ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
Across the country, we see Page 1of 3 new developments and buildings springing up in waterways and flood plains (buffer zones) blocking the flow of storm water and worsening the risk of flooding. '
Speaker, on 24 and 25 June 2021, several areas in Kumasi experienced severe and devastating flooding.
This affected commercial areas such as the new Kejetia market, Central market, Asafo market and-Bantama High Street.
Several shops and homes experienced flooding and goods worth millions of Ghana Cedis were destroyed.
Similar reports have been received from Koforidua and Takoradi and indeed other parts of the country.
Following my visit:to the affected areas in Kumasi on Monday 28 June 2021, the increasing risk of flooding associated with climate change is clear and we as a nation need to take bold steps to tackle this challenge holistically.
Speaker, since taking office in January 2017, the government of President Akufo-Addo has invested about GHE450 million in the National Flood Control and Priority Drainage Programme compared to the GH(88 million invested by the previous government between 2011 and 2016.
Clearly, this level of commitment to tackling the problem which has resulted in a reduction of flooding incidents in the past few years is unprecedented and commendable.
The government is also collaborating with the World Bank to invest more than $200 million to address solid waste and flood risk challenges in the Odaw Drainage Basin.
The project will also sce the development and implementation of a Flood Early Warning System to enhance community safety and resilience.
Speaker, while the government is making every effort to ensure flood risk is minimised, it is important to highlight that government alone cannot do this; it must be a shared responsibility.
It is therefore Page 2 of 3 incumbent on every citizen to complement the effort of government, take their own safety seriously and be more mindful of the manner in which solid waste is disposed of.
Additionally, individual homebuilders need to avoid paving all of their compourids and make room for storm water infiltration by introducing vegetation.
I further wish to call on MMDAs to strictly enforce planning laws and Building Codes to prevent development in waterways, floodplains and wetlands.
Where these are flouted, the MMDAs need to take decisive action to rectify the situation urgently in the interest of protecting the good people of Ghana.
Speaker, Cabinet at its sitting on Thursday 24 June 2021 approved for the consideration of Parliament, the Bill for the establishment of the Ghana Hydrological Authority.
The Authority will undertake hydraulic modeling to inform housing and infrastructural development plénning across the country to ensure that they are ‘ steered away from flood prone areas.
The Authority will also develop and promote higher drainage standards, including the use of nature- .
based drainage solutions, Moreover, the Authority will ensure that flood risk assessments are undertaken for all major infrastructural developments, so they are resilient to both current and future flood risks.
The proposed Hydrological Authority Bill will include a National Hydrology Fund which will facilitate the effective functioning of the Authority, including attracting private sector participation in drainage provision.
It is my earnest expectation, Mr Speaker, that in view of the enormous advantages of setting up the Ghana Hydrological Authority, Parliament will lend its full support, when the Bill comes before this August House for approval.
o Mr.
Speaker, on that note, I wish to thank you for this opportunity.
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~STATEMENT BY HON.
SALIFU MARY BOFORQ ON THE STRUGGLE BY WOMEN TO QVERCOME MATERNAL MORTALITY AT THE VARIQUS HOSPITALS IN THE COUNTRY Madam Speaker, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to draw the attention of the government, NGOs and all other stakeholders to the plight of our pregnant mothers and sisters on their struggle to overcome maternal mortality at the various hospitals in the country.
Madam Speaker, the issue of maternal mortality in this country is a lingering issue.
Maternal mortality refers to those deaths which are caused by complications due to pregnancy or childbirth.
These complications may be experienced during pregnancy or delivery, or may occur up to 42 days following childbirth.
In Ghana Madam Speaker, maternal mortality is estimated at 214 deaths per 100,000 live births.
It has accounted for an average of 10,000 deaths in the last 10 years.
Health experts say if the trend continues till 2015, about 12,000 more deaths would occur, and 1,000 more women and children would suffer disabilities.
