The service, which will take the form of operations of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), will be manned by personnel from the Ministry of Health and the GNFS.
Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health disclosed this during his turn of meet-the-press in Accra yesterday.
According to him some ambulances have already been purchased for the operation of the service.
He gave the assurance that the formal sector workers’ deduction from the SSNIT for the proposed national Health Insurance Scheme has been designed in such a way as to avoid any adverse effect on the sustainability of the trust.
2. LABOUR LAW UNIQUE….SAYS AUSTIN GAMEY – PGS. 1 & 3
akot Mr. Austin Gamey, Labour Consultant and Conflict mediator has said the new Ghana Labour Law will inspire confidence in foreign and local investors to do business in the country.
According to him, the law is unique by all standards because Ghana has become the first country in the world to introduce such a law which will drastically reduce labour hostilities to almost nothing. Labour issues, he said, will no more be drawn to the courts because the new laws has checks and balances which do not give any undue advantage to parties involved in labour disputes.
He was speaking to the paper in an interview in Accra.
3. GHANAIANS IN DIASPORE FORM INVESTMENT CLUBS – PG. 17
The paper reports that, formation of investment clubs by Ghanaians living abroad to mobilize funds for investment in the country has begun in earnest in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
The clubs will have the option to buy shares in commercial entities or buy outright any state company, which is put on divestiture and revamped it to become productive.
The Deputy Minister of Information, Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng disclosed this to the paper in Accra on the outcome of his recent trip to the USA to mobilize Ghanaians there to contribute to the economic development of the country.
According to him, the strategy is part of the government’s policy of creating the right platform and motivation for Ghanaians in the diaspora to contribute positively to the country’s socio-economic development.
4. OSAFO-MAAFO GETTING DISILUSIONED WITH DONORS – PG. 16
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning has announced that the country is becoming increasingly disturbed about the failure of her development partners to live up to their promises.
According to him, considering the fact that 45 per cent of Ghana’s budget comes from donor inflows the problem could have adverse effects on the nation’s development agenda and dislocate the economy.
He said the government has decided to behave as a “proud but aggressive borrower” by insisting that development partners form a club and write their code of conduct while the government also does same to ensure that the two parties abide by their pledges.
He was speaking at the opening of the mid-year review conference of Regional Ministers in Kumasi.
He said already agreements have been signed with nine development partners including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Kingdom and Germany on the need to fulfill pledges.
He stated that the fiscal and monetary policy setting altered in the course of the first half of the year is significantly improving the outlook for reducing inflation and ensuring growth.
According to the paper, government will by the close of next year, open about 100 garment factories in the country.
The project is part of the President’s Special Initiative (PSI) on Garments and Textiles and is designed to diversify Ghana’s exports from the traditional exports such as cocoa, gold and timber.
Nana Tweneboa-Boateng, Coordinator for Garments and Textiles of PSI disclosed this when Ms Misako Konno, the visiting UNDP Goodwil Ambassador, toured the Textile and Garments factory of Akosombo Textile Limited.
2. ?1BN FOR KMA MEMBERS ….AS SITTING ALLOWANCE – PGS. 1 & 3
The paper reports that, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) spent ?1 billion as sitting allowances for its members during the past two years.
Over ?2 billion was also spent on the purchase of fuel to facilitate waste management and administrative obligations during the same period.
These were contained in a statement by the KMA in response to allegations by some aggrieved members.
They are questioning the integrity and achievements of the two-year Stewardship of the Metropolitan Chief, Mr. Maxwell Kofi Jumah.
The statement said also that the KMA spent an average of ?400 million a month on fuel mainly for the evacuation of refuse in the metropolis.
According to the statement all the monies were generated from the assembly’s own resources, adding that “but for the judicious use of the assembly’s internally generated funds for such interventions, Kumasi as a city, would have come to a halt.”
The statement pledged the readiness of the Chief Executive for a probe into his administration at any time, anywhere and anyday.
He was speaking at the weekly “Meet-The-Press” Series in Accra yesterday.
He said the government is also discussing issues with its development partners for more funds in order to start work on the Medical Block at the hospital.
According to him, the government has now realized that the ex-president is only trying to use the serial killings as a weapon to cause confusion in the country, but they as a government would not allow themselves to be caught in such a trap.
He said the government has serious business to attend to and would not dissipate its energy pursuing “frivolous matters in the law courts.”
He said the allegation made by the ex-president was criminal and that was why the police went to him to get more information but unfortunately he refused, insisting that he would only speak after the government had made a lie detector available.
He was speaking in an interview with the paper at Sekondi.
The Attorney-General said the lie detector is only used on suspects but not on informants.
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