In a bid to promote Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and make the youth employable at Akwasiso, a mining community in the Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region, the chief of the area has built a multi-purpose vocational center to train at least 100 females in various trades and save them from indulging in social vices.
For a start, the chief, Nana Kwakye Gyimah Yeboah II, has recruited 41 females, mainly school dropouts and young mothers to undergo training in hairdressing and dressmaking.
The facility is also to serve as a practical training center for TVET students within the catchment area to build their capacities with employable skills.
Plans are also afoot to introduce some male-dominated programs including plumbing to engage some male youth.
Subsequently, a mining firm, Asanko Gold, has lent a helping hand with the provision of industrial sewing machines, tabletop sewing machines, hair driers, and accessories valued at hundreds of Ghana cedis.
Already the company has built similar facilities at Manso Nkran and Bontefufuo in the Amansie South and West districts of the region respectively training about 500 youth.
Stakeholder engagement and external relations of Asanko, Jerry John Dua, said the training of the youth was to make them competitive in getting employment in the mines.
He said the chief’s initiative tied into the vision and policy of the mines in reducing unemployment in its catchment areas.
The chief, Nana Yeboah II, called for more collaboration between the mine and the communities to duplicate such facilities to save the youth in indulging in unacceptable behaviors.
He said 61 females initially applied to be trained but only 41 showed up to begin the first phase with the hope of achieving its targets in the coming years.
The presence of metal contaminants in agricultural soils and subsequent uptake by food crops can pose serious human health risks.
In this study, the scientists assessed the levels of toxic metals like arsenic, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, and zinc in soils and some edible root tuber crops from two gold mining and two non-mining communities in Ghana to evaluate the potential human health risks associated with exposure to these metals.
They sought to evaluate the potential human health risks associated with exposure to these metals.
The concentrations of the metals in 154 soil and edible root tuber samples were then analyzed. The scientists found the levels of the metals were generally higher in the gold mining communities than in the non-mining communities.
The contamination indices indicated low to moderate contamination of the soil and food crops. Bio accessibility for the metals varied from 1.7% (Fe) to 62.3 (Mn),†lead scientist. Prof. Godfred Darko said.
They however concluded the levels of metals in the root tubers posed a low risk to humans.
“Overall, the risks posed by the metals upon consumption of the tubers were low,†he emphasized.
The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has officially commenced the decommissioning of the Mr. Louie Platform in the Saltpond Oil Field which is estimated to last 12 months.
Being the first decommissioning project of its kind in Ghana, GNPC, the lead contractor, as well as other relevant stakeholders, have demonstrated their readiness to work hand-in-hand to ensure the success of the project.
Having obtained the majority of the statutory approvals and key permits, GNPC will provide both financial and technical support to fully execute the year-long project.
Oil field
The Mr. Louie Platform (commissioned in 1970) has reached the end of its operational life and is deteriorating.
GNPC has, therefore, engaged Hans & Co. Limited [a wholly Ghanaian- owned Company] to lead a consortium of industry experts in undertaking the project on a turnkey basis.
The release noted that the project would be supported by a project management consultancy firm to ensure that all aspects of the decommissioning, including well plugging and abandonment, and topside removal, are performed with strict adherence to Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental (HSSE) protocol.
In a release, the Chief Executive Officer of the GNPC, Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah said the decommissioning of the first oil platform in Ghana was necessary to ensure that the marine ecosystem around the Saltpond area was returned to its pre-license condition.
With several oil and gas platforms expected to be decommissioned in the future, he said the GNPC personnel would gain additional hands-on technical capabilities by collaborating with other experienced industry experts during this exercise.
The CEO further noted that the field decommissioning process was preceded by pre-planning and a feasibility study that was endorsed by the Ministry of Energy.
“While we continue to work to meet all the technical and safety requirements, the corporation is also enhancing its social license to operate by continuously holding stakeholder and community engagements in coastal communities where the project is taking place.
“This is to sensitize fisherfolk about the importance and the need to observe safety measures and stay away from the restricted zone. We have also supported the traditional authorities to perform all the necessary customary rites for the project to kick off,†he stated in the release.
Mr. Danquah expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Commission, Ghana Maritime Authority, National Security, Environmental Protection Agency, and other key stakeholders whose representatives were present at the kick-off for their support in ensuring that the project took off successfully.
Parliament has passed the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2022, which seeks to regularize the fees being charged by some public service institutions.
The bill is also expected to review existing fees, impose new ones and provide for an annual adjustment of fees and charges levied by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in line with prevailing economic conditions.
Among other things, it will also establish a single schedule of all fees and charges for the delivery of goods and services rendered by the MDAs to the public.
The proposed adjustments of some of the fees and charges are expected to contribute significantly to meeting the revenue targets outlined in the budget for the 2022 fiscal year.
Background
In 2018, Parliament passed the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2018 (Act 983) which transferred the authority to determine fees and charges under an enactment to the minister responsible for finance.
Act 983 also mandates MDAs to conduct an annual review of the administrative efficiency of collection, the accuracy of past estimates, and the relevance of fees and charges to current economic conditions.
Additionally, the Public Financial Management Regulation, 2019(L.I 2378) directs a Principal Spending Officer responsible for collecting various types of fees and charges to conduct an annual review of the administrative efficiency of past estimates and the relevance of rates, fees, and charges and submit proposals through the minister responsible for finance to Parliament for approval.
The two enactments, therefore, mandate MDAs to adjust regular basis fees and charges collected for the delivery of goods and services to the public to keep pace with the current economic trends.
This new bill is to ensure a regular review of the fees and charges levied by the MDA, avoid a steep increase arising from long periods without review, bridge the growing gap between the cost of service delivery and approved fees and simplify the process for review of fees and charges to a single submission to Parliament as part of the annual budget.
Observation
Per a report submitted on the bill, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Kwaku Kwarteng, said the committee noted during its deliberations that a number of government agencies and institutions responsible for the collection of non-tax revenues on behalf of the government failed to lodge revenues collected in gross in contravention of Section 46 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).
The report said many of the subvented agencies either retained part or paid the entire revenues collected directly into their operational accounts from which disbursements were made.
“Again, some institutions also collect revenues on the table or over the counter after which it is lodged into their operational accounts and disbursed directly in contravention of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016. The committee noted with concern that the practice does not give the Minister of Finance a complete or comprehensive view of the total revenue (non-tax) generated by all state agencies in each fiscal year,†he said.
Additionally, the practice could expose public funds to abuse and embezzlement by collecting officers, the committee observed.
“The committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry of Finance should take immediate steps to ensure that all institutions captured in the Second Schedule of the bill collect their revenues through a designated commercial bank or through the Ghana.gov platform from which the funds collected are transferred in gross into the respective holding accounts at Bank of Ghana,†the report said.