In comparative terms, there is the risk of one death in every 35 live births in Ghana as compared to one in 1, 800 in developed countries.
Madam Speaker, these problems are largely due to inadequate medical facilities to ensure quality healthcare delivery.
Madam Speaker, In April this year, the unannounced visit by the Minister of Health to the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital revealed a dysfunctional elevator at the maternity block.
The obsolete and dysfunctional elevator made expectant mothers, doctors and nurses to endure the pain of climbing the stairs to as far as the sixth floor.
This situation compelled the minister to give an ultimatum for the immediate replacement of the elevator to save the fives of poor pregnant women at the maternity block.
Page 1 of 3 A few days ago Madam Speaker, there was a clear case of congestion at the Ridge Hospital where pregnant women were lying on the floor of the maternity block without even receiving any medical attention.
Sources indicated that one of the pregnant women bled to death as a result of inadequate medical facilities and attention.
Madam Speaker, the condition at the maternity ward of the Tema General Hospital is also deplorable.
The beds are woefully inadequate, forcing two or three mothers with their babies to share one bed while those in labour sit on benches waiting for some of their colleagues to be discharged.
Madam Speaker, on Wednesday 20" May 2009, there was a shocking report of poor antenatal services at the Kaneshie Polyclinic.
A pregnant woman who reported at the clinic in labour was turned away by the nurses on duty.
They could not even detect that she was due for labour.
Unfortunately, soon after she arrived home, she gave birth unaided with the baby on the fioor.
Madam Speaker, the situation is not different throughout the country.
Health personnel in the three Northern Regions continue to express concern about the increase of maternal mortality in the regions.
| believe strongly that these revelations are just a tip of the iceberg.
The situation could be worse particularly at the local level where access to health care delivery is a serious challenge due to poor road network, lack of fransportation as well as expert staff.
These conditions are completely unacceptable Madam Speaker.
It is in this regard Madam Speaker that | appeal to government and other stakeholders to put in more effort lo address this avoidable menace.
By so doing, we would be sure of achieving the 5" Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015.
Madam Speaker, the future of this great nation lies in the health of its people and | therefore call on heaith professionals to also demonstrate leadership and commitment to promote productivity and have the desire for innovation to safe our dear mothers.
Page 2 of 3 Madam Speaker, in the last Parliament the Women Caucus appealed to some stakeholders and corporate bodies to assist in the refurbishment of the two non- functioning theatres at the Obstetrics or Gynaecology Department of the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital.
The appeal came after our visit to the hospital in 2007.
MTN Scancom Ltd responded to our appeal and started refurbishing the place with an initial commitment of Six Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢600,000).
As | speak now, the project has been completed with a total amount of Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢650,000).
Madam Speaker, the Women Caucus then also contributed an amount of Fifteen Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢15,000) for the same purpose.
And we are proudly announcing that the presentation of this amount will be made this week by this present Caucus on behalf of our colleague women MPs who contributed but are not here with us in Parliament today.
We thank them and MTN for assisting this noble course.
Indeed, the women of Ghana will never forget about them.
Madam Speaker, your Women Caucus in Parliament has shown leadership by example and we urge many people to follow suite.
Thank you Madam Speaker.
COMMEMORATIVE STATEMENT ON WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY BY HON.
ABDUL SALAM ADAMS, MEMBER FOR NEW EDUBIASE CONSTITUENCY Mr.
Speaker, on July 15, every year, the world celebrates World Youth Skills Day to highlight the opportunities and challenges that young pecple face in employment.
The day also allows us to reflect on the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship.
Since its inception in 2014, the World Youth Skills Day has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education, and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers' and workers' organizations, policymakers, and development partners.
Speaker, this year's World Youth Skills Day under the theme 'Skills for a Resilient Youth' will occur in a challenging environment, with the COVID-19 pandemic still disrupting TVET institutions.
Youth skills development will face a range of unfamiliar problems emerging from a crisis where training has been disrupted in an unprecedented manner on a virtually universal scale.
