The Times says the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr I.K. Adjei- Mensah, has told Messrs Contra Simex, an Accra-based Construction firm working on the Nkontompo sea defence wall near Sekondi, that it has six weeks to complete the job or lose the contract. According to the Times, Messrs Contra Simex was awarded the contract in 1994 and the project was expected to be completed in 1996, but not even 50 per cent of the work has been done. The paper says after inspecting the project on Monday, Mr Adjei- Mensah expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the contractor so far. The Minister, the paper says, has warned that if the firm fails to live up to expectation, the contract will be reviewed by the appointing authority and re-awarded to a more competent contractor. GRI
"World Bank urges governments to stimulate competition", is another story carried by the Times on its front page. The Times says the visiting Senior Vice-President of the World Bank, Dr Joseph Stiglitz, on Monday advised governments to stimulate competition in the various sectors of the economy to ensure improved growth. Dr Stiglitz said economic growth is fuelled by a good government which should have predictability of its role-making, improve the effectiveness of government, use market mechanisms and improve incentives in the public sector. The government, he said, should also have a broader policy framework which will facilitate better private investments which will inturn facilitate growth. GRI
"GES leaves Northern Region pupils to their fate?", is carried by the paper and says the Ghana Education Service (GES) has announced the re-absorption of teachers who fled the Northern Region during the 1994 ethnic conflict, into other schools to fill existing vacancies. According to the Times, Mr Michael Kwesi Ackah, acting director of manpower, said in Accra yesterday that although some of the teachers returned to the area after the conflict, they found the schools closed. They were therefore posted to fill vacancies in other regions. Mr Ackah was commenting on steps being taken by the GES to fill existing vacancies of teachers in schools in the northern parts of the country as a result of the conflict. The Times said it carried a story on August 15, quoting the Nanumba District Director of Education as saying that the district would need 200 teachers for the 72 primary and junior secondary schools to re-open. GRI
