Friday 12 July 2013

WORKSHOP FOR DRIVERS

Wassa East District Assembly in its quest to ensure safe driving to help reduce the spate of road accidents on our roads in the country has organized a four day training workshop on defensive driving, use of log books, highway code and transport management for some decentralized departments drivers at Daboase, the district capital.

The District Chief Executive for Wassa East, Hon. Emmanuel Anthony Aggrey urged the drivers to take the training seriously to enable them maintain the vehicles well to avoid constant breakdowns which is a huge drain on the assembly’s coffers.

 According to the Assistant Chief Technical instructor of the district, Mr. Bernard Armoh the district assembly has been organizing this training every year to refresh the minds of drivers on defensive driving to enable them become abreast with driving technique to ensure safe driving.

He took participants through the need to apply the abbreviated word C.O. A. T. in defensive driving which simply means Concentration, Observation, Anticipation and Tolerate in driving. He said to ensure safe driving one has to concentrate and as well observe road rules and regulations such as Road markings and signs. A good driver should always be in anticipation to ensure you plan ahead well and act promptly and swiftly to deal with changes going on around your driving.

Mr. Armoh said a good driver should tolerate other road users’ conduct to ensure safety on road or adopt your own driving strategy to handle hazard caused by others.

The Planning and Transport officer for the District Education Office, Mr. Edward Armah one of the facilitators trained the drivers on safety checks and speed management. He said vehicle safety checks are checks which are required to be done on a vehicle to avert future occurrence or failure and this also helps to prolong the life span of the vehicle.

He said the checks are grouped in to three namely Daily checks which involves the checking fan blade, fan belt, head lights, tyre pressure flailed leakage under the vehicle and starting engine to listen for unusual noise. The second category being weekly checks include checking battery connection, vehicle tools and spare tyres, break and clutch fluid level, wind screen masher water level.

The third category being duty check which involves completion of log book, fuel level, operations of horns and seat belts.

He urged the drivers to always wear their seat belts for their own safety and security in mind since when a vehicle gets involved in traffic road accident, its emotion is automatically transferred to its occupants. On speed management, he said there are various speed limits to observe when a driver is approaching a residential area, cities, highway and motor ways and should be observed.

Mr. Armah said most road accidents are caused by human error. The distance in which you use to follow a particular vehicle safely is very important. To determine a safe space following distance in between or in front of other road users should be 7 meters intervals.

Mr. Kojo De-graft Johnson on behalf of the District Coordinating Director entreated the participants to abide by the code of ethics in civil service. He said they should conduct themselves at all times either at work or off-duty so as to deserve the respect of their employers’ colleagues and members of the community.


He urged them to be honest, faithful and just shall not act in manner derogatory to the honour or dignity of the service. 
DCE AND THE DISTRICT COODINATING DIRECTOR AT THE WORKSHOP FOR DRIVERS

WASSA EAST: DCE TOURS EXAMINATION CENTERS

The District Chief Executive for Wassa East, Hon. Emmanuel Aggrey has admonished all the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates to give off their best to ensure that they all gain admission to the selected senior high schools of their choice.

 He made this call when he together with the District Education Director and the District Information Officer, Alhaji Yakubu Adam and Ms. Shalomina Awuku-Bekoe respectively  visited some of the examination centres at Daboase to monitor how the examination was been conducted.

The team visited the Daboase SHS centre and was informed by the supervisor, Mr. Afosah that two pupils both girls out of the 390 scheduled to write at the centre were absent and the reasons being that one is deceased and the other has travelled outside the country.

According to Mr. Sebastian Diaw the supervisor for St. Martin’s Anglican centre, four absentees was recorded out of 293 of which three were girls and one boy and the reason being that one of the girls is pregnant but the rest not much was known about them.

The intriguing part of the visit was when a thirty one year old man with name withheld was spotted writing the BECE. He said education is the key to success and that does not see his age as a hindrance. He was congratulated and encouraged to pursue his education regardless of his age.

Alhaji Yakubu Adam appealed to the teachers to ensure that the students comport themselves to avoid any embarrassment from external examiners.

According to the District Examination coordinator, Mr. Divine Kanyagui a total of 1557 pupils from fifty two schools is participating in the examination.

