over the world are built in a way that they can immediately be re-used after they are full. But, not in Ghana, because of the haphazard manner in which these cemeteries were managed”, the director noted.
As a result, Dr Anim Boateng said the assembly intended to apply the needed professional techniques required in managing the cemetery at the new site.
According to him, his outfit, if given the opportunity would promote cremation as an option to the fast diminishing land situation in the capital “but not the one presently done at the crematorium division of the Osu cemetery”.
“Not the physical burning of the dead where you see wood and all that. That one is very crude and degrading”, Dr Anim Boateng observed and noted that the modern form of cremation practised in other countries was cost effective and hygienic making a suitable option to the capital’s unavailable land.
The assembly presently manages three cemeteries, the Awudome, Osu and the La cemeteries which add up to a total of 25 cemeteries presently operating in the region.
The three cemeteries have been in operational for well over 100 years, serving as resting places to over a million persons across all walks of life.
Dr Simpson Anim Boateng, Director of Public Health Department of the AMA, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the said cemeteries were not “alarmingly full” adding “this no space thing would soon be over”.
The AMA’s health director observed that the assembly was responsible for all burials in the metropolis “and if there is no place for the dead in the metropolis, then this must be a concern”.
Dr Anim Boateng last year indicated that the three cemeteries managed by the assembly were “technically full” and could only operate for the next two years.
He, however, told this paper that the assembly had earmarked a place in Accra to replace the present burial sites and thus gave the assurance that the lack of space for the dead would soon be over.
Dr Anim Boateng would, however, not disclose the location of the said site except to say “the new site is well-situated in Accra and could even be larger than the Awudome cemetery”.
The Awudome cemetery is presently the largest and busiest graveyard among the 25 cemeteries operating in the Greater Accra Region. The walled cemetery is only younger to the Osu cemetery and currently receives about 30 bodies a week apart from being used as a site for mass burials.
Dr Anim Boateng bemoaned the inability of the assembly to re-use the present sites as burial grounds except after 25 years, a situation he attributed to the unprofessional manner in which those sites have been managed by people with little knowledge in that area.
“Cemeteries all over the world are built in a way that they can immediately be re-used after they are full. But, not in Ghana, because of the haphazard manner in which these cemeteries were managed”, the director noted.
As a result, Dr Anim Boateng said the assembly intended to apply the needed professional techniques required in managing the cemetery at the new site.
According to him, his outfit, if given the opportunity would promote cremation as an option to the fast diminishing land situation in the capital “but not the one presently done at the crematorium division of the Osu cemetery”.
“Not the physical burning of the dead where you see wood and all that. That one is very crude and degrading”, Dr Anim Boateng observed and noted that the modern form of cremation practised in other countries was cost effective and hygienic making a suitable option to the capital’s unavailable land.
The assembly presently manages three cemeteries, the Awudome, Osu and the La cemeteries which add up to a total of 25 cemeteries presently operating in the region.
The three cemeteries have been in operational for well over 100 years, serving as resting places to over a million persons across all walks of life.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Gift and Capital Gains tax bags GH¢2.24million
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) collected GH¢2.24million as tax revenues from Capital Gains and Gift Tax within 2010.
This represents a 12.51 percent increase from the previous year's GH¢280,746.
The Head of Statistics at the Direct Tax division of the GRA Mr Jackson Berko, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He said the contributions of both taxes to the Direct Tax account of the Ghana Revenue Authority in 2010 represented a 0.09 per cent of the GH¢2,441.33million collected by the account last year.
According to Mr Berko, taxes are difficult to collect and attributed the low revenue collected by the agencies to what he refereed to as "the unwilling nature of Ghanaians to tax payments".
"Their yield is very discouraging. You know, in Ghana, no one is willing to pay taxes and these taxes depends heavily on the will of us Ghanaians to declare the gifts and disposed assets we've acquired within the year", he said.
Mr Berko observed that the cost of collecting these taxes is so high that it is discouraging to deplore more staff into that area.
Both taxes oblige individuals, corporate entities and organisations to willingly make 15 per cent yearly payments on all assets and gifts that have been acquired and are valued to be above Gh¢ 50, as Capital Gains or Gift Tax depending on the situation.
The two taxes cover assets such as shares and bonds, buildings, business and business assets, all means of transport, chattle (hampers) , land, among others that have been acquired as gifts or disposed assets.
They, (both taxes) however, exempts properties acquired from family members as gifts or disposed assets valued above the Gh¢ 50 mark from attracting the 15 per cent charge as tax.
On the essence of both taxes, Mr Berko noted that those properties acquired as gifts or disposed assets are income to the receiver and must therefore attract tax.
"The gifts or disposed assets are income to you the receiver and we (the direct tax unit) tax incomes that accrue to the individual", he explained.
The interest rate chargeable on items acquired as gifts was initially 10 per cent but currently revised upward to 15 per cent as pertains to the Capital Gains tax.
