T’Poly launches CILT educational programmes

Madam Betty Busumtwi-Sam, Deputy Western Regional Minister, on Thursday, made a passionate appeal to the rank and file of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), to reconsider their industrial action in the spirit of patriotism and nation building.

She made the appeal at the launch of the Takoradi Polytechnic Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) certificate and diploma programmes at Takoradi.

Madam Busumtwi-Sam urged the POTAG to return to the negotiating table with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to complete outstanding issues.

She assured the association of government’s preparedness and commitment to resolve their concerns swiftly.

Madam Busumtwi-Sam said members of the POTAG should do away with the erroneous impression that government has little or no respect for polytechnic education simply because government has failed to set up a committee to deal with their problems, as it did in the case of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).

Madam Busumtwi-Sam said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government, under the leadership of Professor Atta Mills, is mindful of the critical role polytechnics are playing in the human resources development, especially the middle-level manpower, for the development of the national economy.

To this end, the government would not do anything that would thwart the efforts of the polytechnics in their quest to perform their statutory obligations, she said.

Madam Busumtwi-Sam asked the CILT to play its part in the road safety project through seminars and in-training courses for stakeholders in the transport and logistics sectors.

She noted that the CILT is responding to market-place challenges by developing a number of training programmes, including the certificate course in logistics.

Madam Busumtwi-Sam said the CILT should further engage institutions of higher education and commercial colleges to broaden the reach of its programmes across the country.

Launching the programme, Dr. George Oduro, Chairman of the Takoradi Polytechnic Council, said the introduction of the programme is to develop the skills and knowledge of actors in the transport sector and that it deserves the support of all.

He said the programme would equip participants to play key roles in the emerging oil and gas economy and also use the skills and knowledge acquired to develop the economy, among others.

Dr. Oduro hoped the industrial action of POTAG would be resolved for the programme to progress and make a positive impact on the public sector.

Mr Cletus Kuzagbe, President of CILT, Ghana, said CILT educational courses at the Takoradi Polytechnic would lead to the Institute’s professional qualifying examinations.

He said the polytechnic would start with the International Certificate and Diploma programme whiles the advance diploma would follow later.

Mr Kuzagbe said CILT programmes were introduced to meet the demand and needs of the transport and logistics industry in the country.

He said some of the key objectives of the programmes are to introduce professionalism into the transport and logistics industry and to educate people, who are already in the industry, but did not have any professional and academic qualification in transport and logistics.

Reverend Professor Daniel Oduro, Rector of the Polytechnic, said the launching of the programme was historic and that it was the first of such programmes to be started by the polytechnic, with special emphasis on the emerging oil and gas industry.

Source: GNA

Accidents accounted for 1.6 per cent of Ghana's GDP - Quaye


      Accra, Oct. 29, GNA - More than 9,997 road traffic accidents, equivalent to
1.6 per cent of Ghana's gross domestic product, were reported between January
and September 2010, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, Inspector General of Police said on
Friday.
       Out of the figure, 1,333 road users lost their lives with more than 9,728
sustaining various forms of injuries, he added.
        Mr Quaye said this in a speech read on his behalf at the official launch of
the "Operation Show Your Ticket," a project instituted in 2009 by the
management of the Metro Mass Transit Limited (MMTL), to check ticket
malpractice and to block leakages in revenue collection in the public
transport sector.
        He cautioned drivers and other road users to be safety conscious during the
Christmas season to save lives.
        Mr Quaye said the Ghana Police Service together with the Driver, Vehicle and
Licensing Authority and the National Road Safety Commission had recently
embarked on a special exercise to ensure that vehicles were in good
condition and that qualified drivers drove them.
         He called on the public to pay the right fare whenever they patronised the
services of the MMTL.
         Mr Siisi E. Ocran, Director of Policy and Planning at the Ministry of
Transport said malpractices in ticketing had increased in recent times with
more than 760 cases recorded in 2009 alone.
        He called on the board and management of MMTL to fashion out a more
scientific and innovative means of clamping down on the menace.
        Mr Nii Armah Ashietey, Greater Accra Regional Minister, observed that since
the country's independence, governments had attempted to introduce mass
public transport system but had failed due to indiscipline and ineffective
management practices.
       "The result is high operating costs leading to the inability of the companies
to maintain these vehicles," he said.
         "One of the factors identified for this state of affairs is ticket
racketeering, corruption and other forms of malpractices on the part of
some passengers, the staff, and sometimes management."
         Mr Ashietey called on the management to ensure that adequate resources were
mobilized to make the operations of MMTL self-sustaining and economically
viable.
         Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, lauded the
mass transit system, stressing that it was a form of de-congestion exercise
that rid the city of traffic and air pollution.
        He called on the management to ensure efficiency in the transport delivery
system, adding the timely arrival and departure of the buses coupled with
professional attitude of the conductors and staff of MMTL would ensure that
the company's operations were accessible, comfortable and affordable to the
public.
GNA