NYEP TRAINS 600 YOUTH IN TEMA (PAGE 36, MAY 31, 2020)

The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Kempes Ofosuware, has said the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) has successfully trained over 600 youth in the metropolis.
He said some were still undergoing training in their chosen areas of the modules of the NYEP in Tema West, Tema East and Kpone- Katamanso constituencies in the metropolis.
Mr Ofosuware, who was addressing the Assembly’s first ordinary meeting, said the NYEP was one of the Assembly's ongoing development programmes hence the need to ensure that its three sub-metropolitan district councils support the programmes.
He noted that the Assembly had so far trained 120 youth in dressmaking while 17 others had completed training in the ICT module.
Mr Ofosuware said other areas of training were waste management, eco-brigade, health extension and grasscutter rearing.
He said that waste and sanitation management had attracted 60 youth who supported the Assembly's sanitation and waste management programmes and that 220 young people had been engaged to clean and protect the beaches and tourism sites along the coastal belt.
Mr Ofosuware stated that those who were selected to undergo the grasscutter training of trainers course were to impart the knowledge to youth in the sub-metro areas after their course and that would also be programmed into the youth in agriculture module to benefit those who would express interest in farming.
Mr Ofosuware said the youth must take advantage of the programme and take up available jobs to make some earnings, as well as help in the development of the metropolis.
Mr Ofosuware also hinted that the assembly was considering the introduction of a special GH¢2 per annum levy on all rateable adults in the metropolis and hoped that would provide the needed funds to boost its development agenda.
Mr Ofosuware observed that revenue from outdoor advertising could be one of the major sources of income to the assembly and called for a well-regulated and monitored activity to ensure that there was full compliance.
He said a committee would be set up to streamline the processes of the site registration and, mapping and suggest revenue mobilisation avenues in the advertising field to ensure that the assembly derive maximum revenue in its operational areas.

TEMA ASSEMBLY TO PULL DOWN 600 ILLEGAL STRUCTURES (PAGE 18, MAY 28, 2010)

The Tema Metropolitan Assembly(TMA) has cautioned residents of the metropolis who have built on unaproved locations and flood prone areas to start packing because the Assembly has initiated moves to demolish all structures on watercourses to avert flooding this rainy season.
In line with the intended demolition exercise,the Assembly has earmarked over 600 households whose structures will be demolished.
Areas affected include the Ramser Site,Community 3 Down,Communities 18, 19 and 20, Valco Down at Tema Manhean, Zenu Dam Site and the Chemu lagoon enclave.
A press release from the Public Relations Unit of the TMA did not state when the exercise will commence but warned those living at those areas to start removing their structures to avoid any embarrassment.
The statement said the Ramser Site has 216 households; Chemu lagoon enclave — 150 household; Zenu dam site — 30 households; Valco down – 65 households; Communities 18, 19 and 20 —135 households and Community 3 down – 18 households.
The statement explained that a careful study undertaken by the Assembly revealed that the areas mentioned were natural watercourses and storm drains,and therefore, encroachment of any form impeded the physical structures which tended to divert the flow of water.
It noted that the metropolitan area had over the last three years experienced flooding in settlements along the waterbodies and low lying areas.
The statement said this situation had caused flooding downstream and inconvenienced people living in the vicinity.
The statement said the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in Tema had programmed a monthly clean-up exercise to rid the drains of silted materials to ensure the free flow of water during heavy down pour.
It noted that people would be educated and sensitised to prevent erection of illegal structures on watercourses and other unauthorised places.
The release stated that the demolishing exercise backed by Act 462 of the Local Government LI which established the assemblies and empowered it,will improve environmental situation in the metropolis and therefore, called on the public to support it.

