Uneasy calm at Kotoka Airport

(The Heritage) -- Imminent danger looms at the nation’s premier airport, the Kotoka International Airport, and while the management claims to be working feverishly to avert any calamitous incident like loss of life or property, safety and communications personnel have maintained that, it has reached a dead-end.However aviation experts familiar with the situation have urged the Aviation Ministry to redouble efforts and prevent the looming aviation crisis.

'These people handle all the communications, navigation and surveillance equipment on the ground (including the radar) that makes it possible for the controller to communicate with the pilot; some of them license all the aircraft and check their airworthiness, so the mere fact that they are disenchanted with their condition of service makes the situation a very scary one," a management member unhappy with what is going on told the paper.Months of investigations have revealed a tensed moment at the Kotoka International Airport with a simmering disaffection among the safety, communications, navigation and surveillance officers over payment of what is described as the Extra Duty Allowance (EDA).

The disaffected officials and some of their backers within the divided management of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) have told the Heritage that, they are prepared for any action including the one that could lead to the eventual closure of the KIA, saying 'we cannot hold the fire anymore.'"The Ghana Air Traffic Safety Electronics Association (GHATSEA) and Ghana Aeronautical Information Services Association (GHAISA) jointly wish to ... press home our demand for the unconditional resolution of the pending grievances, namely poor salary and allowance disparities, among others.

"Much as we appreciate the strategic role our services play in flight control and operations, we would hereby wish to state that we have reached our wits end and cannot continue to be dragged from one fruitless meeting with GCAA Management to another."It has become clear to us that either they are unwilling or incapable of solving the problem. It is difficult to understand how Management could admit that they have made a mistake by leaving us out in the first place and then turn round to plead for time. The plain truth is that, they have no clue as to how to solve the problem."In short, our position currently is borne out of imminent break-down of worker-management relationship coupled with the lackadaisical approach of management towards the resolution of our genuine grievances.

"In as much as it is your desire to see that peace and harmony always prevail at the three major sectors under your ministry, as you have rightly stated during our first official meeting with you at your office on May, 24, 2007, being our 'mother' we wish to appeal to you to use your good offices to personally take appropriate measures to intervene to save the situation," a memo to the Minister of Aviation by the aggrieved GCAA personnel and dated 12 July, 2007 stated.Prior to this memo and the sudden burst of agitation, there had been almost seven months of negotiations between the said personnel and the management of the GCAA.These serious negotiations and anxiety began just after the de-coupling of the GCAA on the 1st of January 2007.GCAA currently is made up of the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), the Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel (ATSEP) and the Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) on one hand and the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) on the other.The ATC, the ATSEP and the AIS form the core sections of the GCAA covering the Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) or the Air Traffic Management (ATM).The ATSEP, the AIS together with some personnel at the Safety Regulations are grumbling over the preferential treatment of the ATC in terms of conditions of service, particularly, the EDA.“The Heritage has learnt that, those aggrieved allied workers were promised that the situation would be addressed after the January de-coupling of the GCAA, but alas, that was not the case.”Instead, conditions of service of the ATC have kept on improving day-by-day to the chagrin of other staff, provoking the recent tense situation. Not even the intervention of Madam Gloria Akufo, the Aviation Minister could resolve the situation.Some personnel of the ATSEP and the AIS have started wearing red attire as indication of their preparedness to embark upon an industrial action that observers believe would have a telling effect on the nation's aviation system.An aviation expert who spoke to the Heritage on condition of anonymity said, the last time the nation reached an edgy situation like this was in the late 70s, during the reign of General Kutu Acheampong and sounded a warning that, properties and lives of passengers are at stake if the current impasse is not resolved to the satisfaction of all the parties.Additionally, the expert explained that, the likely scenario would be the closure of the Kotoka International Airport and other major airports within Ghana's Flight Information Region (FIR).According to him, apart from the KIA, Ghana's FIR covers major airports including that of Lome and Cotonou and any crisis that would arise would affect both Benin and Togo.However, in an interaction with the management of the GCAA last Friday at the KIA tower, Mr. Eric T. Noi, the Corporate and Communications Manager said, negations are ongoing to resolve the situation and that, it is an issue of impatience from the aggrieved parties.He said, while the management does not expect the occurrence of any mishap, contingency arrangement has been made to contain any situation, including industrial action.
Source:The Heritage

No shut down of Akosombo dam, despite ...

