‘Remove subsidies on LPG, Premix,

Two private sector advocates have called on government to take a second look at some selected petroleum products, which are subsidized to benefit the poor and vulnerable but are being exploited to enrich others in the country.

While Ato Ampiah, who is now the Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery wants the subsidy policy on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to be removed, the immediate past president of the Association of Ghana Industries, Dr. Anthony Oteng-Gyasi wants to see a review on the subsidy on Premix fuel.

They said this at the first Centre for Freedom and Accuracy business roundtable in Accra on Wednesday, which brought together private sector enterprises and regulatory agencies to deliberate on ways to maximize real benefits from the private sector for economic advancement.

Mr. Ato Ampiah, once the President of the Ghana Employers Association noted that some private and commercial drivers have changed the carburetor systems in their car to take in LPG in order to avoid paying more on petrol and diesel.

“The policy to subsidized LPG is to encourage people to move away from using firewood for cooking but commercial drivers are now using LPG in their cars because they find it cheaper than petrol.

“And as a result more households are reverting to the use of firewood because of the occasional shortages in LPG caused by the activities of drivers.

“So I would want the policy to be reviewed to benefit the right people,” he said.
Dr. Oteng-Gyasi on his part said the subsidy on premix fuel is impacting negatively on fishing as more people including some fishermen have found business in dealing in premix fuel more profitable than fishing.

“In a year (2009) when government gave more premix fuel to the fishermen, the contribution of fishing to GDP declined by about two per cent and you ask yourself why. The answer is that the policy is not working.

Currently, premix fuel is sold to fishermen 25 per cent less the market price.

“Who doesn’t know that when you have four gallons of premix fuel and you mix it with one gallon of normal fuel to run any vehicle? All the commercial drivers know that except maybe us (policymakers).

“So you ask yourself why would the fishermen go fishing with all the hazards involved when they can make money from dealing in premix fuel.

“Government always has good intentions but the implementation of its policies yield bad results,’ he said.

Dr Oteng-Gyasi suggested that government sells the premix fuel to the fishermen at normal price and then build cold stores at the fishing coasts to keep the fish from rotting.

“We must think through our policies before we implement them. If we don’t do that and we go ahead to implement the policies, it will be difficult to take them away,” he added.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Freedom and Accuracy, Andrews Awuni said the first business roundtable conference was to give an overview of the business environment and how private sector enterprises and government can collaborate to achieve their economic goals.

He added that subsequent meetings would be sector specific to address challenges facing each sector of the economy.

“We need to move away from making lip service to the private sector and work together with them to achieve economic advancement,” he said.

CEOs schooled on crisis and investor communication

An international communications expert, Robyn de Villiers, Chief Executive Officer of Arcay Communications, an internationally acclaimed communication consultancy in South Africa has called on corporate businesses in the country to pay attention to investor relations and crisis communications because of its positive impacts on corporate reputation. 

Speaking at a CEOs luncheon lecture on the theme, ‘How Crisis and Investor Communications affect Corporate Ghana’ in Accra, she said as pressure mounts on the investment community to choose the most attractive option, effective investor relations provides a channel for time-sensitive and complex information to be presented in favourable light to potential stakeholders and influencers.

She said investor relations is achieved when there is relationship between a listed company and its private investors, securities analysts, fund managers and employees and is founded in the accurate portrayal of the company’s performance and prospects.

“Today’s stakeholder’s priorities are the quality of the company’s products and services and trust and confidence and it is therefore up to businesses to get the right information across,” she said.

Mrs. De Villiers said the need for companies to integrate social, environmental and economic issues especially the communities in which they operate, noting companies these days are integral to society, being considered as much a citizen as a natural person, as such being bound to responsibility.

In crisis communication she said the inclusivity of stakeholders is essential to achieving sustainability and regaining reputation while advising it is always good for companies to restrict communication in times of crisis.

“Customers today expect reliability, investors and suppliers demand credibility, employees expect trustworthiness while communities expect responsibility,” she added

She said companies that are able to maintain their reputation attract investor interest, create customer preference for its products and services and are also able to gain public trust in times of crises.

She said that nothing tends to compromise companies and often leads to market share loss, heavy litigation costs and significant declines in value.

“In today’s environment, brand loyalty is weaker coupled with greater public scrutiny of companies and hostile political and economic climates for businesses in the country. Without careful communication management, issues impacting your company that might have been harmless embers in the past can become a raging blaze within seconds,” Mrs. De Villiers noted.

Erudite software launched

Dream technology in collaboration with Ben-Multi group of companies and Centre for Academic Excellence (CENFAX) has launched Erudite Software to be used by schools from the Basic to Senior High level in record and information management.