NCCE TO WORK FOR CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY — MRS AFUTU (PAGE 14, MAY 24, 2010)

The Greater Accra Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mrs Joyce Benedicta Afutu, has reaffirmed the NCCE’s commitment to ensure that constitutional democracy and effective citizen participation in governance is achieved.
She said this would be the basis for true national stability and prosperity attained through vigorous civic education delivery.
Mrs Afutu was addressing officers and men of security services in the region at a forum in Tema to mark the Greater Accra Regional NCCE is 10th annual constitution week celebration.
The well attended forum had participants drawn from the Military, Navy, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Police, Immigration and the Fire Service.
She appealed to government agencies mandated by the Constitution to defend the nation and maintain law and order to work harder to maintain the Constitution of Ghana .
Mrs Afutu observed that the country had made some constitutional gains which must be consolidated in the quest to make Ghana the beacon of democracy in Africa .
The Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Kempes Ofosuware, in a speech read on his behalf commended the security services for acquitting themselves creditably in the present constitutional dispensation which had brought peace to the country.
He was of the view that the government would do everything possible to equip the security services to ensure that the people of Ghana lived in absolute peace and security.
Mr Ofosuware noted that the forum would promote participatory local governance to strengthen civil–security relations.
He appealed to the NCCE to project the constitutional rights of the security and civil society.
In a presentation on the topic ‘ The Role of the Security Services in Consolidating the gains made by the 1992 Constitution’ the Flag Officer Commanding the 1st Garrison, Commodore Albert Addison, noted that it was time the security services were guided by the tenets of the Constitution to avoid being misled as a result of ignorance.
He noted that some gains of the 4th Republic included free and fair elections, good governance, rule of law, freedom of speech, economic development, conflict management and cordial civil –military relations, which Commodore Addison said must be cherished and protected.
Commodore Addison commended the security services for having performed well regardless of the challenges they have had to deal with.
He congratulated the government for the launch of the five year strategic National Policing Plan which aims to transform the service, and enumerated some of the roles of the security services which included disaster management and rescue operations which needed vehicles and other resources.
He was optimistic that with constant education, the security services and citizenry in general would understand the Constitution and know their rights .

TEMA FISHERMEN APPEAL TO GPHA (PAGE 18, MAY 21, 2010)

Fishermen at the Tema Fishing Harbour canoe beach have appealed to the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to heed their call and replace the over 40-year-old net mending wharf, which has become a death-trap at the beach.
According to them, they presently mend their net at unauthorised areas, where vehicles run on the lanes and fishmongers also conducted their businesses, posing inconvenience to the fishermen.
The Chief Fisherman, Nii Odametey, told the Daily Graphic at Tema, that a team of engineers from the GPHA and the TMA visited and inspected the wharf to assess the situation but nothing had been done on the approaches to the wharf.
He explained that the wharf was specially built to help make possible the mending and fixing of nets in a more professional manner.
Nii Odametey noted that during fish seasons, people thronged the beach and there was no space left for the fishermen to conduct their business.
He blamed the destruction of their nets on the state of the wharf and appealed to the authorities to come to their aid.
Nii Odametey said the canoe beach in Tema had over 500 resident canoes in addition to visiting ones, which migrate from other regions for fishing expedition in Tema.
He stated that fish was scarce and fishermen travelled long distances in search of it resulting in the migration of the visiting fishermen.
Nii Odametey said fishermen were expecting the season to start in June and prayed that things would get better than the previous two seasons when they experienced poor catch.
He noted that regular and sufficient supply of the premix fuel could contribute to their ability to navigate long distances in search of fish and keep longer at sea.
Nii Odametey called on Parliament to pass the law prohibiting the use of light at sea, adding that the absence of the law had encouraged people to continue with the practice with impunity.
He was of the view that if steps were not taken to stop the bigger vessels from the use of the light at sea, there would be low catch the season.
Nii Odametey explained that if the use of light was not checked, fishermen using canoes, who supply fish to feed local consumers, would not be able to compete with the bigger vessels which use light.
He was optimistic that if all inputs were provided, the fishermen would strive to produce sufficient during the expected season.
A source at the GPHA confirmed that a team of engineers had assessed the state of the wharf at the canoe beach but could not tell when work would start.
The source said an amount of US$4 million dollars would be needed to rebuild the wharf, noting the Board of Directors were yet to meet to approve the project for international bidding because of its foreign component.
The Public Relations Officer of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Frank Asante, said the Assembly was collaborating with the GPHA to place notices of caution at the wharf area to ward off people who would under-estimate the danger that it posed.

