Day: February 18, 2024

More than 100 acres of the 1000-acre cashew farm at Vakpo Dzogbega in the North Dayi District of the Volta Region have been destroyed by fire.

The farm is believed to be the largest cashew enterprise in the country and the lost to the fire could reach GHC1.5 million.

Mr Patrick Denka, the Assistant Farm Manager, who briefed the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the fire came at a time the trees had begun to bear fruit.

More than 4,000 matured cashew trees were lost in the wildfire, he said, suspecting the activities of hunters.

The fire, which occurred on Friday, February 16, reportedly begun around 1500 hours engulfing the farm, the manager said, and that the few trees that were likely to survive would record low yields in the future.

The GNA saw many trees with ripe fruits completely burnt, with some embers still glowing.

Mr Kofi Dzamesi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, who owns the farm, said: ‘Losses from the fire could reach GHC1.5 million, and that is a setback to efforts at de
veloping the agrarian landscape of this area.’

He said the incident had been reported to the police and expressed the hope that with the support of traditional leaders, such occurrences would be avoided.

‘I don’t know if its out of ignorance or sheer wickedness. What we know is that the chiefs are behind us. They gave us the land and we will seek their intervention to address the issue of bush burning,’ he said.

Mr Dzamesi spoke of the lack of insurance cover in the country for crop farmers and appealed to the Government to support farm enterprises against fire and other losses.

‘It is difficult to get insurance companies to insure farms, and so the State must come in to support large scale farms’.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Barimah Kumi Acheaw III, the Chief of Abesim near Sunyani, has cautioned residents against indiscriminate littering and refuse disposal to avert the outbreak of communicable diseases.

He warned that the Abesim Divisional Council had set up a taskforce to apprehended those who dumped refuse at unauthorised places or littering around and that those caught would be sanctioned.

Barimah Acheaw, also the Kyidomhene (chief in charge of crowd) of the Dormaa Traditional Area in the Bono Region, gave the warning when he addressed the residents after a clean-up exercise he organised at Abesim in the Sunyani Municipality.

Odeneho Fima Dwaben II, the Paramount Queen Mother of the Dormaa Traditional Area, Nana Konama Biyaa II, Queen of Abesim, also the Kyidomhemaa of Dormaa, and Mr John Ansu Kumi the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, joined the hundreds of residents to embark on the exercise.

It commenced around 0600 hours with the women and girls sweeping the surroundings while the men/boys desilted choked gutters an
d cleared bushy areas.

Barimah Acheaw emphasised the Council’s determination to keep the Abesim Town clean to avert the outbreak of communicable diseases.

He reminded the residents that waste bins placed at vantage points along the streets were only meant to collect plastic waste and therefore unlawful for residents to dump household waste into those bins.

‘The taskforce will undertake evening and daytime patrols to apprehend offenders,’ he said.

Barimah Acheaw said Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Dr Agyeman Badu II, the Paramount Chief of Dormaa, instituted the clean-up exercise and it was mandatory for every resident to participate in it.

‘Residents who fail to participate in subsequent exercises without tangible reasons will be sanctioned accordingly,’ he warned.

A clean environment promoted good health and enhanced job productivity, he noted, and advised every resident to endeavour to participate to ensure healthy living.

Odeneho Dwaben, on his part, commended the people for their zeal in ensuring a successful
exercise and advised other chiefs and queens in the Dormaa Traditional Area to embrace it to keep their surroundings clean.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunyani East, has filed his nomination to contest the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primary with a pledge to maintain the seat in Election 2024.

Due to certain internal challenges, the Sunyani East constituency could not participate in the NPP’s parliamentary primaries held on Saturday, January 27, but the national leadership of the Party had been able to resolve those challenges and re-scheduled it for March 9, 2024.

If the MP sails through the constituency primaries, and subsequently win the parliamentary election, he will represent the constituency in parliament for the fifth consecutive time.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh, also the Board Chairman of the Bui Power Authority (BPA), the managers of the Bui Power Generating Station, is contesting the primaries with Mr George Kumi, Ghana’s former envoy to Nigeria under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s government in an election that political experts and analyst consider as one of the
hottest in the political history of the constituency.