Speaker, young people aged 15-24 are particularly exposed to the socio- economic consequences of these disruptions.
One-third of the world's 1.8 billion young people are currently not employed, educated, or trained.
Of the one billion more that will enter the job market in the next decade, only 40 percent are expected to get job offers that currently exist.
Thus, the global economy will need to create 600 million jobs in the next ten years to keep pace with projected youth employment rates.
Speaker, the youth make up about 36 percent of Ghana’s population, with about 12 percent youth unemployment rate according to a World Bank report.
In 2016 it was projected that 300000 new jobs would have to be created each year to absorb the increasing number of unemployed young people in the country.
Speaker, TVET has a vital role to play in fostering the resilience of young people in Ghana.
Specifically, vocational, and technical education is a vehicle that can provide practical education in order to make graduates employable.
It can also equip graduates to set themselves in business and become employers in the future.
The challenge, however, is that the availability of TVET institutions to provide quality skills training is lacking from the supply side.
At the same time, from the demand side, many young people do not find TVET attractive due to the negative stigma attached to it, especially in Ghana.
This situation has affected the enrolment of students into the TVET programmes in Ghana and many African countries.
In Ghana, for instance, the current admission into National Vocational Training Institute stands around 4 000 annually while enrollment is about 11 000.
Speaker, with proper packaging, we can significantly improve enrollment into the TVET sector.
M. Speaker, it is refreshing to note that the conversion of our Polytechnics into Technical Universities was a shot in the arms of the TVET sector as it has enhanced the image of TVET in the country.
Speaker 85 percent of the stakeholders in the TVET sector are from the informal sector, Thus, the role of the informal sector in providing technical skills training should not be underestimated.
The government must, therefore, take the necessary steps to regulate the sector to ensure standardization in the training delivery.
Speaker, when young men and women are empowered with skills, they need for working life, they thrive.
They can also support themselves, their families, and their communities.
Speaker, it is clear that youth unemployment is an urgent and complex challenge affecting our society and the economy.
As you indicated the other day, it is a national security threat as there is a clear link between unemployment and crime.
To address these critical issues: o government must prioritize TVET as an instrument to produce the first and middle level of technicians to be the bedrock of industry and promote entreprencurship for employment generation.
* we need sensitise people about the importance of TVET as it can go a long way to remove the negative stigma people have about TVET.
¢ the quality of TVET must be improved to make it attractive to young people.
e we must get the industry involved in TVET and influence curricula, instruction and upgrading of facilities.
o the government must facilitate the implementation of the National Apprenticeship Policy, which is supported by the British Council and seeks to regulate the informal sector.
Speaker, with a weak transition from basic to secondary school education due to significantly increased primary enrolment and completion rates against limited space at the secondary level in the country, TVET provides the option for many young people with basic education to acquire a hand on employable skills to facilitate the acquisition of job in the labour market.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mr.
STATEMENT ON THE FIRE OUTBREAK AT THE KUMASI CENTRAL MARKET (By Hon.
Isaac Osei, MP — Subin) Madam Speaker, | thank you for the singular opportunity to make this statement on the inferno which engulfed part of the Kumasi Central Market last Thursday.
The Kumasi Central Market is located within the Subin Constituency which | am proud to represent in this august house.
Secondly as the ranking member on the Trade Industry and Tourism Committee of this House, any major incident which precludes traders from carrying on with their normal business is a matter of concern.
Madam Speaker, the Kumasi Central Market was built in 1936 and it was said at that time that it rivatied Onitsha and Ibadan markets for the title of ‘the largest market in West Africa’.
Over the years the market has extended beyond its original boundaries and across the railway line into the Manhyia Constituency.
The reputation and integrity of the Kumasi market operators was such that it attracted the Fulanis of Northern Nigeria and people from as far away as Gao in Mali.
Today the Kumasi Central Market is a ‘massive shopping maze’ and a meeting point for traders and farmers f rom all carners of our country and beyond who bring their wares to trade.