TEMA ASSEMBLY MAKES FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS (PAGE 23, MAY 20, 2010)

The Tema Metropolitan Assembly has projected to generate GH¢ 5,648,807.00, for the year 2010.
The assembly generated GH¢ 4,391,254.38 last year representing about 92 per cent of the total budgeted revenue.
Addressing the opening of the First Ordinary Meeting of the 4th Session of the Assembly, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, announced that the expected internal generated fund for the year 2010 was 130 per cent higher than the assembly’s expected Common Fund of GH¢ 2,485,618.00.
He said the current revenue level was an indication that the assembly exercised strict expenditure control in the year under consideration.
On expenditure, Mr Ofosuware said the assembly could perform better but stated that some factors made it impossible.
He explained that increases in fuel prices, salary increases, the inability of companies like VALCO to honour their financial obligations to the assembly, had adversely affected its financial status.
Mr Ofosuware gave the assurance that the Assembly had identified new sources of revenue and in order to improve revenue mobilisation, it had started a programme to expand its revenue base .
The Chief Executive also focused his sessional address on issues including the security situation of the Metropolis, 2010 district level election, on-going development programmes and projects, education and sports, beautification of the city, preparation of a four year medium and long term development plan and challenges.
Mr Ofosuware said the metropolis had enjoyed relative peace without any major threat to the people.
He said the Tema Security Council was constantly monitoring all flash points to ensure that calm was always maintained.
Mr Ofosuware reminded members of the assembly of the 2010 district level election, noting that the ‘spirit of competition’ would be rekindled to elect new sets of assembly and unit committee members.
He appealed to interested members to put the national interest first and urged them to campaign in an atmosphere of peace and not to characterise it with acrimony, hatred and violence which can potentially disturb the peace of the metropolis.
Mr Ofosuware also appealed to women to let their presence be felt by participating fully in the elections.
On the improvement of environmental sanitation and waste management, Mr Ofosuware said the assembly had started clearing drains and engaged the services of small-scale enterprises for routine cleaning of selected streets, drains and choked sewers in the Tema metropolis.
Mr Ofosuware said the TMA was collaborating with Zoomlion to improve the output of workers under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) to ensure effective supervision of work at the waste management department of the assembly and the Metropolitan Public Health Department.
He said the assembly was holding discussions with the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology to rehabilitate the Tema Sewerage system for which a proposal had been submitted to the ministry for consideration.
Mr Ofosuware pointed out that the road infrastructure project was ongoing to improve the road network in the metropolis.
He called on the assembly to formulate policies that would help move the metropolis forward to satisfy the interests of the electorate.
The meeting was attended by heads of various departments, community and opinion leaders, chiefs and some dignitaries.

TEMA POLICE HAUNT FOR SUSPECTS (PAGE 23, MAY 17, 2010)

