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Inside June 28, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 6/28/18 8:11 PM Page 3 •Nawa, north of Deraa, has been among the rebel-held towns targeted by air strikes Syria war: Air strikes knock out hospitals in Deraa AIR STRIKES have reportedly put three hospitals out of service in rebel-held southwestern Syria, as pro-government forces press on with a major offensive. A medical charity and a monitoring group said the facilities in the towns of Saida, Jizah and Musayfira, east of the city of Deraa, were hit overnight. The strikes came as the army made gains in the region, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Up to 50,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in the past week. The provinces of Deraa and Quneitra had been relatively calm for almost a year because of a "de-escalation" agreement brokered by the US and Jordan, which support the opposition, and Russia, a key ally of the government. BBC DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY JUNE 29, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH World news in 4 stories Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa blames Grace Mugabe faction for blast ZIMBABWE'S PRESI- DENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has said he suspects a group linked to the former first lady was behind an attempt on his life. Two people died and more than 40 were hurt in an explosion near Mr Mnangagwa at a rally in Bulawayo on Saturday. Mr Mnangagwa told the BBC's Fergal Keane that he suspected the G40 group, which supported Grace Mugabe for the presidency, had carried out the attack. Mrs Mugabe's husband, Robert Mugabe, was forced from power last year. The army intervened to oppose Mrs Mugabe's attempt to succeed her husband as the country's leader, and the ruling Zanu-PF party then sacked Mr Mugabe, replacing him with Mr Mnangagwa. An exiled member of the G40 group, former government minister Jonathan Moyo, earlier tweeted that the blast "smacks of an inside job". Mr Mnangagwa did not accuse Mrs Mugabe of being involved in the attempt on his life. He told the BBC he expects arrests to be made shortly. "I don't know whether it was one individual - I would think it is broader than one person. I would think this is a political action by some aggrieved persons," he said. BBC • Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa U.S. police chiefs oppose Trump move to detain immigrant families POLICE CHIEFS from across the United States, both Republicans and Democrats, on Wednesday urged the White House to find alternatives to detention of immigrant families given the risks it poses to children and its huge cost. In a joint letter, more than 45 law enforcement heads appealed to Trump to consider other possibilities than incarceration, such as requiring heads of households to wear global positioning signal (GPS) ankle bracelets or receive periodic telephone checks. The geographic and political diversity of the signatory police chiefs showed their apprehension at locking up migrant families at a time when U.S. law enforcement is trying to gain the trust of immigrant communities. Trump issued an order on Wednesday to scrap his policy of separating children from parents caught entering the United States illegally, a move praised by the police chiefs. But under the order, which is likely to be challenged in court, families would instead be detained together for the duration of immigration proceedings, which can take months or years to complete. Family detention centers could radicalize young people, pushing them toward street gangs or hate groups, said Houston police chief Art Acevedo. “The last thing we need to do is marginalize and disenfranchize young people,” said Acevedo, who emigrated to the United States from Cuba as a young child. “You can accomplish the safety aspect and monitoring aspect at a fraction of the cost without having the negative impact on kids.” Vetting of families would show most do not need to be incarcerated as they pose no threat to the community, according to the letter from the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force. Reuters Algeria's powerful police chief Gen Abdelghani Hamel sacked ALGERIA'S ABDELAZIZ Bouteflika has sacked his powerful police chief, who was seen as a possible successor to the 81-yearold head of state. Gen Abdelghani Hamel had led the police since 2010. No reason was given for the 62-year-old's dismissal but it comes amid a drug-trafficking scandal that has shaken the establishment. The police have denied media reports that the general's personal chauffeur was involved in smuggling cocaine. Behind the ousting of Algeria's secretive spy chief However, the force admitted that one of its fleet of drivers had been arrested in connection with the case involving the seizure of more than 700kg (1,540lb) of cocaine from a container ship in May. The shipment, destined for a prominent businessman, came from Brazil and the drugs were found in boxes marked "halal meat". Gen Hamel's sacking comes as a surprise as he is close to the president and has survived other difficult situations in his eight years as police chief. In 2014, the police went on strike demanding more support - which was a major embarrassment for the general, who became the butt of many jokes. Trained as a computer engineer, he began his career in the army, rising through the ranks to head the Republican Guard, which is responsible for the security of the president. BBC • Abdelghani Hamel used to head the Republican Guard, responsible for the president's security