However, speaking in an interview with the media after submitting his nomination forms at the Party’s regional office in Sunyani, Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh described the Saturday, March 9, 2024, primary as a ‘done deal’, saying ‘I trust my delegates and they also have confidence in

me.’

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh told the hundreds of the overly excited delegates and NPP supporters who followed him to the Party office to be mindful that the primary was just an internal matter, hence the need for them to guard against intemperate language and remain decorous in their

campaign.

He reminded his followers and the entire Party people that with the level of development witnessed under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government, the Party could not afford to lose political power in Election 2024.

As one of the strongholds of the NPP in the Bono region, he advised the Party members to endeavour to bury individual differences, forge ahead in unity and ensure a formid
able front not only to maintain the Sunyani East seat, but also widen the vote margin of the Presidential ballot too.

Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh said the President and his Vice, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, also the Election 2024 flagbearer of the NPP, had performed creditably in government and thus laid a solid foundation for economic growth of the country.

‘Their creditable performance and achievements have therefore made the electioneering campaign easy if we focused attention on propagating and selling our unprecedented political successes to the masses,’ the MP stated.

Mr Kofi Ofosu Boateng, the Bono Regional Secretary of the NPP, who received the forms told the GNA both contestants had proven track record to lead the Party in the constituency and advised the delegates to be well-informed in deciding their choice of candidate.

He also advised followers of both contestants to conduct a clean campaign devoid of insults to solidify Party unity in the constituency and the region by extension.

Mr Boateng said he
was optimistic any of the contestants could lead the Party to maintain the seat, and therefore entreated the Party supporters to avoid tendencies that could disturb internal unity to narrow the Party’s chance of victory in the constituency.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Bold To Defend, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has presented some teaching and learning materials to Basic schools in the North Tongu District.

The items included exercise books, pens, pencils, and footballs, to promote education in schools after the Akosombo Dam spillage.

Mr Umar Harris, an executive member of the group who led the delegation to make the donation stated that they were poised to enhance quality education in the country, hence the need to offer their support to the students who were affected by the Akosombo spillage.

He indicated that his NGO would endeavor to support the students in the North Tongu District to scale up in education.

Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu Constituency received the items on behalf of the schools.

He thanked the NGO for the efforts and gave the assurance that the items would be distributed to the students in the constituency.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Maxwell Amekpor, the Chief Executive Officer of Shekinah Glory Hotel (SGH) at Sogakope in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region has promised to continue contributing to tourism growth in Volta and beyond.

The entrepreneur and the 2018 Tourism Personality of Volta explained that he would focus on bringing on board tourism players to boost the industry.

Mr Amekpor, who is also the Board Chairman of the Sogakope Senior High School, made this known to the Ghana News Agency after engaging some security officers in a health walk.

The exercise, which commenced from the Sogakope Traffic light roundabout to the Royal Shekinah City at Hlevi highway, saw officers from the military, police, immigration, teachers, and nurses, among others, who took their turn in some aerobic displays.

The aim was to keep a good corporate image with the key institutions in the area, as well as enhance the health status of individuals.

At the Royal Shekinah Highway Rest Stop, Mr Amekpor said the new facility which was commiss
ioned early this year by Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, the then Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, would add to the tourism and hospitality industry in the area and Volta at large.

‘I must say that the Volta Region is one of the Regions endowed with a lot of attractions. When you travel across the coastal belt, you see a lot of attractions.’

He said his new facility, which has a modern 400-seater conference hall, bar, restaurant, standard washrooms for travelers, unisex salon, swimming pool, cinema theatre, games center, and others, would provide comfort and relaxation to all manner of personalities.

Mr Amekpor, however, said he was worried about the bad nature of roads linking some of the tourist sites in the region.

This, he said, must be given attention to lure more tourists to the region for economic growth.

Togbe Agorvie Gli II, a divisional chief from the Agorvie Clan of Gbenuakope, who took part in the exercise, told the GNA of the urgent need to pay attention to health issues regardless of one’s
position.

Some participants, who interacted with the GNA after the event, expressed appreciation to Mr Amekpor for his good vision and initiative.

They pledged to maintain the event monthly for good health.

Source: Ghana News Agency