The Tema Regional Police Command has mounted a search for two suspects who allegedly broke into the room of their employer and made away with GH¢ 120,000 meant for paying some cashew nut farmers at Sampa in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The suspects, Efoe Evans Kouko, a 25-year-old houseboy and Francis Appiah, a 35-year-old security guard of G4 Security Services, have absconded and are on the run.
According to the Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Chief Inspector Olivia Turkson, the Circuit Court ‘B’ in Tema has issued warrants for their arrest, adding that anyone with information on the suspects would ‘be suitably rewarded’.
Narrating the incidence to the Daily Graphic, Chief Inspector Turkson said on the May 5, 2010, the Director of 3F Ghana Limited, exporters of agricultural products, Mr Kush Tandon, who lived at Tema Community 11 instructed his houseboy, Kouko, to be up early because he (Kush) would be travelling to Sampa in the Brong Ahafo Region where he purchased cashew for export.
She said when Mr Kush got up the following morning, May 6, 2010, he could not find the houseboy but was later informed by his garden boy that he found the gates opened when he reported for duty.
Chief Inspector Turkson said it was then that the absence of the security officer was noticed and, therefore, a report was made to the G4 Security Services.
She said Mr Kush then went to check on the money he had brought home to enable him pay for the agricultural products he had ordered for.
Chief Inspector Turkson said Mr Kush found out that the positions of the boxes in which he kept the money had shifted and finally realised that it had been stolen.
She said Mr Kush, therefore, reported the case to the police but an initial search for the culprits did not yield any results.
Chief Inspector Turkson says the houseboy, Kouko, is fair in complexion, stoutly built, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and speaks Ewe, Twi, English and is believed to be hiding in Tema Community 11, Tema New Town, Ho, Bamako-Mali or Lome-Togo.
Francis Appiah-Kyi, the security guard, is an Nzema, 5 feet 6 inches tall, dark in complexion and believed to be hiding in Tema Community 2, Cape-Coast, Sekondi Takoradi, Abidjan or Eikwei.
Chief Inspector Turkson said people with information on the two suspects must contact the police on telephone numbers 0303-201543, 0303-202937,0243-111884 or report to the nearest police station.

GPHA REDUCES STEVEDORING COMPANIES (PAGE 23, MAY 17, 2010)

THE Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) has reduced the number of stevedoring companies allowed to operate at the Tema port as part of measures to decongest the port.
The action is also intended to facilitate the offloading of ships at the port.
Currently, the number of stevedoring companies operating at the port has been reduced from 18 to nine and the licences of stevedoring companies will be renewed annually to ensure that only the most effective are allowed to operate.
Addressing a press conference in Tema, the Director of Port of the GPHA, Mr Richard Anamu, explained that changes would also minimise loitering and redundancy in the absence of vessels at the port.
Mr Anamu explained that some shipping companies had expressed concern about the increasing number of stevedoring companies in the port, which could lead to ‘choking the port’.
He noted that the stevedoring companies operating in the port were on yearly renewable licence and therefore were selected based on laid-down criteria by the GPHA.
Mr Anamu stated that the quantum of projected traffic available to be stevedored each year was limited, a situation which called for limited number of stevedoring companies that could be licensed to operate each year.
He said the volume of traffic for stevedoring would remain unchanged and therefore did not need many companies in the port .
Explaining the role of dock workers in the port, Mr Anamu said dock workers were engaged based on the availability of vessels and were laid off after offloading.
He said the engagement of dock workers had brought many people into the port to do the same work which could be done with a limited number of stevedoring companies .
Mr Anamu said although GPHA recognised private participation, the company would not give all its operations to private companies only for it to suffer in future.
He said the outsourcing of some of the operations of GPHA adversely affected its finances and labour force gave an instance where 1,500 workers had to be laid off because the authority outsourced 67 per cent of its operations to private businesses.

NAPRM INAUGURATES OVERSIGHT C'TTEES (PAGE 20, MAY 15, 2010)

