News
Help Effia Nkwanta hospital install equipment for COVID-19 patients

The Medical Director of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital (ENRH) in the Western Region, Dr Joseph Tambil has said that the facility had many infrastructural challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has, therefore, appealed to the oil and mining companies and other well-meaning Ghanaians to help the hospital to renovate its uncompleted buildings to install COVID-19 equipment.
He said that though the COVID-19 was going down, the hospital would have no holding for the patients should there be a second wave because the current structure used as COVID-19 holding place was woefully inadequate.
Dr Tambil was speaking in an interview with The Spectator on preparations to house patients of COVID-19.
“I feel COVID-19 is going down but if there is a second wave it will take us by surprise so the Western Region needs to be adequately prepared to accommodate COVID-19 patients”, he said.
He disclosed that the Mothers’ Hostel needed about GHC800, 000. 00 to complete the facility and make it habitable for about 1,000 patients.
He said the Hostel was started by the former Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Mr Paapa Owusu Ankomah but he could not complete it and it has been on the ground floor for all these years.
He said the facility was the ideal place for COVID-19 patients since it was out of the hospital.
The Medical Director said that though COVID-19 had been bad, it had brought some assistance like ventilators which were badly needed by the hospital to set up an Intensive Care Unit because such cases were always sent to either Cape Coast or Accra.
Dr Tambil asked the good people of the region especially the oil and mining companies to come to the assistance of the hospital because it lacked so many things as a referral hospital
He said with the donation of ventilators and patient monitors, the hospital still needed infrastructure to install these equipment for use, stressing that the hospital had the technicians to handle the equipment but no room to accommodate the monitors and ventilators.
The Medical Director appealed to the paramount chiefs to urge people of good financial standing to come and help because “the hospital had no ward fit enough to admit important personalities when these people were referred to the hospital for treatment.”
From Peter Gbambila, Takoradi.
News
Intake of ‘Gobe’ can prevent heart diseases —Nutritionists

Nutritionists have advised Ghanaians to eat more beans-based meals, including the popular local dish, gari and beans, also known as ‘Gobe’ to prevent heart diseases. They said incidences of obesity and cancer could be minimised with the regular intake of beans meals.
At a programme in Accra to mark the World Pulses ( Beans) Day on Monday, Mr Wise Chukudi Letsa, Nutritionist and Dietician, who spoke on the topic: ‘Beans: The Super Food for Healthy Living and Healthy Farmlands,’ admonished Ghanaians to include beans in their diets.
Mr Letsa said beans was rich in protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, irons and other nutrients and contained just a little fat. Mr Letsa, a Nutritionist with Lets Consult, stated that the presence of those nutrients in beans explained why its intake could prevent heart diseases and other ailments, hence the need to consume it regularly.
The event, dubbed: ‘Meatless Monday’ was organised by the Communications Initiative for Change (CIC), a Ghanaian non-profit organisation.
The ‘Meatless Monday’ is an initiative aimed at encouraging Ghanaians to reduce their intake of meat by taking in more beans-based meals on every Monday of a week.
It was launched after the United Nations in 2019, set aside February 10 to celebrate and encourage the consumption of pulses (beans) worldwide. This year’s celebration was hinged on the theme: ‘Bringing Diversity to Agrifood Systems.’
Mr Peter Agbovi, National Secretary, Chefs Association of Ghana, said a variety of meals could be prepared with beans, which include Waakye (rice and beans), Kose (beans paste made into cakes), Ayikple, Aboboi, Tuo Zaafi, Akyeke, and kakro.
He encouraged Ghanaians to consume more of those foods to stay healthy.
Mr Emmanuel Fiagbey, the Executive Director, CIC, indicated that even if people could not eat beans-based meals regularly, efforts should be made to consume them every Monday.
He said that was the essence of the introduction of the ‘Meatless Monday’ initiative. -GNA
News
Restore beauty of Kwame Nkrumah Circle area / State of Kwame Nkrumah Circle an eyesore!

Small size quarry stones fixed at open spaces under the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange was to leave the place open and free from activities of beggars and other activities of the homeless.
By the way the stones were fixed, it makes the area, particularly the VIP and Neoplan Station stretch of the Interchange, inhabitable by the destitute.
But a walk through the area currently suggest the opposite.
At the median where pavement blocks have been taken over by these homeless and destitute, the area has been turned into a hotel where a number of these unfortunate ones have comfortably laid their mattresses and other stuff to rest from the day’s activities.
They have crossed over to the SSNIT and Kaneshie Station area with their activities and have removed the quarry stones which were to ward them off the place to enable them find spaces to sleep comfortably.


The pavement blocks removed from different locations under the interchange now serves as foundations on which beds were laid and in some cases, mosquito nets erected.
Their continued presence is not only creating a nuisance for commuters but marring the beauty and serenity of the place.
Sadly, the activities of these deprived fellows have been ignored while the numbers keep increasing day by day.
The Spectator finds the development very worrying and calls on the responsible authorities to clear the area to restore the beauty and serenity of the area.
By Victor A. Buxton