The assurance by a lawmaker that government has released enough funds to ensure that the country generates enough electricity to sustain demand and the release 38 of the dolphins that were washed ashore at Axim-Bewire last Sunday back into the sea are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.
The Graphic reports that the government has released enough funds to ensure that the country generates enough electricity to sustain demand.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Dormaa East, Mr Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, said the government released $130 million in November last year to support the power sector.
Speaking with journalists on a number of issues, the MP, who is also a member of the Foreign Affairs, Special Budget and Poverty Reduction Strategy committees, said the move demonstrated the commitment of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government to the power sector.
Mr Twum Barimah assured the public that the government had no intention to embark on a nationwide load shedding programme.
He said the transmission companies were only carrying out key projects to enhance the reliability of power supply in some parts of the country.
He insisted that there was a concerted effort by all stakeholders, led by the Energy Ministry, to ensure consistent, accessible and reliable power supply throughout the year.
“There is adequate power-generating capacity to meet electricity demand in the country. All stakeholders in the power sector value chain are working together to ensure consistent supply of power to the people of Ghana and beyond,” the Dormaa East NPP lawmaker said.
The newspaper says that a team of experts from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Fisheries Commission has released 38 of the dolphins that were washed ashore at Axim-Bewire last Sunday back into the sea.
However, 25 of the marine mammals that were found dead in the communities have been buried.
Officials said an estimated 120 dolphins were washed ashore alive, but they were weak and unable to swim back to their habitat.
Some people picked 29 of the sea mammals to the communities but a search found all of them dead.
Consequently, 25 of the carcasses were buried, while four were taken to the University of Cape Coast for examination.
The rest of the dolphins, according to the team, could not be accounted for.
Besides, the heads, tails and pieces of dismembered parts of nine dolphins were picked along the shores of Axim- Bewire, with the suspicion being that the other parts had found their way into the communities.
The Graphic also reports that the third survey by the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC) has established that 80 percent of Ghanaians are satisfied with the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
The survey suggested that the country was above the regional average of 78 per cent although it had dropped by six percentage points as recorded by the second survey conducted in August 2020.
The report, however, revealed that income loss and problems with food access were severe in almost all African Union (AU) member states and had largely worsened since August.
“Income loss and food access are severe, and about 77 per cent of households have lost all or some of their income since the beginning of the pandemic (62 per cent some, 15 per cent all) on the continent,” the Public Affairs Director for sub-Saharan Africa of IPSOS, Virginia Nkwanzi Isingoma, said.
IPSOS is the third largest market research company in the world, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.
“Within the member states, about 81 per cent of households have experienced at least one barrier to food access in the past week. That there is a need for African governments to address the socio-economic burdens on citizens by initiating people-centred policies and ensure food security on the continent,” she added.
The Times says that Ghana is actively engaged in regional efforts to ensure maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea (GOG), the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said.
She said the country was doing so through the Multi-national Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) established by ECOWAS with the aim of developing a regional framework to counter piracy and armed robbery at sea.
She stated these on Wednesday when she hosted the Head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Ghana and other Heads of Mission of EU Member States accredited to Ghana on maritime security along the GoG.
The meeting was to discuss the EU’s Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) as well as other efforts by European countries to eradicate maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.
Ms Botchwey said the MMCC Zone F, within which Ghana falls, undertakes activities such as the monitoring of ports, fishing activities, oil and gas exploration and critical maritime installations including the West African Gas Pipeline.
Zone F, she said, conducted profiling of vessels of interest and vessels vulnerable to attack, and shared information with stakeholders and partners at the national, regional and international levels.
She, therefore, welcomed initiatives by international partners such as the EU’s CMP to support Gulf of Guinea countries in their efforts to safeguard the safety and security of the maritime area.
GIK/APA