Mr. Robert Afanu, a software developer with dream technology, said “the software is a student’s model for storing and retrieving information instead of searching through piles of files which teachers spend so much time in doing.”

He said the motivation leading to the establishment of the software was that, through his time in school, he realized that teachers and the management of schools spent much time in searching for information of students and spent much more time calculating marks, all of which was time-consuming.

Erudite Software can be used to check school attendance of both staff and pupils. This can assist with the performance assessment of both teachers and pupils.

It is also a tool for the academic assessment of students, a task teachers spend so much time in doing. It can calculate the academic scores of pupils. “On the click of a bottom, erudite will do this in seconds.” Mr. Afanu confirmed.

According to Mr. Bernard Essibuah, CEO of Ben-Multi Group of Companies and CENFAX, the software has been experimented on a number of schools and the outcome was positive and very efficient.

“The head of those institutions were very excited about such a product on the market. They said that in this age and time of technology, things had to take shape.” He added.

The market value of the software together with an additional computer and after-sales service goes for GH¢1000. As part of the package, an expert is available upon sale to take takes teachers and management of the buyer or school through the software. The software together with two or three computers went for GH¢1500 and GH¢2000 respectively.

The CEO indicated that interested persons could grab a copy for themselves at the Ben-Multi book services or Centre for Academic Excellence (CENFAX).

FirstBanC launches new products

FirstBanC has launched two products, known as the Provident Fund Migration Service and the Heritage fund, in Accra.

The Provident Fund Migration Service is a free service designed to help businesses and institutions - both public and private - to design, restructure and make their Provident Funds compliant with the new Pensions Act 2008, Act 766.
Under this service, FirstBanC will assess and transfer existing provident funds to make them compliant with Act - including registration with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

It also provides tax-free mortgage-financing benefits for employees of the business and institutions. The service is for employees of all businesses and institutions whether in the private or public sectors, including government, NGO’s, CBOs and FBOs.

For organisations and businesses with an existing scheme, FirstBanC will provide professional valuation services to determine the fair value of the scheme.
The Heritage fund is an open-ended equity market mutual fund with the primary aim of achieving long-term capital growth and building wealth for its shareholders.

The fund seeks to raise a minimum amount of GH¢100,000 during the Initial Public Offering (IPO) at an initial cost of 20Gp per share. The offering for shares of the Heritage fund began on Monday and ends on August 16.

The investment can be used to meet your medium to long-term financial needs, which includes financing of education, acquisition of property, retirement planning and so on, and is intended to build a similar solid foundation for investors to achieve solid growth, sustainable income and long-term value.
It operates by mobilising funds from shareholders which are then invested in high-yielding equity and fixed-income instruments.

Mr. Richard Kwame Asante, Chairman of the NPRA, said the outfit will continue to regulate the movement of schemes at all times to ensure that everyone enjoys the service, and added that there are lots of benefits in registering with the NPRA.
“There are opportunities under the scheme, but you have to take advantage of these opportunities and I encourage other financial institutions to introduce similar products to bring competition in the marketplace.” He made these comments at the launch of the new products.

Mr. Mawuli Hedo, CEO of FirstBanC, said the company would introduce more products and services in order to attract more customers, since it provides investors with the aim of long-term capital growth and wealth-building, and enriched every individual to go in for such products. Interested persons can acquire application forms from branches of FirstBanC, Stanbic bank, Zenith bank, Agricultural Development Bank and The Trust Bank across the nation.

Mr. E. K. Akoto, Chief inspector of Taxes, Internal Revenue Service, advised employers that filing of taxes returns is very necessary and therefore encouraged them to take up the two funds since they had lots of benefits.

Western Union Rewards Loyal Customers

Western Union Ghana brought its World Cup 2010 promotion to an end last week, rewarding many loyal customers.

The promotion was to build up excitement towards the just ended 2010 FIFA World Cup Tournament in South Africa.

The draw for the promotion took place at the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) at Ring Road branch, Accra, with presence from the various banks that transact business with Western Union.

The winners were picked in a random selection of entry coupons submitted by participants.

Ten customers were proud winners of flat screen television and 200 customers won Western union branded T-shirts and baseball caps. The ten winners were: Emmanuel Ayayi, Sarfo Kwabena, Ouedrago Abdul Razak, Stephen Simms Mensah, Joshua Dankwah, Gibril Mutala, Akwasi Boateng, Ellen Boakye, Akupem Frank and Abass Mohammed.