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018 05 Editorial ECG officials who sell meters must be exposed ACQUISITION OF Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) meters continues to be a major challenge to consumers because of the cumbersome nature of the processes for securing a meter. Many consumers have had cause to complain bitterly about the frustrations they go through to acquire a meter even when a valid case is made for one. The worst part is that some rogues, who claim to be middlemen, extort money from desperate consumers because the normal system had failed to function properly. In some cases officials of the ECG charge between GH¢ 200.00 and GH¢ 400.00 as prices for acquiring a meter. The annoying part is that sometimes the meters are not delivered after payment is made because of what the officials claim to be shortage of the meters. As demand for power increases due to increased population, it is expected that the ECG would be proactive enough to use part of the huge bills they charge consumers to acquire enough meters to meet the demand of the market. Unfortunately, that is not the case because there is always the claim of shortage of the meters as a conduit to extort money from unsuspecting consumers. According to Mr Boakye Agyarko, the Minister of Energy, meters issued by ECG are not for sale since they remain the property of ECG. This explains why there is a service charge for the use of a meter. It is clear that no consumer should dole out money to acquire a meter because it is the property of the ECG. The DAILY HERITAGE is of the view that the only way to stop the extortion of money from consumers is to report ECG officials who sell these meters to the appropriate authorities. Also consumers should decline to pay for something that is not for sale. That way sanity could be brought into the system. Tema BBC residents battle faecal matter Starr-Woman Dream Edition Yendi mentees receive support from Municipal Assembly BY PHILIP ANTOH philip.antoh@daily heritage.com.gh RESIDENTS OF BBC, a suburb of Community 2 in Tema in the Greater Accra Region, are sitting on time bomb as the sewage system in the area is choked, causing floods any time it rains. The situation is so bad that human excreta leaks any time it rains, something which, the residents said, had resulted in rampant outbreak of cholera and other communicable diseases in the community. Some angry residents who spoke to the DAILY HER- ITAGE said they abandoned their houses and rooms any time it rained because the sewage system in the area was blocked. An opinion leader, Mr Kwadwo Asiam, said all efforts to get city authorities to rectify the situation had proven futile. He said visits to the Tema • Toilet chamber overflowed with excreta that runs into a nearby gutter Metropolitan Assembly to report the situation had yielded no results. Mr Asiam said the entire sewage system in Community 2 is connected to BBC, but for some years now, the sewage system had become faulty. “When we • Spilled liquid excreta stagnant in front of a house went to the Tema Metro to inquire about the sewage situation, I was told by the Director that the machine that pumped the sewage system had developed [a] fault so many years,” he said. During visits by the DAILY HERITAGE to parts of BBC last Tuesday June 19, 2018, it saw spilled faecal matter mixed with water in people’s compounds. A landlord, Mr Samuel Nortey, told the paper that they had lived with the condition for the past five years. He also lamented that all efforts to get officials of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly to resolve the situation had yielded no results. Mr Nortey said BBC is close to the Tema Harbour and” it is a shame for such an area which always receives the international community.” When the DAILY HERITAGE visited the Tema Metropolitan Assembly last Tuesday, June 19, 2018, to get official response, no official was ready to comment on the matter. • READ FROM PAGE 3 farming to enable them to fully participate in the farming season. The Starr Woman Dream Edition worked closely with the Assembly in this exercise. They distributed entrepreneurship resources, including sewing machines, fertilisers, ruminants and some amounts of monies as start-up capital for the PWDs, including albinos, and those with visual, hearing and speech impairments and orthopaedic disabilities. Out of the 42 beneficiaries, 24 were females, including 12 Starr Women mentees. In all, an amount of GH¢ 23,550.00 worth of items were distributed to the PWDs, all residents in the Yendi Municipality. A Social Welfare Officer, Zack Alhassan, who supervised the whole process, said he was very optimistic that the next tranche would cover more PWDs and encouraged the beneficiaries to prudently manage the resources they had received. • One of the beneficiaries receiving cash support from an official of the Assembly
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June 29

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