GIDISU DENIES RECEIVING BMW CAR AS GIFT

THE Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, has denied reports of receiving a 2010 model BMW 7 series valued at $166,000 as a gift from Chinese contractors working on the Achimota-Ofankor highway.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra Monday, Mr Gidisu said reports that the vehicle had been seized on the orders of President John Evans Atta Mills were not only false, but attempts calculated to dent his image.

With supporting documents to buttress his point, the minister stated that the $166,000 cost quoted as the price for the vehicle was even inaccurate.

Mr Gidisu said the vehicle in question was purchased as an integral part of the road project, which is usual with the ministry and other ministries which implement projects.

According to Mr Gidisu, the vehicle cost was a provision in the contract sum, which necessitated the contractor, China Railway Wuju Group Corporation, to purchase it in advance but in a letter dated May 2, 2011 to the ministry, demanded payment for the vehicle after they had purchased it.

‘’The vehicle was subsequently acquired by the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), an agency under his ministry, with all documentations covering request and purchase in the name of the GHA on behalf of the ministry, thus assertions of it being meant as a gift to me as Joe Gidisu were mere fallacies,” he said.

He indicated that realising that the vehicle was too luxurious for him, he, in a letter dated August 21, 2011 to the Chief of Staff, said, ‘’I am, therefore, requesting for a vehicle with a lower capacity. I believe the BMW would be more useful at your office for protocol duties of which this type of vehicle is most appropriate.”

After the correspondence, he said the vehicle was replaced with a Toyota Camry by the Chief of Staff’s office.

Similarly, Mr Gidisu denied widespread speculations that national security operatives stormed his office and confiscated the said vehicle, saying, ‘’I personally drove the vehicle to the Presidency, since it had already been purchased and paid for and can, therefore, not be reverted to the garage.”

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 6, 2011

MUNTAKA ESCAPES DEATH IN MOTOR ACCIDENT

THE MP for Asawase, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, was yesterday involved in a motor accident at Ankase, near Anyinam on the Accra-Kumasi Highway.

His vehicle collided with a water tank at about 8.40am.

Mr Muntaka who was with three other occupants was returning from Kumasi to enable him to Chair the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health meeting scheduled for today.

Reports say he suffered severe injuries and was subsequently rushed to the Koforidua Government Hospital in an unconscious state.

Briefing media men at the Hospital, Mr Muntaka said the tanker ran into his vehicle after a failed attempt to over take another vehicle and in the process his vehicle He says somersaulted.

He is in a stable condition and the other occupants escaped unhurt.

The vehicle has since been towed to the Koforidua MTTU office while the Police are conducting further investigations into the accident.

Source:Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 6, 2011

CONTROVERSY OVER IMPORTED TEXTILES

Trade Ministry says it is only protecting local designs, Cloth Sellers vow to defend their business

THE ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), has stated that it is not against the importation of textiles into the country but rather the copying of designs of Ghanaian textile manufacturers, an act which infringes on intellectual property rights and deprives Ghanaians of jobs.

A statement signed by the acting Director of Communication and Public Relations of the MOTI, Nana Akrasi Sarpong, in reaction to a demonstration by the Cloth Sellers Association against a task force established by the ministry to seize pirated wax prints last Thursday said: “We recognise that it is important and desirable for consumers to have access to competitively priced products and also have choices.

However, the ministry is against the copying of the Ghanaian textile manufacturers’ designs and essentially infringing on their intellectual property rights.”

“This deprives Ghanaian manufacturers who give jobs not only to their direct employees but also all Ghanaians involved in the sale and distribution of their products of the benefit and reward of their investment,” the statement further said.

It said it was for that reason, that a task force which comprised representatives of the Cloth Sellers Association, the unions, the local manufacturers, the Ghana Standards Board, the revenue authorities, the Police Service and the ministry was established to seize and burn publicly pirated textiles.

“We wish to point out, however, that the Task Force of the Ministry of Trade and Industry does not get itself involved in the confiscation of textiles for evasion of payment of duties but it has and will continue to deal with the issue of pirated textiles,” the statement said.

It said textile products which were found to be pirated were not returned because those who copied the designs of local manufacturers such as Ghana Textiles Printing (GTP), Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) and Printex Ghana Limited, were trying to make profits off the back of companies which had invested in product development, manufacturing, advertising and promotion and essentially would be trying to reap where they had not sown.

“Government cannot allow the undermining of the businesses of these industries through such illegal activities”, it added.

It said previous attempts by the ministry to deal with the situation by seizing and distributing the products to the disadvantaged in society had not been able to solve the problem, hence, the current measures to address the situation.