 He said the examination is been conducted at five centres namely Daboase SHS which has 390 pupils, Senchem D/A JHS has 209 pupils, St. Martin’s Anglican JHS has 293 pupils, Atobiase D/A JHS has 358 pupils and Ateiku D/A JHS has 307pupils. He said last year the district recorded 75% pass and hopeful that this year’s will be much better.

There were no complains of delayance in examination materials and every thing went on smoothly.

 
DCE, Hon. Emmanuel Aggrey (left) and District Education Officer Alhaji Yakubu Adam in cap

W.R. MINISTER EMBARKS ON A FAMILIARIZATION TOUR

The Western Region Minister, Hon. Ebenezer K.T. Addo has begun his familiarization tour in the region since his assumption into office as the Regional Minister by President John Mahama. The first district to visit was Wassa East District which has Daboase as its capital. As custom demands the Regional Minister and his entourage from the Western Regional Coordinating Council paid a courtesy call on Nananom at Daboase.

Hon. E. K. T. Addo expressed his gratitude for the support Nananom has been rendering to the district assembly. He spoke on the impact that the galamsey menace has on the Pra River especially on the water company causing it to spend more money on chemicals to make the water wholesome for consumption. He acknowledged the initiative of the district assembly led by the District Chief Executive, Hon Emmanuel Aggrey to pay visit to some galamsey sites of which some illegal miners were arrested. He appealed to the chiefs who indulge themselves in this illegal activity to desist from it and call for a consented from all to help curb the menace.


His next visit was to Plantation (SOCFINAF) a new Rubber and Oil Palm Plantation Company who took over from Subri Industrial Plantation Limited (SIPL) which used to be a paper and pulp company some few months ago at Daboase. There the General Manager for the company, Mr. George Kwarteng Mensah gave a brief overview of the company. He said SOCFINAF a subsidiary of SOCFINAF FA in Luxemburg has plantation in some parts of Africa and Ghana happens to be the last addition in Africa. He said the company is the largest European plantation in the world and their operation in Ghana will add up to the world.
HON. E. K. T. ADDO, WESTERN REGIONAL MINISTER IN WHITE SHIRT.

WASSA EAST DISTRICT: HAND PUMP CARETAKERS SCHOOLED

Hand pump caretakers and Area Mechanics in some selected communities in the Wassa East District have undergone, a two days training workshop at Atobiase in the Western Region. The training workshop was organized by the district water and sanitation team with sponsorship from the Wassa East Area Development programme (ADP) of World Vision Ghana.

It was attended by thirty (30) participants from fifteen (15) communities.

In an address the District Officer in charge of community development Mr. James Asmah said the training of hand pump caretakers has become necessary as a result of the many break down or non-functioning of boreholes being recorded in the district, adding that almost all the hand pump caretakers lack the technical knowledge to repair basic faults.

He further said the district has only one Area Mechanic instead of two, who conducts both minor and major repairs across the district, explaining that that has over burden the Area mechanic leading to him not been able to attend to calls made by some communities to repair their boreholes.

Mr. Asmah, however, said the training will equip hand pump caretakers to have technical knowledge and also undertake minor and daily routine maintenance. The Community Development Officer, disclosed that the training is not district wide, saying that World Vision came in to sponsor the workshop because it wanted constant supply of water to communities in its operational area.

He therefore appealed to other NGO’s and benevolent individuals to assist the Department to extend the training to all other area in district.

The resource person for the training Mr. Evans Emmanuel Aidoo, who is a former water supply engineer for community water and sanitation and CEO of Acqua Vision International, took participant through both theoretical and practical aspects of the hand pump pipes.

He said one of the cardinal duties of a hand pump pipe caretaker is to educate the community on the proper use of the pump and also conduct pump side maintenance.

Mr. Aidoo mentioned some of the common faults of the hand pump pipe and dangers associated with it as loose or mission bolts leading to the breaking of the standing plate, the hard shock absorber is worn out leading to pipe and rod disconnection and worn-out handle pipes lead to serious injuries especially with children. Others are no flow of water because of torn plunger seal, broken hook and eye rod and worn-out fulcrum plastic bearings.

He disclosed that there are about four types of hand pump pipes. This include Nira AF-85 Afridev, Vergnet and Modified India MK II practically participants were taken to two of the types mentioned thus Nira AF-85 and Afridev and were supervised to disassemble the hand pump pipes, check for damaged parts and re-assemble the pump.

