WORK BEGINS ON BUIPE PIPELINE PROJECT
President J. A. Kufuor has cut the sod for work to begin on the 275-kilometre petroleum products pipeline project at Buipe in the Northern Region.
The project, dubbed ?B 2P3?, is estimated to cost $40 million and will be completed in November next year. It will facilitate the conveyance of petroleum products form Buipe to Bolgatanga through an eight-inch diameter pipe.
The Korean government is jointly financing the project with $38.2 million through the Korea Exim Bank, while the government of Ghana is providing $1.3 million.
Performing the sod-cutting ceremony, President Kufuor said, the project was in line with the government?s medium to long-term objective of increasing the availability and supply of petroleum products to all parts of the country to facilitate socio-economic development.
The Managing Director of BOST, Mr. Joseph Addo-Yobo, noted that pilferage of fuel and the dulteration of petroleum products would be reduced significantly when the project was completed.
The pipeline will carry diesel, gasoline and kerosene through four districts and five traditional areas, with Buipe as the hub pumping station point, with a booster station at Savelugu in the Northern Region, while the Bolgatanga depot will serve as a receptacle point.
PRESIDENT INAUGURATES TRANSMISSION STATION AT BOLE
President Kufuor has inaugurated a radio and television satellite transmission station at Bole in the Northern Region.
The project, which cost 77,000 Euros, is one of the six satellite transmission stations in the region being installed by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). It forms part of the GBC?s nationwide expansion programmes being undertaken at a total cost of 17 million Euros.
The other transmission stations in the region have been sited at Bimbilla, Gambaga, Yendi, Salaga and Damongo.
Addressing a durbar after the inauguration ceremony at Bole, President Kufuor noted that politics was about development and that the people of Bole should judge governments based on their performance.
PRESIDENT KUFUOR RECEIVES ROUSING WELCOME IN YENDI
President Kufuor has given the assurance that the government would make every effort to ensure a burial that befits the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, after the December general election.
He further assured the chiefs and people of Yendi that the government was doing everything possible to identify and deal with the perpetrators of the killing of the late Ya Na, in March, 2002.
The President gave those assurances when he paid a courtesy call on the Kulga Naa Abdulai Braimah, Head of the Dagbon Traditional Council, at Yendi on Thursday, on his way to Chereponi/Saboba and Zabzugu-Tatale districts as part of his five-day official visit to the Northern Region.
President Kufuor said, although he had made a declaration not to campaign at Yendi, it was not proper for him to pass through Yendi, to Saboba and Zabzugu without paying a courtesy call on the Kulga Naa to find out how he and the rest of the people were faring.
VICE PRESIDENT INAUGURATES WATER FACILITY AT NKWANTA
The Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama, has inaugurated a ?6.5 billion water facility at Nkwanta in the Nkwanta District of the Volta Region.
The facility was jointly funded by the government and the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ). It has a capacity of 22,000 gallons and will serve people in Nkwanta and surrounding communities.
Addressing separate durbars of the chiefs and people of Nkwanta, Sibi and Breweniase all in the Nkwanta District, the Vice President said as a long term measure to address the guinea worm incidence in the area, water would be drawn from Damanko, a town in the district, to serve the various communities.
The project is part of efforts by the government to address the acute water problem and the high incidence of guinea worm and other water-borne diseases in the area.
THE FIRST LADY RECEIVES HIV/AIDS AWARENESS CARAVAN
The First Lady, Mrs. Theresa Kufuor, has called on organisations working to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic to go beyond awareness creation and provide those infected with the virus with food supplements, vitamins and anti-retroviral drugs.
Mrs. Kufuor, who said this when she received the Abidjan-Lagos HIV/AIDS Corridor Project Awareness Caravan at Aflao in the Volta Region on Thursday, said although advocacy and awareness creation were important, enough vitamins and food supplements were greatly helpful.
The Caravan, an awareness creation project has been put together as part of the joint Regional Lagos-Abidjan Transport Corridor HIV/AIDS programme to tackle the spread of the pandemic along the border communities (corridor) along the highway.
It is being implemented by Ghana, Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Cote d? Ivoire, with support from the World Bank and the Coca Cola Africa Foundation.
The Caravan, named ?Love Life Caravan? enroute to Abidjan, from Lagos through Benin, Togo and Ghana, has lined up awareness creation activities which will be undertaken in Aflao, Accra, Takoradi and Elubo.
It is scheduled to arrive in Elubo by December 1, to coincide with the World AIDS Day celebrations and end in Abidjan on December 9.
FIRST NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS HELD IN ACCRA
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS) has renamed certain sporting facilities and events after distinguished sports men and women in recognition of their contribution to the development of sports in the country.
The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Mr. Kwadjo Baah-Wiredu, disclosed this at first ever National Sports Awards held in Accra on Friday.
The Accra Sports Stadium, will now be called ?Ohene Djan Stadium?, named after Mr. Ohene Djan, the first Director of Sports in Ghana who is reputed to had revolutionised football and sports in general by mooting the idea of the first national soccer league 45 years ago.
The Kaneshie Sports Complex would be called ?The Azumah Nelson Sports Complex?, named after Azumah Nelson, a celebrated Ghanaian boxer. The Cape Coast Sports Stadium has been named after Robert Mensah, one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of Ghanaian football, whilst the national hockey pitch will now be called ?Theodosia Okoh Hockey Pitch?, a former chairperson of the Ghana Hockey Association for many years.
The Sports Hall of the Accra Sports Stadium, will now be known as ?D. G. Hathiramani Hall?, an Indian naturalised Ghanaian who single headedly produced more than 60 percent of Ghana?s table tennis team spanning over four decades.
The Press Centre of the stadium was named after Mr. Kofi Badu, a renowned sports writer, whose write-ups contributed to the development of football and boxing in Ghana.
The newly established library of Accra Stadium was named after Mr. H. P. Nyemitei, nicknamed the ?Grey Hair Soccer Philosopher?, who was chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in 1969, is well remembered for organising a tour for the Brazilian national team which included Pele.
The Resource Centre was named after Mr. David Kotei a. k. a. ?D. K. Poison?, while the Stadium Clinic at Accra Stadium will now be known as ?Dr. Yaw Nkansa-Gyane Clinic?, a former President of the Ghana Olympic Committee.
The Annual National Athletic Championship is to be known as ?Mike Ahey National Athletic Championship?, Ahey was a gold medallist in long jump at the 1962 Commonwealth Games and African champion in the early 1960s?.
The National Annual Boxing Tournament has been named after Roy Ankrah, the first Ghanaian to win a Commonwealth championship and trained great boxers such as Eddie Blay and Ike Quartey.
The Annual Table Tennis Championships, will be named after E. A. Quaye, the former national and African table tennis champion.
