Gomoa Dawurampong (C/R), March 23, GNA - The Presiding Member of the Gomoa District Assembly, Mr Fred Oscar Abban, has advised communities in the district to fortify their buildings against storms. Mr Abban said the period between March and May was noted for severe windstorms in the area and urged the people to take precautionary measures to protect their buildings.

"Get carpenters to nail hanging roofing sheets and replace weak scan things," Mr Abban, who is the assistant headmaster of Gomoa Secondary technical school at Dawurampong, stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Dawurampong on Tuesday. He urged town/area council members and unit committees to ensure that owners of abandoned and dilapidated buildings in their communities demolish them immediately.

The PM cautioned people living in dilapidated buildings to be mindful of the risks they faced. Mr Abban advised boat owners, especially at Mumford, to ensure that their vessels were properly anchored to protect them from being destroyed by storms. He appealed to the Gomoa District secretariat of the National Disaster Management Organisation to intensify public education on prevention to enable the district pass through the season without any mishap. 23 March 05

NSOC 05 Social Meeting Education African Advisory committee holds executive meeting

Ho, March 23, GNA - Professor S.K.B. Asante, an international consultant has held that one of the most neglected aspect of regional integration in Africa is the persistent failure to adequately recognise challenges posed to the labour market.

He said although free mobility of labour was reflected in the treaties establishing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as well as other regional blocs, efforts to accommodate the rights of labour movements in order to gain advantages of labour markets have not had the desired impact.

Professor Asante was opening a four-day Educational International Africa Regional Advisory Committee meeting at Ho on Tuesday. It was on the theme: "Challenges of Regional Integration from labour market on Africa".

He said non-involvement of labour organisations in the integration process had contributed to the ineffectiveness of the integration agenda of ECOWAS and other economic groupings in Africa.

Prof. Asante noted that the institutional structure of the African regional economic communities does not provide for a separate committee of representatives of socio-economic groups, including the labour movement in decision-making, as done by labour movements of the European Union (EU) and those of other integration schemes in Latin America. "Indeed, African integration schemes can rightly be criticised for not having any popular roots because the personalities and institutions controlling them have little contact with the working population". Prof Asante suggested that the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat should devote some resources to the foundation of cooperation journals and the promotion of research and seminars in the field of integration.

He called for the establishment of an ECOWAS television and training schemes for Journalists on issues of economic integration, peacekeeping and emerging technologies.

Prof Asante also recommended that an ECOWAS prize for excellent journalism be instituted to bring about "a better dissemination of information about ECOWAS across the sub-region and world-wide". He called for a course on economic integration as an independent branch of study in all research institutes, junior and senior high school, colleges and higher institutions in West Africa, in order to infuse among the younger generation of West African workers, a tradition of integrative spirit and thinking.

Prof Asante said the study of French, English and possibly Portuguese, should be made compulsory in all secondary and tertiary institutions to facilitate communication between the various cultural and linguistic groups.

This would also help to create a long-lasting intellectual foundation for the movement towards West African community. Mr Thulas Nxesi, President of Educational International, said challenges facing the organisation were the threat of HIV/AIDS, the struggle for quality education for all, the search for a new global order based on social justice and commitment to defending human rights, and the building of teacher unity and trade union organisation to improve the condition of education workers.

He called on the union to develop strategies and structures to provide care and support to sick colleagues and learners.

"We have to campaign for appropriate medical treatment and to defend the rights of colleagues and learners living with HIV/AIDS," he added.

Mr Nxesi urged members to struggle for quality public education for all.

Mrs Irene Adanusa, President of the Education International, Africa Region, said Africa could reduce poverty through quality education for all, massive injection to improve other social services such health, affordable housing, retirement plans for workers, and expansion of the productive base of various economies to offer employment for the youth. "If our government believes that providing quality public-funded education for the populace is above them, then they have to be prepared to fund strategies for crime prevention and containment across our frontiers".

Ms Portia Anafo, Acting National President of GNAT, complained about the shortage of qualified teachers, which she said was caused by the lack of proper recognition of the teacher.