The Governing Council of the National African Peer Review Mechanism (NAPRM) has inaugurated three oversight committees in Tema to advocate and promote the concept of the APRM at the district level.
The three committees, which represented the last batch of committees to be inaugurated in the 170 administrative districts of the country, were the Tema Metropolitan, Ashaiman and Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal APRM oversight committees.
Each committee is made up of nine members, taking into consideration gender balance to promote equal levels of advocacy.
In his inaugural speech, the Chairman of the NAPRM Governing Council, Prof. S.K. Adjepong, said the APRM was being decentralised to reach people at the grass roots to enable them to make decisions to benefit every citizen in the district.
He called on members not to politicise the APRM because it was founded on the concept of promoting democracy, good governance and human rights .
Prof. Adjepong said the development of any nation depended on peace and not crisis, noting that Africa had all the resources and arable lands but was the least developed.
He stated that Africa was plagued with poverty, disease and bad governance, adding that Ghana was determined to practise democracy and economic and corporate governance, hence the decision to accede to the APRM.
Prof. Adjepong noted that the concept would enable member countries to examine themselves and come up with their weaknesses and strengths for solution.
He said 29 countries in Africa, representing 75 per cent of the population, acceded to the APRM, which has its headquarters in South Africa.
Prof. Adjepong said Ghana was in the lead and the only country to have inaugurated its oversight committees.
A member of the NAPRM Governing Council, Prof. S.K.B. Asante, said members of the committees would be required to educate and sensitise the masses to the need to co-operate for positive results.
He emphasised the need to be independent and not to politicise the APRM, adding that members must not allow themselves to be influenced by politicians because “politicians would come and go but APRM is Ghana and will not go”.
Prof. Asante said the various assemblies would debate the decisions of the committees, and, therefore, called on them to be “truthful” in their programmes.
He announced that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) had been tasked to assist the oversight committees to educate the public on their rights and unearth social vices in the system.
The Greater Accra representative on the Council of State, Mr Emmanuel Adzei Annang, observed that the NCCE was a constitutional institution and vital in assisting in governance but was bitter that it was not equipped to perform creditably.
He said it was time the NCCE was funded adequately to enable it to step up its duties.
Mr Adzei Annang said the NCCE must be strengthened to play its role effectively to gain the needed recognition.
He cautioned members of the committees to know their limits and not become politicians while performing their roles as advocates for democracy and human rights.
A minute’s silence was observed for the former Executive Secretary of the NAPRM, Dr Francis Appiah, who died recently.

TEMA WORKERS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH TOR (SPREAD, MAY 12, 2010)

A section of workers in Tema yesterday staged a demonstration to add their voices to calls being made by their counterparts at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) on the government to address the problems facing the refinery.
Wearing red armbands, the workers, drawn from various companies under the umbrella of the Tema District Council of Labour (TDCL), carried placards and marched through some principal streets of the metropolis.
Some of the placards read, “Free TOR from GNPC now”, “Tolling can’t pay TOR workers”, “Dr Ampofo is gone, Dr Oteng–Adjei must follow”, “TOR is not for the Ahwois”, “We need our own crude oil”, “Mr President, when are you taking over shipyard completely?”
In a resolution to the President, signed on behalf of the workers by the Chairman of the TDCL, Mr Wilson Agana, and the Secretary, Mr Ebenezer Kodwo Taylor, the workers expressed concern over developments at TOR which, in their view, could result in the collapse of such an important national asset as the refinery.
It explained that the demonstration was primarily an appeal to the Office of the President to rescind its decision to make TOR a tolling facility.
It said TOR faced imminent collapse if those challenges were not confronted and addressed in the national interest.
It called on the government to give the TOR management the free hand to manage the refinery to forestall the erratic supply of crude oil to the plant.
It commended the government for the recent payment made to defray TOR’s indebtedness to the Ghana Commercial Bank and called on it to make every effort to pay outstanding debts of the refinery to enable it to establish letters of credit to facilitate its smooth operations.
The statement called on the government to immediately go to the aid of the refinery and help to settle the crippling debts it owed to institutions such as the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Provident Fund, the Internal Revenue Service and the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC).
It called for investigations into the TOR recovery levy receipts and application and subsequently bring to book those who might have misused the levy.
It advised the government to apply the levy for the purposes for which it was established.
Earlier, the Chairman of the local union, Mr Albert Pinto, had described as uneconomical the decision by the government to negotiate for one million barrels of crude annually to feed the refinery.
He said the refinery was able to process 45,000 barrels a day per its installed capacity and it was, therefore, expected that the negotiations would have covered about 65,000 barrels a day to cater for the Volta River Authority (VRA) thermal plant.
He saw the negotiations that went into the one million barrels as unfortunate and a joke on the capacity of the refinery.
On May 5 , 2010, workers of TOR, in reaction to the removal of their Managing Director, Dr Kwame Ampofo, said the action would not solve the problems of the refinery.
They were of the view that the removal of the managing director would not necessarily solve the problems of TOR but pointed out that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was the problem.
Mr Pinto told the Daily Graphic that the refinery was processing the last bit of the crude oil sent for tolling at the plant, noting that the processing would be completed by next week Saturday and that no crude oil was expected from GNPC after the processing.
He said the workers were preparing to submit a petition to the government, through Parliament, to explain its stance on the problems coming up at TOR.

