It will also follow the completion of the necessary tests and the webpage for operating the platform.

When successful, Ghana will become the fourth maritime country to introduce these advanced capabilities (after Denmark, France and Canada).

This should also leapfrog the country into the forefront in the use of technology in the maritime domain.

A statement on the latest development from the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) and copied to Citi Business News said, “Ghana’s initiative towards the E-navigation solution was developed by Denmark as part of the strategic maritime sector cooperation between the two countries.”

According to the statement, “a demonstration of the initiative took place at the Authority’s Vessel Traffic Monitoring Information System (VTMIS) Control Centre in Accra recently which involved the simulation of the receipt of an intelligence alleging acts of piracy in a given area.

“Within 60 seconds, this information was entered into the system and communicated by twitter and shown on the map on a website, warning all mariners to stay well clear of the incident area.”

Project leader from the Danish Maritime Authority, Dr. Christopher Saarnak, who was in Ghana to train the GMA staff was impressed with the skill of his Ghanaian partners and “is excited about the prospects of this new technology, saying “this e-navigation system will benefit the safety and security of all users in the maritime domain in Ghana, from large commercial vessels to the small fishing vessels.”

He added that “the large vessels will now get a graphical overview of navigational warnings instantly, rather than decoding endless lines of positions and plotting them on charts.For the small vessels, all it will take is one person in the community owning a smart phone to get updates of hazards to their navigation in real time”.

Mr. Kwame Owusu, Director General of the GMA and Ambassador of Denmark, Ms. Tove Degnbol witnessed the demonstration.

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Credit: Ghana Maritime Authority

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Speaking in an interview with Citi News’ Anass Seidu, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Fire Service, Billy Anaglate, said they are currently investigating to ascertain the real cause of the fire.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vgqWJUpWmN8QCYJDAnPi9rgx9O1NZX6u”]“We are still investigating to know what exactly caused the fire. But our preliminary investigations pointed to electrical origin – that the fire might have actually been caused by an electrical fault within the premises, but we are still investigating to unravel the exact cause,” he added.

Records of the Maritime Authority – some dating back to 2002—were destroyed when fire gutted parts of the authority’s head office in Accra.

The fire, which mostly affected the finance department of the GMA, reportedly took place a day ahead of an Economic and Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO) forensic audit into the operations of the Authority.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a backup of what we lost, and the Authority has all this while been keeping records manually,” the Director-General of the GMA, Kwame Owusu, noted.

The police are currently investigating officials of the Authority over the fire.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The Assistant Director of Finance and the department’s secretary, along with some other officials of the Authority, are also being probed by the police.

According to the Director General of the Authority, Kwame Owusu, the finance department got burnt few hours after auditors finished their first day of a two-week forensic audit of the facility.

Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Owusu disclosed that the “police has been here to do their investigation.”

“…Of course, when there is fire destroying, you would expect something to be done. So there is an investigation ongoing with the police… the Director of Finance, his assistant and the secretary, whose office got burnt, they were called in but other people, including myself, have also been called to the police station to give a statement.”

Records of the Maritime Authority dating back to 2002 were destroyed as the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had begun a forensic audit into the operations of the authority.

In effect, the audit in question has been effectively suspended because of the fire, the Director-General noted.

“…Because the documents that you need to use to conduct the audit was brought there so obviously, it might affect the audit. [so as we speak now], it has been suspended,” Mr. Owusu noted.

The Director-General said the Authority in 2016, lost GH¢7 million as a result of financial impropriety, citing the lack of prudent financial management as responsible for the situation.

There are some suspicions that the fire may have been a case of arson to cover some malfeasance, but Mr, Owusu stated that, at the moment, such insinuations were all speculation “because you cannot indict people unless they go through the process.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Police probes ‘suspicious’ fire outbreak at Maritime Authority appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The incident took place a day ahead of an Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) forensic audit into the operations of the authority.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IrqrlfKKEbzQqw4QORWdihulHQxjsuBm”]Fire gutted the finance department of the GMA last Wednesday, destroying every document and leaving the institution with no financial records in hard copies.

No backup

“Unfortunately, we do not have a backup of what we lost and the authority has all this while been keeping records manually,” the Director-General of the GMA, Kwame Owusu, confirmed to the Daily Graphic on Tuesday.

He explained that a team from EOCO was at the GMA to begin a preliminary forensic audit, but the fire incident occurred on the eve of the scheduled date (last Thursday) for the full audit.

He said investigations were underway to establish the cause of the fire and until then, he could not conclude whether the incident was arson to cover up malfeasance.

The authority
The GMA was established by an Act of Parliament (Act 630 of 2002) with the responsibility of monitoring, regulating and coordinating activities in the maritime industry.

It is headed by a director-general with a 13-member governing board, made up mainly of institutional representatives from key maritime agencies.

Mr Owusu, who assumed office in March this year, said he took over an institution in dire financial straits.

Millions lost
The director-general said the authority, in 2016, lost GH¢7 million as a result of financial impropriety, citing the lack of prudent financial management as responsible for the situation.

He posited that the financial immodesty found expression in the expenditure of the authority which far exceeded its income.

“The ideas I am bringing here are re-engineering and cost cutting. Things are now getting better and there is a lot we can do,” Mr Owusu said.

Monitoring
On how effectively the authority was monitoring the country’s territorial waters, Mr Owusu expressed concern that the GMA, since its inception, had no patrol boats to monitor territorial waters.

He, therefore, noted that he would champion an effort to procure more surveillance equipment and patrol boats to secure the country’s waters.

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Source: Daily Graphic

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Mr Adjaho is alleged to have taken decisions on the Constitution Review Commission’s recommendations on entrenched provisions without seeking the consent of Parliament.

The Speaker reportedly failed to also present the recommendations being proposed by government to the House.

The Minority says Mr. Adjaho’s actions are unconstitutional and inappropriate, adding that, “the whole process of constitutional amendment is turning out to be nothing other than an executive review of the national constitution.”

But speaking on Eyewitness News, Alhaji Muntaka downplayed the accusations the Minority  levelled against Mr. Adjaho.

He said he is convinced that “Mr. Adjaho consulted both the Majority and Minority in Parliament before taking his decision.”

According to him, Mr. Adjaho had every right to refer the matter to the Council of State.

The Asawase MP opined that the press briefing organized by the Minority MPs smacks of partisanship; a development which should not be encouraged when discussing serious state matters.

Meanwhile, a Legal Practitioner, Yaw Oppong backed the Minority’s claim that the the bill was not appropriately referred to the Council of State since it was not in accordance with the constitution.

He explained that “until the bill is gazetted for six months, introduced to Parliament, then Parliament refers to the Council of State, the bill cannot be said to have been properly referred to the Council of State.”

Quoting Article 291 of the 1992 Constitution, Mr Oppong said: “A bill to amend the provision of this constitution which is not an entrenched provision shall not be introduced to Parliament unless it has been published twice in the gazette with the second publication being made at least three months after the first and at least ten days after the second publication.”

By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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