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GREL creates strong relationship with stakeholders
The Corporate Affairs Manager of the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), Mr. Perry Acheampong has stated that the company was creating a very conducive atmosphere to maintain a strong relationship with their stakeholders. GREL produces latex or raw rubber for export.
He said this collaboration between GREL and all the communities would allow the company to assist in the improvement of livelihoods of residents in the operational communities.
Mr. Acheampong was speaking in an exclusive interview with this reporter on GREL’s Sustainability Policy of Respect for Human Rights, Responsible Development of their Operations and Best Management Practices in line with National and International Laws, Regulations and Conventions.
He said the company recognised the importance of the communities in its operational areas and so worked in a very responsible manner to obtain the Social Licence from these communities which GREL has invested over four miillion Euros in the last 10 years on Corporate Social Responsibility Projects in the areas of Health, Electricity, Water, Education, Sanitation among others aimed at improving the livelihood of these communities.
He said GREL was “Latex, and so much more” as their new slogan was evidenced in what they championed over the years in the operational areas.
Mr. Acheampong said GREL had empowered the people by offering very sustainable jobs and income to over 4,000 staff, through the implementation of national and international policies of biodiversity, the protection of water bodies and the ecosystem. T
He said the company gave life to the communities through the provision of quality, safe, potable and reliable water, the construction of schools, provision of desks, allowances to teachers, vacation classes to improve the educational standard of the areas.
He said in collaboration with the Association of Chiefs on whose Lands GREL Operates (ACLANGO) GREL had provided water systems for 14 communities serving over 20,000 people, built six health facilities which included 4 community health centres serving over 15,000 people and 16 communities have been provided with Community Centres for their social events.
On education, he said that 36 infrastructure have been provided which included 17 school buildings, libraries and teachers’ bungalows, annual vacation classes for over 4,500 Primary and Junior High Schools where the company paid for the tuition, learning materials and feeding for the students.
He disclosed that by the end of June 2021 the company had provided scholarships to 283 students in secondary and tertiary in the operational areas adding “GREL supports the traditional festival of Kundum of all the communities within its operational areas through ACLANGO”.
FROM PETER GBAMBILA, TAKORADI.
The Government of the Republic of Korea has presented a second consignment of equipment to support the study, maintenance and preservation of Ghana’s historic forts and castles under the Korea-Ghana ICT Climate Project.
At the handover ceremony in Accra, today, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, expressed appreciation for Korea’s continued support, including its US$4.5 million intervention towards heritage preservation, technical assistance and capacity building.
The equipment will strengthen the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board’s efforts to address the impact of climate change on Ghana’s historic heritage infrastructure.
The Ministry noted that they remain committed to working with international partners to safeguard Ghana’s priceless heritage for present and future generations.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Association of Spouses of Heads of Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations (ASOHOM) brought art, diplomacy and philanthropy together for its glamorous black-tie charity gala, centred on the urgent theme of sustainable water futures.
At the heart of the evening was ‘Woven Currents’, a thought-provoking commissioned exhibition co-curated by Fang W. Linulf of LogonART and Fadila Njoya from Gallery Sankofa, showcasing five outstanding Ghanaian artists confronting water pollution, coastal decay, ancestral memory and ecological regeneration.
Housed within a versatile multi-function hall, far from a conventional white-cube gallery, the venue underwent a dramatic creative transformation.
Drawing on her professional architectural background, curator Fang W. Linulf reimagined the standard event space into a vivid, immersive exhibition environment through bold spatial storytelling.
Monumental art installations encircled gala guests, breaking traditional viewing boundaries and forging a remarkably intimate, visceral connection between viewers and the artworks.
Guided by a powerful curatorial vision, ‘Woven Currents’ positioned art as a call to action: to honour, safeguard and collectively steward Africa’s precious shared water heritage.
Each artwork responded directly to Ghana’s pressing aquatic realities.
Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku’s towering textile installation breathed new life into discarded local second-hand ‘Oburoni Wawu’ garments, delivering a searing commentary on waste colonialism and textile-fuelled ocean contamination.
Patrick Tagoe Turkson crafted intricate assemblages from beach-salvaged flip flops and abandoned ghost fishing nets, weaving Asafo flag and Kente cloth iconography into marine debris to unite indigenous cultural wisdom with modern-day ecological crisis.
Sena Burgundy presented introspective blue-hued figurative canvases exploring inner reflection set against shifting environmental realities.
Nana Frimpong Oduro exhibited dream-like surreal photography rooted in Akan cosmology, capturing ancestral echoes and human resilience within Ghana’s coastal waters.
Evans Torngmortey Akornor built evocative threshold-themed mixed media works from fishing shore remnants, unpacking visible and unseen layers of shoreline history.
Attendees also experienced the poignant live dance performance ‘Cry of the River’ by Vivie’s Dance.
The night featured a high-energy live auction of five signature exhibition artworks alongside a raffle draw. Every penny raised went toward vital humanitarian support for vulnerable communities across Ghana.
Diplomatic delegates, collectors, artists and cultural leaders filled the room.
The curatorial team stressed that ‘Woven Currents’ was never mere gala decoration.
It delivered grounded, locally-centred artistic narratives that enriched formal policy conversations on water conservation, repurposing a diplomatic social gathering into a dynamic public platform for ecological dialogue and meaningful giving.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