TOR MD SACKED...But workers say worries not over (LEAD STORY, MAY 6, 2010)

Story: Rose Hayford Darko & Della Russel Ocloo

WORKERS of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) say the removal of Dr Kwame Ampofo as Managing Director of the refinery alone will not solve the problems of the ailing refinery.
They insisted that the action could only succeed if it was backed by a firm resolve not to use the refinery to process crude brought in by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
Dr Ampofo’s turbulent 11-month tenure in an acting capacity ended yesterday when he was dismissed from office and replaced with Mr Ato Ampiah, one-time Managing Director of GHAMOT.
A government statement signed by the Communications Director at the Presidency, Mr Koku Anyidoho, gave no reasons for the action, but in recent times workers of TOR have been agitating for the removal of Dr Ampofo, the management, the entire board of directors of the company, as well as the Energy Minister, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, for various allegations, including incompetence and corruption.
Reacting to the change at the helm of affairs at the refinery, the workers said it had not altered their resolve to resist attempts to use the refinery to refine crude oil brought in by the GNPC.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Tema, the Chairman of the TOR Workers Union, Mr Albert Pinto, said workers of the refinery were not happy with events at the plant and appealed to the President to “trickle down his action to the real problems of TOR and not personalities”.
He emphasised that workers would resist the new appointment if it was to impose on the workers a person who would yield to pressure from the GNPC to use the plant as a tolling place where it would refine crude and pay low rates.
The Secretary of the workers union, Mr Gideon Avorgbedor, explained that there had not been any communication to the workers on the removal of Dr Ampofo and his replacement.
He said on hearing the announcement on air, executive members of the union conferred among themselves to confirm if all the others had heard it.
Mr Avorgbedor noted that the workers were convinced that the President had taken steps to act on their calls but added that they felt it was not what they needed that had been done for them.
He stated that the workers were of the view that Dr Ampofo was not alone in implementing the decision to allow the GNPC to refine crude at the plant at GNPC’s own determined rate.
He said the workers would be ready to work with any one put in Dr Ampofo’s position but they would vehemently resist any attempt to give in to pressure from some “powers that be”.
Explaining why the workers were against the GNPC and its operations at the plant, Mr Avorgbedor said TOR was a profit- making company, as envisioned by Dr Kwame Nkrumah when he inaugurated the plant.
He said when the plant processed between 900 and one million barrels of crude in a month, it made a profit of between $7 and $9 million, but the GNPC 's contract was to yield lesser amounts to be determined also by the GNPC for TOR to do the same work.
At the time of the Daily Graphic’s visit to the premises, scores of workers were seen in groups discussing the latest development.
The Vice-Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of TOR, Mr Daniel Fugar, also told the Daily Graphic that dismissing Dr Ampofo had never been a core issue in the workers’ agitation and that rather the GNPC’s continuous exertion of influence had been the major headache the workers had been grappling with.
“If his dismissal was orchestrated owing to his resistance to the tolling arrangement, then the government’s continued preaching of rescuing the refinery is a failed initiative,” he said.
The capability to manage and direct affairs at the refinery by the former legislator, who assumed the hot seat in an acting capacity some 11 months ago, was constantly called into question in the wake of the unavailability of crude for the refinery to operate at full pegging.
Attempts to reach Dr Ampofo on the latest development proved futile, as his mobile phone had been switched off.
The workers who had in the past called for his removal recently renewed their call for the removal of Dr Oteng-Adjei for decreeing that the GNPC must be the only agency to supply crude oil to the refinery.
They also accused officials of the GNPC and its Board Chairman, Mr Ato Ahwoi, of using their influence with state powers to make the refinery a tolling facility, at the expense of the taxpaye