Some participants expressed gratitude for the training. Mr. Kofi Amponsah Youth Chairman and member of the water and sanitation committee at Atobiase said he has been exposed to things that will help his community to enjoy regular supply of water, saying that henceforth they will not over rely on the area mechanic since they can perform such minor faults.



DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD/WORLD CHILD LABOUR DAY CELEBRATED

The Wassa East District Assembly in collaboration with World vision a non governmental organisation and the District Education Office has jointly celebrated this year’s world child Labour Day and Day of the African child at Sekyere Krobo, a community in the district. The themes for the World Child Labour Day and Day of the African child celebration are “Ghana, take action now! Say No to child labour in domestic work” and “Eliminating Harmful Social and Cultural Practices Affecting Children: Our Collective Responsibility” respectively.

The District Director of Education, Alhaji Yakubu Adam whose welcome address was read on his behalf by the Human Resource Officer of GES, Mr. Joseph Tetteh commended World Vision the sponsors of the programme for their commitment to supporting the celebration every year since its inception. He said “In fact I must confess that the general wellbeing of our children in the district is their primary focus.”
Mr. Tetteh in briefing the gathering on the history  of THE DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD (DAC) said the day is commemorated every year on June 16 by Member States of the African Union (AU) and its Partners (in accordance with Resolution CM/Res.1290 (XL).This commemoration is firstly an occasion to recall the 1976 uprisings in Soweto, when a protest by school children in South Africa against apartheid-inspired education resulted in the brutal and deadly repression of these unarmed young protesters by police officials.

 Hon. Aggrey indicated that Government’s has shown commitment to the fight against child labour over the years by ratifying International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions 182 and 183, and has approved convention 189 which we are yet to be ratified. More so the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and all partners are constantly in the fight against child labour especially the media. 

Friday 5 July 2013

WORLD MALARIA DAY CELEBRATION OBSERVED


World Vision / Cocoa life an NGO in collaboration with Wassa East District Health Management team and the district assembly has celebrated this year’s World Malaria Day at Wassa Atwebesa in the district. The theme for the celebration is “Invest in the Future, Defeat Malaria”.

The chairman for the occasion, Nana Nortey Chief of Atwebesa thanked the organizers for choosing their community out of the lot and urged the community members to take advantage of the pieces of advice that will be given to help reduce the impact of malaria on the community, district and the nation as a whole.

 The District Director of Health, Ms. Priscilla Amoah in her speech said Government brought many interventions to help eradicate malaria one of which was “roll back malaria” and the aim was to encourage the use of bed nets especially among pregnant women and children less than five years but that could not achieve the intended purpose.

She indicated that malaria is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and in view of this government has brought a latest intervention called “home based care” to help reduce the impact of the disease especially among children.

She said the volunteers to administer this home based care were selected from various communities under the Atobiase sub-district and have been trained to treat cases of malaria in adults, pregnant women and children from six months and above at home before they visit the nearest health facilities. She said in all fifteen communities under the sub-district are to benefit under this intervention.

The Area Development Programme Manager of World Vision, Mrs. Salome Yeboah in her address said malaria is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the country and should be of great concern to everyone. She entreated everyone in their own small way to try and keep the environment clean in order to help stop the breeding of mosquitoes which will eventually bite to infest us with the disease.

The Guest of honour for the occasion, the District Chief Executive for Wassa East Hon. Emmanuel Aggrey in his speech called for a consented effort to discourage the operations of illegal miners popularly called “Galamsey” in their various communities where these activities takes place since most of the pits dugged by these miners are left uncovered and the water collected in them breed mosquitoes and later bites to infest us with the disease. He also cautioned community members to desist from indiscriminate disposal of waste since that money which could have been used for national development is been ventured into the treatment of malaria.

Equipments such as bicycles, rain coats, first aid kits, report cards etc were given to the volunteers to start their operation. The district health director said these report cards on which cases are recorded will be collected on monthly basis by nurses trained to work with these carers in order to monitor their activities in the communities. She entreated community members to be truthful in reporting their cases to the carers to ensure the right diagnose is given.

A demonstration on how the mosquito bed net is mounted was done.
DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF HEALTH, MS. PRISCILLA AMOAH ADDRESSING THE GATHERING