It debunked allegations made by the Makola Cloth Sellers Association that all attempts to see the minister, Miss Hannah Tetteh, had been met with excuses and said the minister initially arranged to have a meeting with members of the association on Monday, August 29, 2011, but had to reschedule the meeting for the next day due to a meeting she had to attend at short notice.

The statement further noted that the Cloth Sellers Association responded by saying that they also had a meeting and, therefore, could not attend the meeting as scheduled.

“Therefore, to state that the minister was not ready to meet them was most unfortunate,” the statement said.

The statement further encouraged members of the association and other distributors to purchase their products either from accredited distributors of local manufacturers, which were likely to be genuine and safe, or directly from the manufacturers in order to avoid embarrassment.

“We need to encourage fairness and equity in the business environment to continue to make it an attractive business destination for investors into the sub-region.

We also need to ensure that we deal with the menace of counterfeit and substandard products to protect Ghanaian consumers,” the statement said.

Earlier, dealers in Chinese wax prints at the Makola market staged a demonstration against the Joint Anti Piracy Task Force of the MOTI, reports Della Russel Ocloo.

According to members of the Cloth Sellers Association, the action of the anti-piracy task force was not only an infringement on their rights as citizens, but one that deprived them of their livelihood.

The more than 1000 members who staged the demonstration at the market last Thursday expressed displeasure at the seizure of their goods by the task force without any notice, and the accusation that they sold pirated textiles which had the trademarks of local manufacturers.

In a bid to demonstrate their frustration, some wailed uncontrollably while others rolled on the bare ground.

Holding placards with inscriptions such as, “Mr President, Makola adwuma yi ara na ye didie” to wit: “This is our only source of livelihood,”We need peace at Makola,” “Our market is not the border post,” among others.

They accused officials of local textile manufacturing companies of colluding with personnel from industries in China to use the Internet to copy their designs.

Addressing a press conference after the demonstration, the leaders of the group said much as they agreed that the local companies needed to be in business to curtail unemployment in the country, the imitation of local trademarks by the Chinese and Togolese companies could not be blamed on them.

‘’We are convinced that workers of the local industries and their external links across the globe are in some sort of collaboration where they scan designs and sell to factories at expensive cost’s”, said the Secretary of the association, Madam Effie Tsiquaye.

According to her, members of the association traded in the ''High Target, and Auden designs, which were manufactured in China using non-harmful chemicals which had been certified by the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) as acceptable in cloth manufacturing.

‘’Thus, claims by the task force that the Chinese fabrics were manufactured using some 28 banned chemicals is false information meant to cause disaffection for traders in the eyes of the consuming public’’, she stated.

She also denied that her group was involved in pirating designs of local manufacturers, and said the designs on the cloth they often ordered in most cases were about 200 years or 300 years old and could not be the property of any local manufacturing company.

“So fake imports labeled with the latter’s trademark are never the handiwork of the association nor its suppliers,” she said.

Madam Tsiquaye also accused the ministry of failing to address the numerous complaints of harassment by the task force lodged with its officials while several attempts to meet with the minister, Miss Hannah Tetteh, on the issue were met with unfavourable responses

She charged the task force and the ministry to direct its anti piracy activities to the door steps of the GSB which approves such designs and chemicals for the manufacture of the cloth.

Sounding a note of caution to the task force, Madam Tsiquaye said the association would resist any attempt to deprive them of their livelihood, and “we will continually chase the group out any time and day they attempt harassing us”.

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 6, 2011

GOVT TO RELEASE $50m TO TOR FOR RETOOLING

THE Government is set to release $50 million to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) for retooling as part of its immediate strategies to recapitalise the refinery.

This followed extensive consultations which culminated in a closed-door meeting that took place on August 18, 2011 involved President John Evans Mills and the leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in partnership with the refinery’s workers union and the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance Workers (UNICOF).

The meeting also discussed the recent incessant shortages of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) following weeks of inactivity at the refinery’s two major plants, the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), as well as the continual shutdown of the two plants over the last eight months.

An official source at the meeting told the Daily Graphic that the difficulties being encountered by TOR, especially over the last two years, had been of great concern to the President, who immediately called for a stakeholders’ meeting at which the challenges were discussed.

The meeting, which was held on August 22, 2011 and chaired by the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, had in attendance the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Attorney-General, Mr Martin Amidu, the Information Minister, Mr John Tia Akologo, and one of deputies, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, as well as officials of the Energy Ministry.

Also at the meeting were the board chairman of TOR, Mr Eric Okai, and the Managing Director, Mr Ato Ampiah, Mr Alex Mould of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), representatives of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Messers Kofi Asamoah of the TUC and Kofi Gavoh of UNICOF.

