News
Abuakwa residents assured of more devt projects in era of COVID-19
The Abuakwa South Municipal Chief Executive, Kojo Ofori-Safo, has assured residents of the assembly’s commitment and readiness to improve on the Internally Generating Fund (IGF) of the assembly in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He appealed to assembly members to support and assist in efforts by the assembly to plug loopholes in generating funds to improve livelihoods of residents through growth and development projects.
Mr Ofori-Safo said the assembly had done quite well despite challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic and enumerated completed and ongoing projects in all sectors including education, security, health, sanitation, local governance in communities in the municipality.
He gave the assurance when he addressed the first Ordinary meeting of the first session of the 8th Assembly of the Abuakwa South at Kibi in the Eastern Region on Friday.
Mr Ofori-Safo also spoke extensively on the COVID-19 pandemic and sanitation and called on assembly members to help educate and sensitise residents on the need to stop stigmatisation, and adherence of safety directives of health authorities.
He asked security services especially Ghana Immigration and Police Services in the municipality to devise means to deal with illegal migrants who are not willing to comply with mining regulations of the country in the mist of COVID-19 and urged them to take legal action against landlords who accommodate such migrants in their households in the municipality.
He appealed to the assembly members to assist the security services to flush out those illegal migrants from the municipality because they were becoming a threat to the environment especially those from West African region who had colluded with some of the youth in the area and brought in sophisticated equipment to exploit the environment at an alarming rate.
“The influx of illegal migrants in the municipality has surged illegal mining (galamsey) to worrying levels with its attendant damage to the environment despite the assembly’s best efforts, including advocacy by Okyenhene’s Foundation, the youth continue to engage in galamsey with impunity which has worsened galamsey menace when they engage in business which has made it difficult to contain the situation,” Mr Ofori-Safo noted.
Source: Ghanaian Times
News
President Mahama meets Kantamanto traders
President John Dramani Mahama has reached out to traders affected by the recent fire at Kantamanto Market in Accra.
The President in a meeting with the traders today, January 12, 2025, acknowledged the heavy loss and assured them of his administration’s support.
He said “One of the first things we need to do is to prevent these outbreaks from happening. In some cases, it might be due to long wiring and the use of inferior materials.”
He continued to say,“But in some cases, we cannot rule out what we call arson, that is people deliberately setting fire to cause destruction.”
Recounting similar situations in the past, he said, “I remember it happened before in 2013, when I was sworn in as president,there were market fires in almost every market which was quite unusual, and in many cases, the investigations show that people deliberately set fire to just cause chaos and confusion.”
He therefore said, “We need to look at how to prevent it from happening again, how to alleviate their plight, and how the market should be rebuilt.”
“We held a meeting with the security heads today to see how we can tighten security around all the major markets to prevent any such occurrence,” he added.
The President in the meeting with the traders concluded by saying “Just this morning we heard about the Techiman market fire, so it looks like something which is going to continue and we need to take quick steps to address it. We are asking the Fire Service to deploy fire tenders close to where there are major markets at night and installation of CCTV cameras at various markets.”
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
E-levy will be scrapped immediately – Dr.Ato Forson
Minister for Finance Designate, Dr.Casiel Ato Forson has assured Ghanaians that the E-Levy introduced by the past government will be scrapped immediately.
According to him, his position on the E-Levy has not changed.
He said it should not always be about revenue, adding that there is also the need to look at expenditure.
The Minister for Finance Designate stressed that the tax had not produced the expected revenue and had instead burdened the sector without benefiting the broader economy.
Against this backdrop, Dr Forson also reiterated his strong stance on the controversial E-levy, saying his position on the matter had not changed.
“My position on the e-levy is well known. I have written articles about it, and my position has not changed,” he stated.
He raised concerns about the classification of the levy, calling it neither a direct nor an indirect tax. “I don’t know how to classify it,” he added, questioning its efficacy in the current fiscal system.
This notwithstanding, he said, the E-levy must go and will be scrapped immediately.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