For any visitor to Kumasi, a trip to the Central Market is mandatory for there, one could appreciate the sounds and sme lls of Ghana and the organised chaos which underpins the myriad of activities which ebbs and flows continuously.
The Kumasi Central Market has a life all of its own and thus when a sect ion cannot work, it affects the vibrancy and dynamism of the entire market.
We are told that about 400 stalls and shops were totally consumed by the fire and | am sure that members of the House will join me in sympathising with our brothers and sisters whe have been adversely affected by the conflagration of last Thursday.
Madam Speaker, we should be thankful to God that no lives were lost even if livelihoods have been dislocated.
It is also sad that while others were in distress, some people took advantage to loot their properties.
Fortunately it was reported that nine (9) people had been apprehended and were to be charged and processed for court.
This may be an instructive lesson for those who flock to disaster and accident spots to help themselves to unsecured goods.
Madam Speaker, | visited the scene of the unfortunate incident last Monday along with several Honourable Members and even though dozers were clearing the rubble, the evidential signs were all too clear that this was nothing but a disaster- a disaster which requires immediate attention and a thoughtful response from government and more especially the metropolitan authorities in Kumasi.
The market is a place where every ethnic group in this country works freely as stall holders, shop keepers, suppliers, wholesalers, transporters, itinerant traders, head porters, cleaners, market inspectors, subretailers or small scale manufacturers.'
In the market, every shade of opinion along the entire Ghanaian political spectrum can be found.
Furthermore the large majority of those who operate in the Central market are not resident in the Subin Constituency but come from all over the Kumasi metropolis and beyond, some from Anyinam while others came from Kintampo.
Far too often in Ghana we draw politics into everything we do or say.
In this particular instance | will urge members of this House to have a national outlook in discussing the conseguences and challenges of the Kumasi tragedy as this may have implications for national policy and legal frameworks.
Madam Speaker, tragic as the events of Thursday are, | see opportunities - Opportunities to completely redevelop the entire Kumasi Central Market as a large market fit for the 21% Century and .in doing so provide and implement a Master Plan to manage traffic and environmental concerns.
Madam Speaker, the visiting Parliamentarians went to the Site in the company of the newly installed Metropolitan Chief Executive and the Regional Minister and this | believe emphasized to the hundreds of onlookers at the disaster Site that their MPs were working hand in hand with the Executive to resolve the problems arising out of the disaster.
In the redevelopment of the Kumasi Market, a multisectoral approach is advocated.
| have no doubt that urban planners and architects will be at the centre of this but Madam Speaker, | have already mentioned that the Kumasi Central Market has a life of its own.
You can almost feel and touch it.
A new market should not be conceived simply in terms of structures (2 or 3 Storey Structures perhaps) the planning tools must capture the essence and dynamic flows of the market, and its socio-cultural context.
Trade is after all a dynamic activity.
Thus the juxtaposition of dynamic aspects with the static structures of the new Kumasi Central Market is critical.
With this approach, the access roads which will enable easier movement of goods and people should be provided throughout the new market.
The market to be developed should make e adequate provision for nurseries for the infant children of traders, clinics, police posts, a fire station, dedicated FM station, internet cafes and public toilets at vantage points, open spaces and bus stations and bicycle parks around the perimeter.
The market should be disability friendly.
The redevelopment of the Kumasi Central Market should also make us all think about what to do with our cities and how to plan new settlements which will certainly develop.
We should not wait and allow shanty towns to mushroom when we can plan and take pre-emptive action.
In 1960, when Queen Elizabezh Il of Great Britain visited Kumasi in the company of Osagyefo Dr.
Kwame Nkrumah, she called it ‘The Garden City of West Africa’ because of its tree lined avenues in most parts of the city.
Perhaps, the whole concept of The Garden City and its principles as espoused by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1890s ought to inform our Urban Planning.