TRADERS ADVISED TO PROTECT CHILDREN AT THE MARKET (PAGE 11, MAY 1, 2010)

The Ashaiman Municipal Social Welfare Officer of the Department of Social Welfare, Ms Augustina Nartey, has advised women to monitor the movement of children when they are busily engaged in business activities at the market and other places.
She said while conducting their businesses, some mothers tended to forget their children who often strayed and got missing.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Ashaiman, the Municipal Social Welfare Officer said the office had on daily basis, received reports of abandoned children who were between the ages of eight months and 10.
These children, she said, were found loitering or abandoned and, therefore, picked up by sympathisers and sent to the Social Welfare office.
Ms Nartey said in the past weeks, the police had handed over a total of 35 children whose parents could not be traced to the office.
She added that investigations had revealed that most mothers lost touch with their children while the mothers were trading.
Ms Nartey said the ‘Save Them Young Orphanage’ at Ashaiman had supported the Social Welfare Department and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service by keeping the children while announcements were made to trace their parents.
She announced that the orphanage still had some unclaimed children aged between two and eight and appealed to market queens and heads to step up educational programmes on the welfare of their children.
She cited the case of a 10-year girl who was stranded and claimed to have come from Drobo in Brong Ahafo Region.
She said her outfit, in collaboration with the DOVVSU and some NGOs were working hard to trace her home at Drobo, and appealed to the public to help them locate the relatives of the child.

TMA TO CONSTRUCT 7 MAJOR STORM DRAINS (PAGE 18, APRIL 30, 2010)

The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) is spending about GH¢4.7 million to construct seven major storm drains and culverts in the metropolis to avert flooding and alleviate the suffering of residents during rainy seasons.
The project, funded by the World Bank under the Urban Environment and Sanitation Project (UESP), is to cover drains in the Ashaiman Municipality.
The storm drains are the Tema Market One Market drain, Tema Oil Refinery Drain which runs into the Chemu Lagoon before entering the sea at the Canoe beach,the SOS drain which collects water from communities nine, eight and seven into the sea and the timber market drain.
The others are the Gao Lagoon at Kpone,Gbemi stream at Ashaiman Newtown and the Water Works drain behind the Ashaiman Senior High school.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Metropolitan Architect, who is the Project Co-ordinator, Mr Xorla Ahadji, said the contract was signed in December 2009 and awarded to Rinacand/Big Aidoo Contractors.
He said documentation on the project was at its final stage and that the contractors were given 18 months to finish the work.
Mr Ahadji noted that the project was necessary because most areas in the Tema Metropolis and Ashaiman Municipality were low lying ground, which made them flood prone.
He said it was unfortunate some residents had encroached on the edges of the drains,making the situation worse.
Mr Ahadji explained that garbage generated by these squatters and developers who did not have permits had choked the drains.
He commended the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly for initiating the demolition exercise to pave way for the project .
Mr Ahadji appealed to residents to co-operate for the project to be executed effectively and efficiently.
Meanwhile, work on the 53 kilometre road network in the Tema Metropolis and the Ashaiman Municipality is ongoing.
The Vice-President, John Mahama, cut the sod for work to start on the roads.
He said the project, which was solely funded by the government of Ghana, was estimated to cost GH¢ 30 million.
A drive round Tema and part of Ashaiman showed positive signs that work is ongoing, with dug out drains which hitherto, were not available.
Residents have expressed their appreciation for the work but appealed to the contractors to create alternative bypass for drivers and pedestrians who are currently finding it difficult to use the roads.
It was, however, observed that the dug out soil from the side drains of the new drains have contributed to the heap of soil along the roads.
Roads currently under construction are the Tema central business district,Tema Oil Refinery road, Kpone main roads linking the junction on the Ada road to Tema, Ashaiman, Zenu, Meriadian to beach road, Lashibi and Klagon roads.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, Mr Kempes Ofosuware, said the area had only 30 per cent of its network in good condition and was optimistic that after completion of the road works, Tema and the other areas captured in the project would have first class road network.