The meeting resolved that since the government over the years had not resourced TOR financially, resulting in a significant proxy borrowing by the refinery that nearly crippled its entire operations, there was the need for the Cabinet and the Finance ministry to raise additional $200 million as an operational fund to enable it to co-ordinate its activities of crude oil purchases among others.

The refinery’s management has, therefore, been tasked to submit its audited financial report to the government as the sole shareholder, to enable it to determine the way forward on the recommendations.

The deputy information minister, Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa, who confirmed the meeting to the Daily Graphic when contacted, indicated that the refinery’s management was to present its financial audit statement for study, “since we all agreed that there were certain things that needed to be done that included account management, audit of management systems, including the human factor”.

He said TOR’s board and management had agreed to submit the three reports by the end of September and as soon as that was done and the government was satisfied, the $50 million would be released.

Asked whether the government in the meantime would support the refinery with its crude oil purchase arrangement, Mr Ablakwa said the government would only intervene if management approached officials on the issue.

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Tue, August 30, 2011

TEXTILES ANTI PIRACY TASK FORCE VOWED TO SUSTAIN OPERATION

LOCAL textile manufacturers and the Joint Anti Piracy Task Force against pirated textile prints have vowed to sustain their operation to seize pirated wax print from various markets nationwide as a way to curb the menace of importation of the trademarks of local manufacturers.

They have also indicated their preparedness to ensure that persons engaged in such nefarious activities are brought to book and also publicly destroy pirated textiles tthat may be seized.

The counterfiet wax prints which were alleged to have been smuggled into the country mostly from China according to officials, contained over 28 banned chemicals that were not allowed in textile manufacturing the world over owing to their ability to cause skin cancer and other skin diseases in the event of usage.

According to the General Secretary of Textiles, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TEGLEU), Mr Abraham Koomson, the activities of persons aiding smugglers that bring in fake pirated imports do not only undermine the credibility of the local manufacturers but also go to compound the already bad situation of crippling the local textile industry.

Addressing a press conference in Tema following a Daily Graphic publication on Tuesday August 23, 2011that suggested that traders at the Makola 31st December Market chased out members of the Anti Piracy Local Textile Designers Task Force, when the group visited the market to seize what were considered illegal prints, Mr Koomson questioned the traders who claimed to be doing legal business why they were hiding under the cloak of anonymity when they spoke to the media.

He indicated that the task force, which had police personnel as members, fled the market to avoid bloodshed, since armed police personnel with them could have fired in the heat of the melee.

He further explained that the setting up of the task force by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2010, was in response to numerous appeals from the union and local manufacturers for the government to step in to halt the upsurge in the pirating of textile designs belonging to local manufacturers.

The general secretary explained that Ghana was said to have lost some GH¢30 billion of its total revenue of which the textile industry was a major contributor following the massive loss of jobs in that sector.

The operation being carried out by the group has been in existence over a decade even before the setting up of the task force about a year ago, Mr Koomsomn explained.

He said the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) signed by a number of countries of which Ghana was a member had ensured that governments all over the world had in place punitive measures to ensure existing and prospective dealers in pirated textile prints were dealt with.

Thus, it was, therefore incumbent on the government to show commitment to protect and promote industries and enterprises in its quest to sustain a striving economy, since such actions have the potential of discouraging potential investors.

He lamented over the growing decline in the industry which had in the past employed more than 25,000 people.

The Marketing Director of Tex Styles Ghana Limited (GTP), Nana Kwabena Yentumi, urged the media to adequately support the task force to ensure that set regulations against the practice were curbed to avoid the annual loss of some GH¢30 million in revenue through the smuggling of textile fabrics.

According to him, the previous employment of some 25,000 in the textile and garment industry represented some 27 per cent of total manufacturing employment in the past, which had since dwindled to a minimal figure of 2,500 among the three major manufacturers, namely, GTP, Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) and Printex Ghana Limited.

He similarly urged traders and their protoges who were burnt on seeing the local industry crumble to refrain from such activities and rather contribute to the growth of the sector.

Representatives of GTP, ATL and Printex were present at the briefing.

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Aug 25, 2011

ENERGY MINISTRY SEEKS FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL LPG GANTRY

(Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Armah Kofi Buah (middle) with Mr Ato Ampiah (left), Managing Director of TOR and Dr Yaw Akoto (right), MD of BOST arriving at one of the storage depot's during the tour)






THE Ministry of Energy is in discussion with the Ministry of Finance on the need to build a six-arm additional Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) loading gantry at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) to complement the two existing ones as part of the short-term strategies to address the frequent shortage of the commodity.

As part of the project, five additional storage tanks would be constructed to create a buffer stock and an eight-inch pipeline laid to improve the pump rate of the product from the oil jetty to the loading bays.