The Volta River Authority (VRA) has dispelled media speculations that it will shut down its plants this week.The Director of Hydro at the VRA, Kirk Coffie, maintained that although the water level in the Akosombo dam was still critically low, it did not yet warrant a shutdown."We are presently running two out of the six turbines and although we wish we could run more, the water level at 235.16 feet, as of Friday, cannot support the extra four," he said.Since August last year, the country's major source of electrical power has suffered a severe set back as a result of the drastic drop in the water level of the dam, the main source of hydro power for the country.

Mr Coffie said the authority had had to rely heavily on the importation of crude oil to power the thermal plants at Aboadze, the cost of which was becoming increasingly unbearable.The situation has forced the VRA to reduce the power supplied to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG),hence the nation wide power rationing exercise to avert a total collapse.The government, on its part, is putting in place short-term measures, including the installation of power generating plants in Tema and Kumasi, to generate more than 500 megawatts of energy to make up for the shortfall of about 400 megawatts.

Mr Coffie said Ghana was not suffering from drought, adding that "once we are in the rainy season, there is much hope that the rains will come for the level of water in the dam to rise".Until last Friday, reports indicated that the water level had been reducing at an average of about 0.2 feet daily.When asked what the outcome would be in the event of no rains in the northern part of the country this week, Mr Coffie responded, "We pray it will not happen.
Source:Daily Graphic

French President to visit Ghana

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Ghana on Thursday, July 26, 2007 for a two-day official visit. This would be his second outing to Africa since assuming office as President in May this year.

A press release signed by Mr. Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to President John Agyekum Kufuor, said Mr. Sarkozy would hold discussions with President Kufuor on issues bordering on peace and stability in the sub-region.The two leaders would additionally, review the bilateral relations between Ghana and France.Mr. Sarkozy would also visit Senegal and South Africa.

Mills---Contract Killings Must Stop Now

The recent slaying of Mr. Rokko Frimpong, Deputy Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank, has undoubtedly accentuated the belief that we are now in an era where people are engaging the services of Contract Killers, to either settle scores or for the pursuit of their very selfish interests.Before the cold blooded murder of Mr. Frimpong, a prominent Corporate Executive, Mr. Awuah Boateng, and an accomplished journalist, Mr. Samuel Ennin, were all murdered in cold blood by heartless assassins who killed not because they wanted to steal property or wealth, but killed because the mission was to wipe out their victims.

Apart from the very professional manner in which the assassins carryout their assignments, a very worrying trend that is being established, is, the hit men have exhibited brazen bravado which reeks of a “we fear nothing” attitude as they execute their jobs without masking themselves.It is this “we fear nothing” attitude that Ghanaians must be extremely worried about since the message that the assassins and their bosses are sending is that they either don’t care if they are caught, or know that they are so well connected and protected that they cannot be caught.

As scary as the current phenomenon of Contract Killing is, it is not difficult to draw a link between what is happening and Ghana having become a key hub and major transit point for the illicit drug trade.Ghana has become a principal corridor through which transnational drug trafficking groups operate and incontrovertible evidence abounds to that effect.The magnitude of ill-gotten wealth that the drug trade makes available to the barons, allows them to use money to buy almost anything – including buying the services of hit men.

It cannot be ruled out that contract killers also tend to be users of drugs hence the barefaced boldness we are witnessing as in the three cases in question, the hit men have operated without masks.Ghana is no longer the safe country and investment destination that it used to be and I am calling on President Kufuor, his Interior Minister, and the Inspector General of Police, to not only find the assassins and brains behind these heinous crimes, but also restore hope in Ghanaians that we can operate within a safe environment and not live in constant fear not knowing who would fall victim next to the bullets of the contract killers.
Source:OFFICE OF PROF. JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS