Ghana press on planned inauguration of gold refinery, others

APA – Accra (Ghana)

The planned inauguration of the new gold refinery by Royal Gold Ghana Limited, in which the state has a 20 percent stake in October this year and the report that Ghana has recorded 518 new cases of the Coronavirus disease, bringing the number of active cases to 6,276 are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Wednesday.

The Graphic reports that barring any last minute hitches, Royal Gold Ghana Limited (RGGL), a refinery in which the state has a 20 percent stake, will begin operation by the end of October this year.

The RGGL, which is a partnership between the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) and Rosy Royal Limited, an Indian company, is located on the premises of the PMMC in Accra.

Currently, civil works on the facility are about 90 per cent complete. What is left to be done is the installation of machines, which will begin in September.

The company has the capacity to refine between 300 and 500 kilogrammes of gold daily.

This came to light when the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Mines, Mr George Mireku Duker, visited the facility on Tuesday.

The acting Managing Director of the PMMC, Nana Akwasi Awuah, conducted the deputy minister round the facility.

The team toured the information technology department, the production unit, the showroom and other departments of the PMMC.

The newspaper says that Ghana has recorded 518 new cases of the Coronavirus disease, bringing the number of active cases to 6,276.

The country, as of Friday, July 30, had recorded 844 deaths and 98,392 recoveries.

Figures from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicate that 86 persons, who have tested positive for the disease were in severe condition, while 17 were critical.

The Greater Accra Region still leads with the highest number of active cases being 3,149, with the Upper West Region having no active case.

The Graphic also reports that Ghana marks Founders Day today. It is the third to be marked since it was promulgated into law in 2018. Because it is being marked during the COVID-19 global pandemic, just a few activities have been planned to mark the day which has been declared a public holiday.

Public Holidays Amendment Bill (2018) was laid in Parliament by the Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, and passed to amend the Public Holiday Act, 2001 in 2018.

The new amendment bill quashed three public holidays and introduced two new ones. The affected holidays are the Republic Day which falls on July 1, African Union (AU) Day, which falls on May 25 and Founder’s Day, September 21, which happens to be Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah's birthday.

The amendment of the bill followed a proposal by President Akufo-Addo that August 4 should be observed as Founders’ Day in memory of the successive generations of Ghanaians who contributed to the liberation of the country from colonial rule and September 21 set aside as a Memorial Day for Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, who was instrumental in the independence struggle.

The bill explained that August 4 was being made a public holiday in place of Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day because the real fight for Ghana’s independence started on August 4, 1947, when some Ghanaian patriots such as George Alfred Grant, J.B. Danquah, R.A. Awoonor-Williams, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei and some chiefs formed the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), founded on the foundation of the Fante Confederacy of 1868 and Aboriginal Rights Protection Society of 1897 for the independence of Ghana.

The change (amendment) which resulted in the removal of the apostrophe from in between the ‘r’ and ‘s’ (Founder’s) and its placement after the ‘s’ (Founders’) sparked a debate among the political parties, as some, especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) members believed that the contribution of Kwame Nkrumah surpassed that of the other nationalist leaders, hence the Founder’s Day should be maintained instead of the Founders’ Day.

However, members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is of the Danquah-Busia tradition, disagreed and indicated that the Founders’ Day was apt as it recognised, not only one person, but all those who contributed in various ways to the independence of the country.

The Times says that the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Hassan Tampuli, has said that work on the Osu fish landing site is to commence soon to give the artisanal fishing industry a major facelift.

Mr Tampuli said this when the ministry in collaboration with the Korley Klotey Municipal Assembly held a stakeholders sensitisation forum with community leaders and fisher folks of Osu in the Osu Alata Electoral area.

The forum was to sensitise the community on the commencement of the project and solicit their input to enhance speedy delivery.

The project being constructed by China Harbour and Engineering Company, is among projects in beneficiary coastal towns, which included Axim, Dixcove, Elmina, Moree, Mumford, Winneba, Senya Beraku, Gomoa Fetteh and Teshie.

It is expected to be completed in July 2022 and would house a modern fish market, net mending hall, fish-smoking pavilion, ice plant, washrooms and fuel and power stations.

Mr Tampuli said the artisanal fishing industry remained a major contributor to the economy as it provided livelihood for majority of Ghanaians, especially for families living in coastal communities.

However, he noted that poor fishing infrastructure continued to hamper the industry hence government’s commitment to modernise the industry to ensure safe launching and landing of artisanal fishing canoes.

“Government also sought to create and maintain hygienic environment and potential job opportunities within the fishing communities. It is against this background that the Ministry is undertaking the development of the Fish Landing sites along the coast,” he added.