Tema (Greater Accra ) 9 Nov. '99 - Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Monday spent about 30 minutes touring the pharmaceutical and soap manufacturing lines of Paterson Zochonis (PZ) at the industrial area in Tema.

Accompanied by Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the first lady, the Duke's entourage was welcomed to the factory by Dr. John Abu, Minister of Trade and Industry, Nii Armah Ashietey, Tema Municipal Chief Executive and the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Paul Michael Boyce.

Mr. Boyce first conducted Prince Philip round the pharmaceutical line, which turns out hair relaxing creams, tablets, powder and syrups.

At the soap production line, the Duke inspected how Imperial Leather, Tempo Laundry, Duck Bar, Premier Toilet and Canoe Laundry soap are manufactured.

PZ produces 13,000 tons of soap, 600 million tablets and 200,000 litres of liquid syrup a year. It also manufactures five tons of hair relaxing cream a week, Mr. P.W. Davies, Works Manager, told Prince Philip.

The Tema township virtually came to a standstill on Monday as hundreds of people struggled to catch a glimpse of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh where he walked on the Meridian line at the Presbyterian Church on the Greenwich Meridian.

The Duke, who arrived from PZ at about 3:30 p.m., spent about 30 minutes at the Presbyterian Church on the Greenwich Meridian during which he unveiled two plaques to commemorate his visit.

The first plaque was the official opening of the Information Communication Technology Training Centre (ICTC), a computer school established with the assistance of the London Borough of Greenwich as part of the twinning partnership between Tema and the Greenwich.

The Duke next unveiled the Greenwich Meridian Tower where two towers had been erected to demarcate exactly the Longitude zero degrees which divides the world into east and west and crosses the Presbyterian Church.

Prince Philip was presented with a bouquet by Miss Fanny Aikins an eight- year -old class two pupil of the Tema Community One Presbyterian School.

He was then introduced by Nii Armah Ashietey, Tema Municipal Chief Executive to Nii Adjei Kraku II, Tema Mantse and Nii Tetteh Otu II, Kpone Mantse, the two Paramount Chiefs in the Tema Municipality.

This scene was described by Mr Godwin Avenorgbo, the Master of Ceremonies as "a meeting of royals on the Greenwich."

Then came the turn of Commodore Steve Obimpeh, Chairman of the Ghana Millennium Commission and Councillor John Fahey, Mayor of the Borough of the Greenwich. Prince Philip, who wore a grey suit over a white shirt and a blue tie, was accompanied by Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the First Lady.

The Duke waved to the crowd who responded with miniature paper flags of Ghana and the Union Jack.

The Presbyterian Church which had undergone a facelift to welcome the Duke, flew flags of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Union Jack, the Ghana Flag, the TMA and that of the Church, as part of the decorations.

The Church was decorated with the Dracaena, Anthenium, White Dumbcane flowers and two Vitchial Palms were placed near the brown glittering marble stone where the first plaque was unveiled.

At the entrance of the Church was a big banner with the inscription "Akwaaba to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh" and balloons in the red, gold, green colours of Ghana.

Most people interviewed at the end of the visit were impressed. Some said they had been made to believe that security arrangements would not allow them to see the Duke.

Taxi drivers, however, complained about traffic jams as most of the roads in the main city centre near the Church were closed to traffic, compelling some of them to stay in traffic for more than 90 minutes. GRi../

Queen Elizabeth impressed with performance of pupils ******************************************** Accra (Greater Accra) 9 Nov. '99 Queen Elizabeth II at the end of a 30-minute visit to the La Wireless Cluster of Schools gave the school choir full marks for good rendition.

She told the Accra Metropolitan Director of Education, Mrs Rose Ankrah, "I really enjoyed myself and the school choir sang beautifully".

At exactly 1500 hours, artistes from the School of Performing Arts, Legon, beat the fontomfrom to herald the arrival of the Queen at the cluster of schools.

This resulted in spontaneous excitement among some 500 anxious pupils who had lined up for about an hour at the forecourt of the 14 schools to welcome her.

Six-year old Miss Dorothy Sowah, dressed in a bright blue and yellow designed kente cloth, presented the Queen with a bouquet of flowers, which the Queen received with a broad smile that lasted throughout her interaction.

Master Richard Ansah, a Junior Secondary School pupil then welcomed the Queen with drum messages with 10 year-old Miss Abigail Achelang, reciting the appellation, which said: "Welcome, Welcome Your Majesty. Hail Queen of England. Happy are Children of Ghana to see you once again in our midst. Welcome, Welcome once again Your Majesty. Children of La Schools are privileged to see You. Akwaaba, Akwaaba, Akwaaba, Thank You".

The 73-year-old Queen's visit to the schools to interact with the children, was also to see how 50 million pounds book grant, provided by the British Department for International Development (DFID) to purchase English supplementary reading books to 14,000 primary schools in Ghana, was being utilized.

The 3,400 pupils in the school became one of the first beneficiaries when their schools received their share in June.

Under the Book Distribution Scheme, each public school pupil in Ghana is expected to have access to at least two supplementary readers in school or borrow them for a few days.

The Queen, accompanied by Mr Robin Cook, British Foreign Secretary and other officials, shook hands with dignitaries present and waved at the ecstatic children keen to show her the various activities they had relentlessly rehearsed for about eight weeks.

Amidst drumming and dancing of exciting social dances from three regions: Kpanlogo from the Greater Accra, Adowa from Ashanti and Bima from Upper East, the Queen, unveiled a plaque to commemorate her visit.

There was also a splendid May Pole performance and a Scottish Country dance as side attractions. Mr Emmanuel Oko Baah, Circuit Supervisor of the Schools, then accompanied her to view exhibits of baskets, beads and paintings, doormats, crochet and metal works with some artists at work. The Queen, who seemed impressed with the work, interacted briefly with the artists and commended them for their good work.

She, however, expressed surprise at the large number of pupils - 3,400 - when she was told by the Circuit Supervisor and wondered whether there were enough teachers.

Mr Baah told her that the shift system took care of all the pupils and the teachers were adequate. Before her departure, 13-year old Miss Mary Esi Gyan, presented her with a gift on behalf of the school.

The Queen, with her husband, Prince Philip, arrived in Accra on Sunday for a three-day official visit.

She has held discussions with President Jerry John Rawlings at the Castle and addressed Parliament and was the guest of honour at a durbar of chiefs and a cross-section of the Ghanaian society.

The Queen, with a 45-member entourage including the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, leaves for the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting in Durban, South Africa, with a 15-hour stop-over in Mozambique.