According to Mr Berko, the upward adjustment in the rate chargeable on gifts to be at par with that of the Capital Gains was necessary to help curb possible tax avoidance.
“The two, Capital Gains and Gift Tax move in tandem. If people dispose assets or acquire disposed assets valued above Gh¢ 50, they are likely to say those properties were gifts because of the low tax rate placed on gifts, thus avoiding the tax".
This represents a 12.51 percent increase from the previous year's GH¢280,746.
The Head of Statistics at the Direct Tax division of the GRA Mr Jackson Berko, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in an interview.
He said the contributions of both taxes to the Direct Tax account of the Ghana Revenue Authority in 2010 represented a 0.09 per cent of the GH¢2,441.33million collected by the account last year.
According to Mr Berko, taxes are difficult to collect and attributed the low revenue collected by the agencies to what he refereed to as "the unwilling nature of Ghanaians to tax payments".
"Their yield is very discouraging. You know, in Ghana, no one is willing to pay taxes and these taxes depends heavily on the will of us Ghanaians to declare the gifts and disposed assets we've acquired within the year", he said.
Mr Berko observed that the cost of collecting these taxes is so high that it is discouraging to deplore more staff into that area.
Both taxes oblige individuals, corporate entities and organisations to willingly make 15 per cent yearly payments on all assets and gifts that have been acquired and are valued to be above Gh¢ 50, as Capital Gains or Gift Tax depending on the situation.
The two taxes cover assets such as shares and bonds, buildings, business and business assets, all means of transport, chattle (hampers) , land, among others that have been acquired as gifts or disposed assets.
They, (both taxes) however, exempts properties acquired from family members as gifts or disposed assets valued above the Gh¢ 50 mark from attracting the 15 per cent charge as tax.
On the essence of both taxes, Mr Berko noted that those properties acquired as gifts or disposed assets are income to the receiver and must therefore attract tax.
"The gifts or disposed assets are income to you the receiver and we (the direct tax unit) tax incomes that accrue to the individual", he explained.
The interest rate chargeable on items acquired as gifts was initially 10 per cent but currently revised upward to 15 per cent as pertains to the Capital Gains tax.
According to Mr Berko, the upward adjustment in the rate chargeable on gifts to be at par with that of the Capital Gains was necessary to help curb possible tax avoidance.
“The two, Capital Gains and Gift Tax move in tandem. If people dispose assets or acquire disposed assets valued above Gh¢ 50, they are likely to say those properties were gifts because of the low tax rate placed on gifts, thus avoiding the tax".
Sunday, February 6, 2011
OUR REVENUE leakages; The role of ICT
AS the country continues to lose tax revenues through loopholes at the various tax units, ICT-based solution provider to the revenue body, the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) says it is devising sophisticated methods to deal with the identified problems.
A source close to the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)-based solutions provider to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicated that the Valuation Assurance Programme, an upgraded aspect of the warehousing module, the Ghana Integrated Cargo Clearance Systems (GICCS), among other programmes would all be rolled out this year.
Most of these initiated programmes, the source said were targeted at the Customs division of the GRA and other revenue sensitive sectors of the country such as the Tema Harbour.
The customs account of the GRA last year felt short of its end of year target, possibly causing the integrated revenue body to marginally exceed its 2010 revenue target by 0.5 per cent.
The customs, however, explained that its 2010 revenue target short fall was as a result of the unannounced reductions in fuel tariffs after it had set its targets on grounds of the then prevailing circumstances.
But, barely a week after the announcement, startling revelations poured in from investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas on the various revenue leakages occurring at the revenue collection points of the Tema Harbour mostly involving custom officials.
As a result, many wondered why despite the revenue agencies automation systems controlled and administered by the GCNet, these rampant leakages still exist.
According to the source at the GCNet, the various leakages recorded at the respective revenue units after they were linked to automated systems by GCNet were due to human factors. ‘We only provide the electronic platform against these linkages but we don’t control the human beings working with the systems”, the source intimated.
The source spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of an academic tour by the University For Development Studies (UDS), Navorogo Campus’ branch of the Mathematics Students Associations of Ghana (MASAG) to the company’s head office in Accra.
Government last year contracted the GCNet to provide assurances on goods declared by Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) as based on the monetary values placed on them by their respective importers on a special programme dubbed the VAP.
Per the programme, GCNet is suppose to ensure that goods declared by the DICs fall under the right range as per the value placed on them by their respective importers. The VAP presently operates in some limited revenue units and covers only eight rpoducts thereby leaving the other units and products uncovered.
The source admitted that the geographically limited nature of the VAP at the moment gave most people undue advantages of diverting their goods to points that have not been covered.
“The tendency is that, people are beginning to divert to other entry points in the country that have not yet been covered to clear thereby avoiding the programme. But these loopholes that we have identified would be addressed this year”, the source assured.