In this area of spatial development, there are better minds like our distinguished Minority Leader who know a lot more.
The requirements for open spaces, public parks and backyard and front gardens for residential areas must be reflected in our urban planning.
The Kumasi Central Market disaster must also awaken the interest of local authorities in enacting appropriate bye-laws regarding space management, environment and sanitation processes.
The enforcement of bye-laws have to be strengthened to prevent people building and trading on waterways, public access routes, on hydrants and in open spaces.
Much of the destruction at the Kumasi Central Market occurred in the immediate vicinity of the railway line when in fact at least 50ft on either side of the tracks should have been left bare.
If the Eastern line should be rehabilitated today, people can actually touch trains from their shop fronts.
The rofe of the Ghana Railway Corporation in leasing areas contiguous to the tracks in many parts of the country may be a revenue generating strategy but may in the long run prove to be unwise.
Today in Kumasi as in other parts of the country, railway tracks have become market sites and it is said that revenues so generated are used mainly to finance recurrent expenses of the GRC and not for development or rehabilitation.
Madam Speaker, many members would recall that a similar fate was suffered by leather dealers, shoe makers and pepper sellers at the same market on 8™ March 2007.
The Committee set up by the Ashanti Regional Minister at the time Hon.
Owusu Ansah established that none of the traders had insurance cover.
Perhaps we in this House can consider legislation which will make it mandatory for those who ply their trade in public facilities to subscribe to ihsurance against theft, fire, unnatural causes, goods in transit, e.t.c.
Madam Speaker permit me to commend the Kumasi Metropolitan authorities and the Regional Minster for taking action in the immediate aftermath of the fire outbreak.
We look forward to studying The Report of the Committee which was given 14 days to submit.
I also wish to commend Otumfuo Osei Tutu !I, Asantehene for not only visiting the Site in empathy with the affected people but also for his wise counsel on the need for all residents to respect and obey the laws of our country and the bye-laws of the metropolis and especially his admonition of the Ghana Railway Corporation.
For the affected people, KMA should ensure their relocation to other sateliite markets throughout the metropolis as soon as possible.
These markets will certainly have to be expanded to accommodate mare people as the whole area from Kejetia to Aboabo Station along the railway tracks may have to be the 1% phase of the Kumasi Central Market redevelopment.
Finally, | wish to call upon this House to join me in sympathising with the affected Ghanaians and call for redevelopment and modernisation of the Kumasi Central Market and other markets in the major cities and towns of our country.
| thank you once again, Madam Speaker for this opportunity.
SUCIN.
MINISTER OF EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL WELFARE, HON.
STEPHEN AMOANOR KWAOQO - MP WOLRD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR, 12" JUNE 2009 THEME: ‘GIVE GIRLS A CHANCE: END CHILD LABQUR’ Madam Speaker, | thank you for the opportunity to make a Statement on an important issue which is dear to my heart, Legislators and indeed that of many Ghanaians.
The subject’ Madam Speaker, is child labour.
Madam Speaker, 12" June every year is marked as the World Day Against Child Labour and celebrated around the world, including Ghana.
Since the inception of the global Event in 2001 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), Ghana has never been left out of the celebration.
The Day is set aside to remind the world at large about the plight of millions of children of school going age, who are out of school and working in dangerous situations/ damaging to their health, morals and proper development.
The Event therefore provides an opportunity to highlight the problem of child labour and stimulate the commitment of all partners; including government, employers’ and workers’ organizations, Civil Society Organizations, teachers, parents, children and International Partners, to put in place measures to eradicate its worst forms, as a matter of urger(cy and work progressively towards its total elimination.
Madam Speaker, it is important to note that it is acceptable in Ghana, and indeed globally, that children work as an integral part of the socialisation process and a means of transmitting acquired skills from parents to children, Children have therefore been working throughout the ages, as a means of acquiring basic skills and knowledge and a sense of responsibility, which is beneficial to them and the society in their later life.