In the previous draws, four customers qualified to be sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to South Africa to watch the just ended FIFA World Cup and many others won consolation prizes.

The marketing officer of money transfer and remittances, Mr. Karikari Kyei, said that the only qualification to be part of the promotion was that one needed to just receive money from abroad through any Western Union agent nation-wide and fill a coupon.

“Though the Black stars could not make it to the semi-finals, we still had to fulfill our promises,” he added.

He also congratulated the winners of the draw and assured that, Western Union is fast and saves time; as such they wanted their customers to benefit always from their transactions.

cal bank donates to childrens hospital

Cal Bank Limited has donated a cheque for GH¢ 31,517.63 and food items worth GH¢ 200 to the Princess Marie-Louise Children’s Hospital as part of the banks 20th anniversary celebrations.

The donation was made at the Hospital’s premises in Accra and included boxes of fruit drinks and assorted biscuits amounting in total to GH¢ 200.

Mr. Frank Adu Jnr, the Managing Director of the bank, said as part of its corporate social responsibility, the bank decided to heed the call of the hospital and come to their aid.

“We have to take good care of the kids since they outnumber the adults, so that they will always look good and healthy,” he said.

The money donated will help the hospital complete the refurbishment of its surgical block which was started five years ago.

The donation was received by Rev. Father Andrew Campbell, a caregiver of the hospital, who thanked the bank for the gesture and called on individuals and organisations to help the hospital in similar manner.

This, he indicated, will bring the hospital to the standard of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Children’s ward, to avoid the transfer of patients for surgery and emergencies.

He also said that the hospital needed more ambulances since the only one available, which is over fifteen years old, was the only mode of transportation for the hospital. The hospital’s lift is also in need of repair to facilitate the movement of patients and workers from the grand floor to the theatre. 

“We will do our best to make the hospital one of the best and we will call on you again anytime we need help,” he added.

After the donation, representatives of the bank went round to see the patients in the wards and spent time interacting with them and staff of the hospital. The construction site of the surgical block was also inspected.

Dr. Eric Sifah, the medical superintendent, thanked the bank on behalf of the hospital for its kindness and said the hospital will continue to count on then for assistance.

OIL TROUBLE FOR LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

Oil from the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico is seeping into Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans, threatening another environmental disaster for the huge body of water that was rescued from pollution in the 1990s.

The lake rebounded then to once again become a bountiful fishing ground and a popular spot for boating and swimming.

It is threatened again after a weekend when tar balls and an oil sheen pushed by strong winds from faraway Hurricane Alex slipped past lines of barges that were supposed to block the passes connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the lake.

The oil could be the second setback in five years. Hurricane Katrina knocked out seafood docks and lakeside restaurants in 2005. The lake's water quality also took a hit when the Army Corps of Engineers drained New Orleans' contaminated floodwaters into the lake.

State authorities closed the lake's eastern reaches to fishing Monday, though most of it remained open. Barges were lined up at bayous and passes to stop the oil from coming in, and cleanup crews Tuesday used nets to collect tar balls from marinas and docks.

They also planned to lay 9,000 feet of special permeable booms, but the lake was too choppy for skimmer vessels to operate.

About 1,700 pounds of oily waste has been collected, said Suzanne Parsons Stymiest, a spokes woman for St. Tammany Parish.

The amount of oil infiltrating 600-square-mile Lake Pontchartrain appears small so far. And tests on seafood have not turned up any oil contamination, said Brian Lezina, a state biologist. But the pollution is distressing to the many people in Louisiana who have a deep attachment to the lake.

Lake Pontchartrain, named for the French count of Pontchartrain during the reign of Louis XIV, is on the northern edge of the city. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by two main passes: the Rigolets, a winding passage of about 10 miles, and the Chef Menteur, around nine miles long.

For centuries, it has been a playground, a source of seafood and a backdoor route to New Orleans for invading British troops and hurricane storm surge.

Until the 1970s, its shores were a top destination for city folks who took streetcars and buses to the lake to swim and to dine at restaurants that cooked up the lake's crabs and other seafood. They played in penny arcades and rode the Zephyr roller coaster at the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.

But pollution shut down the swimming and chased away marine life, and the amusement park closed in the early 1980s.

Slowly, the lake revived. In recent years, sightings of dolphins and manatees have delighted locals, and commercial and recreational fishing is thriving.

Anthony Montalbano Jr., the chef and owner of II Tony's, an Italian seafood restaurant next to the lake, said it has been a struggle to stay open. Katrina swamped his restaurant at Bucktown, a lakeside community in New Orleans that has the feel of a bayou town.

Source: statesmanjournal.com