The existing gantries can load up to 50 trucks per day while the current six-inch pipeline in use pumps between 50-60 tonnes of LPG per hour, a situation TOR officials described as worrying, hence the need to have an expanded pipeline in place to address the challenge.

Similarly, the officials have also submitted proposals to the Cabinet for a review of subsidies on LPG by users across the board to slow the strain on demand, particularly on the part of commercial users .

The review, the officials say, will ensure that windfall prices are removed as part of strategies to stabilise the market, as the government’s annual subsidy on the commodity, according to officials, stands at GH¢150 million, with monthly subsidy alone standing at some GH¢12.5 million.

The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, disclosed this when he toured the construction site of a multi-million dollar LPG storage facility at the Kpone Industrial Area in Tema.

The structure, belonging to FuelTrade Limited, a bulk distributor of refined petroleum products, and being constructed at $50 million, when completed, can store up to 4,000 tonnes of the commodity.

He was accompanied by Mr Alex Mould, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Yaw Akoto of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), Mr Ato Ampiah, Managing Director of TOR, and some officials of the ministry.

According to officials of FuelTrade, civil works on the facility are about 70 per cent complete toward their March 2012 completion deadline.

The visit by the minister was as a result of the perennial shortage of LPG, which has resulted in consumers forming long winding queues at the various distribution outlets across the country.

It was also to afford the delegation the opportunity to inspect existing storage infrastructure and to discuss ways of improving upon them.

He also inspected works on a 1,500-tonne storage facility being put up by the TOR and the only oil jetty at the Tema Port.

He indicated that as part of the medium-term goals, work on a temporary badge in Takoradi was expected to begin in the next six months.

Mr Buah blamed inadequate infrastructure for the problem and commended officials of FuelTrade, expressing optimism that the project would increase the country’s current national storage capacity from some 6,300 tonnes to about 11,700 to ease the pressure on the government.

He stated that 40,000 tonnes of the commodity was consumed in 2001 but the figure had been increasing, and was expected to reach about 248,000 by the end of the year.

Mr Ampiah said the 1,500-tonne capacity project being undertaken by the refinery would also provide some respite when completed in the next seven months.

Meanwhile, a consignment of 4,000 tonnes of LPG imported by FuelTrade has arrived at the Tema Port and is expected to be on the market by Thursday after a successful delivery.

Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Aug 18, 2011

TURF WAR AT STX AS KOREAN, GHANAIAN DIRECTORS FIGHT FOR CONTROL

THE raging controversy surrounding the construction of some 30,000 housing units for the security services under the STX Housing Project has taken a new twist as the Ghanaian and Korean directors engage in a 'turf war'.

While the Korean directors last Thursday said they had relieved their Ghanaian partner, Mr B. K. Asamoah, of his post as Chief Executive of the STX Engineering and Construction Limited, Mr Asamoah, for his part, has issued a statement, saying that the Koreans no longer have a stake in the project.

Mr Asamoah said his Korean partners had no such mandate to sack him and indicated that he was still at post, saying that the partnership arrangement between his company and the Koreans had been dissolved.

In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, Mr Asamoah indicated that the STX Construction (Korea) was no longer an equity partner in STX Engineering and Construction Limited following its exit from the agreement in May, 2011.

It said site works for the affordable housing programme had already begun as promised in July, 2011 under the direction of STX Engineering and Construction Limited with support from the government.

The statement explained that the Korean partners had no locus in the project per their status and as such their decisions were void in the multi-million dollar project.

The officials gave the assurance that the project would progress steadily following new funding arrangements and the adoption of a US technology that would ensure rapid and effective implementation within the terms approved by Parliament.



The latest confusion has seen the Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, joining the fray by reiterating the Minority's stance on the deal and underscoring the need for the agreement to be brought back to Parliament for proper scrutiny.

The Minority Leader explained on an Accra radio station that current developments had clearly shown that the STX deal had fallen out of place and, therefore, needed to be abrogated immediately to save the government and the country further embarrassment.

The latest twist to the housing project comes weeks after the Korean partners, STX Construction had dragged Mr Asamoah to court over alleged falsification of corporate documents and unlawful reconstitution of the board.

The government, in its bid to adequately arrest the depreciation in the country's housing deficit, initiated the STX Housing Project in partnership with STX Engineering and Construction Limited.

The project, which was supposed to have commenced in April, 2011 suffered several setbacks when the Koreans, in a law suit on May 16, 2011, which was against G.K. Airports Company Limited, Bernard Kwabena Asamoah and J. B. Asafo-Boakye, filed a special resolution, claiming to surrender all the stated shares of STX Construction Company Limited to G.K. Airports Company Limited, a move the plaintiffs argued could not stand in law because the Koreans were still part of the company.


Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sat Aug 20, 2011