As a result, the Source "we are also extending the VAP to cover more goods than the current eight such as electronic and construction goods as well as more geographical locations ”, the source added.
The source further explained that the upgraded warehousing module soon to be deplored “would block the rampant usage of permits to clear goods at the ports”.
“The new thing is to force the people to go and perfect the duty (place the actual value on the goods initially cleared on permit to attract the needed duties and tax) that was cleared on permit”, the source explained.
Also, the source added, the module would help address incidents of importers leaving their goods in the harbour’s warehouses for more than the required time period.
The annual education tour by the students is meant to give them practical experiences on the operations of the ICT company, according to Emmanuel Fritz Dogbe, leader of the group.
Their academic time, Mr Dogbe observed “had been compensated for the first hand information we got about their networking for the revenue agencies”.
“I could have been on campus busily chewing and pouring but I wouldn’t have known that the GCNet is designing a software which would soon be used nation-wide”, he added.
The 28 students, according to their leader started their tour from Navorogo in the Upper East region on Monday, January 31, in which they visited the Kumasi offices of the State Insurance Company (SIC), Vodafone Ghana and continued to the Mahyia Museum for sight seeing.
In Accra, Mr Dogbe said the group after the familiarisation tour at the GCNet would do same at the head offices of the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and later proceed to the Tema Harbour after which they would round up their five day tour to the Cape Coast castle in the Central region on Friday February 4.
A source close to the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)-based solutions provider to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicated that the Valuation Assurance Programme, an upgraded aspect of the warehousing module, the Ghana Integrated Cargo Clearance Systems (GICCS), among other programmes would all be rolled out this year.
Most of these initiated programmes, the source said were targeted at the Customs division of the GRA and other revenue sensitive sectors of the country such as the Tema Harbour.
The customs account of the GRA last year felt short of its end of year target, possibly causing the integrated revenue body to marginally exceed its 2010 revenue target by 0.5 per cent.
The customs, however, explained that its 2010 revenue target short fall was as a result of the unannounced reductions in fuel tariffs after it had set its targets on grounds of the then prevailing circumstances.
But, barely a week after the announcement, startling revelations poured in from investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas on the various revenue leakages occurring at the revenue collection points of the Tema Harbour mostly involving custom officials.
As a result, many wondered why despite the revenue agencies automation systems controlled and administered by the GCNet, these rampant leakages still exist.
According to the source at the GCNet, the various leakages recorded at the respective revenue units after they were linked to automated systems by GCNet were due to human factors. ‘We only provide the electronic platform against these linkages but we don’t control the human beings working with the systems”, the source intimated.
The source spoke to the Daily Graphic on the sidelines of an academic tour by the University For Development Studies (UDS), Navorogo Campus’ branch of the Mathematics Students Associations of Ghana (MASAG) to the company’s head office in Accra.
Government last year contracted the GCNet to provide assurances on goods declared by Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) as based on the monetary values placed on them by their respective importers on a special programme dubbed the VAP.
Per the programme, GCNet is suppose to ensure that goods declared by the DICs fall under the right range as per the value placed on them by their respective importers. The VAP presently operates in some limited revenue units and covers only eight rpoducts thereby leaving the other units and products uncovered.
The source admitted that the geographically limited nature of the VAP at the moment gave most people undue advantages of diverting their goods to points that have not been covered.
“The tendency is that, people are beginning to divert to other entry points in the country that have not yet been covered to clear thereby avoiding the programme. But these loopholes that we have identified would be addressed this year”, the source assured.
As a result, the Source "we are also extending the VAP to cover more goods than the current eight such as electronic and construction goods as well as more geographical locations ”, the source added.
The source further explained that the upgraded warehousing module soon to be deplored “would block the rampant usage of permits to clear goods at the ports”.
“The new thing is to force the people to go and perfect the duty (place the actual value on the goods initially cleared on permit to attract the needed duties and tax) that was cleared on permit”, the source explained.
Also, the source added, the module would help address incidents of importers leaving their goods in the harbour’s warehouses for more than the required time period.
The annual education tour by the students is meant to give them practical experiences on the operations of the ICT company, according to Emmanuel Fritz Dogbe, leader of the group.
Their academic time, Mr Dogbe observed “had been compensated for the first hand information we got about their networking for the revenue agencies”.
“I could have been on campus busily chewing and pouring but I wouldn’t have known that the GCNet is designing a software which would soon be used nation-wide”, he added.
The 28 students, according to their leader started their tour from Navorogo in the Upper East region on Monday, January 31, in which they visited the Kumasi offices of the State Insurance Company (SIC), Vodafone Ghana and continued to the Mahyia Museum for sight seeing.
In Accra, Mr Dogbe said the group after the familiarisation tour at the GCNet would do same at the head offices of the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) and later proceed to the Tema Harbour after which they would round up their five day tour to the Cape Coast castle in the Central region on Friday February 4.
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