Features
Iron ore and bauxite – key to potential income generation

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• Bauxite is important to Ghana’s economy
News about iron ore deposits in certain parts of the country particularly the Oti Region is welcoming news that cannot be taken for granted because iron ore generates steel which can be used to support the building and construction industry.
Countries like Canada, Australia and Brazil together dominate the world’s iron ore exports. Each of these countries export substantial portions of iron ore to other countries, deriving substantial revenue from these exports.
The seven largest of iron ore producing countries in the world account for about 3-quarters of total world production. Almost all portions of the iron ore, 98 per cent, is used in steel making. Such a vital product brings in millions of dollars to the exporting countries. In all, countries that export iron ore number about 50.
Apart from iron ore, the country Ghana is also endowed with large amounts of bauxite which can also be used to support the country’s aluminium industry. Thus, Ghana is fortunate to have iron ore and aluminium to develop its construction and building industry.
The Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) is confident of attracting over US$6 billion private capital to actualise a harmonised aluminium industry.
The country envisioned an integrated industry soon after independence, but GIADEC is now stepping up efforts to develop a comprehensive aluminium industry in line with the country’s renewed commitment to use its bauxite endowments to become an automobile and industrial hub within the continent.
It is also banking on the integrated aluminium development plan to unlock the potential of Ghana’s construction, pharmaceutical, electric cable manufacturing and packaging industries.
The Bauxite mineral is very important to the economy of the country since it can help to build up various sectors of the economy and generate more income to improve upon the welfare of all Ghanaians. The Pharmaceutical industry cannot thrive without the aluminium industry which is also dependent on Bauxite.
Thus, if the country is fortunate to have Bauxite for the development of its aluminium industry, then every effort will have to be made to ensure that the integrated aluminium system being built is made to succeed to the full. This will make the country less dependent on other countries as far as its pharmaceutical needs are concerned.
The integrated aluminium industry in the country can also go a long way to help in the development of the building and construction industry. The building sector cannot thrive without support from aluminium. If there’s no aluminium to support that industry, then the country will have to import to support its aluminium needs from other countries.
Needless to say, the Russian-Ukraine conflict has taught us a lesson that we cannot always depend on imports from other countries. It is said that Russia and Ukraine are only two countries in the world yet they are able to use their resources to control the entire world. Ghana has learnt its lesson and cannot continue to depend on imports from other countries.
The country will have to limit itself to only essential goods that cannot be produced here but where it is possible to produce anything internally, every effort will have to be made to ensure that this is done successfully so that the country can depend on its own self and export some of its products for some income.
The production of iron rods and other items like steel and many others can all be produced here in Ghana to help strengthen the construction industry. Such a move will make the development of housing in the country cheaper than can be envisaged so that with time, housing units will become generally affordable in the country.
This is what the country should work towards to make life better for its people. If this agenda is pursued vigorously, it will help to bring in much economic improvement to the country.
In the past, the Bauxite mined in this country was exported in its raw forms and we thought that we were making enough money but later we realised that this was not the case. The Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO) was established to perform a certain role in this country through the use of the Bauxite but things did not move the way expected.
The country has a second chance, having learnt its mistakes in the past, to take corrective steps to amend its ways so as to export only value-added products to generate more income.
In addition, the aluminium products in the country must be well developed to serve the domestic needs of people in the country and make life better for everyone. The aluminium industry which is dependent on Bauxite should, therefore, be well defined,
properly organised and efficiently integrated in a manner that will serve the multipurpose agenda of all Ghanaians.
This is what the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) seeks to achieve and must be implemented to the letter and for ultimate growth and development of this wonderful country.
Email address/whatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
Features
Palaver of the Spanish fly

THE Spanish fly liquid can be described as the female version of Viagra or its local counterpart, the popular AK 47 bitters. Spanish fly can induce sexual feeling in the most frigid of women, sending them on a wild romantic trip, so long and lasting, invariably intense and unforgettable.
The use of Spanish fly in Sikaman is not a recent phenomenon. In the early 1970s, foreign seamen brought the substance from the whiteman’s land to seduce girls who visited the cargo vessels that docked at the Tema port. The girls were fascinated by the foreign vessels and went aboard to sight-see.
They were invited into the cabins by the crew for coffee and biscuits, canned minerals and beer. Whatever some of the girls took was laced with a little something.
In twenty minutes time, they were transformed from innocent sight-seeing dames into hot sex-pots. They simply melted under the influence of the drug and begged for sex. Needless to say, they stripped themselves naked before they were asked to.
They were abused in all sorts of ways, offered a few gifts like watches and told to come back, next time, for more coffee and biscuits. When they came to their senses, they felt bruised and ravaged and could never fathom what made them behave the way they did.
The little something that was often introduced into each cup of coffee was the legendary SPANISH FLY. Sikaman port workers later got wind of the female Viagra stuff and solicited for some from foreign seamen. They brought the liquid into town and employed it in the seduction of girls who would normally not condescend to having sex no matter how persuasive you were.
SOLUTION
A friend once told me how he used Spanish fly on a girl he had been courting for ages without success. He said it was Spanish fly which solved the problem for him in a very definitive way, more than he could ever bargain for.
He said he obtained the liquid from a French sailor but had no intention of using it on any girl. But there was this girl next-door who always taunted him, teased him and refused his proposals for love. She was a provocatively shaped madonna who perpetually excited his libido.
According to him, he was taking his breakfast of tea and bread when the girl came to his home and said she was washing her clothes but was tired. She had come to relax a bit, but could do with a cup of tea with or without bread.
My friend said presence of mind made him realise that he could try the Spanish fly idea. If it worked, all the better. If it didn’t, there was nothing to lose. He obliged and went into his room to the girl the cup of tea, but not before he poured a small quantity of Spanish fly into cup.
The girl drank it and was satisfied. She wanted to leave to complete her washing but my friend asked her to relax a bit, hoping she would elicit a response to the drug. She refused and left. He was disillusioned. What a waste, he said to himself.
Upon second thoughts, he decided to stroll to the girl’s home next-door and when he got there he was awed by the sight. The girl washing alright, but he realised that she was not only washing, but also dancing in the process
She was twisting and wriggling her body while washing, a scene he had never encountered. He had never seen anyone washing and dancing at the same time.
The girl, upon seeing him, promptly left what she was doing and walked over and kissed him. He was surprised. Luckily or unluckily, she was alone the home, and without much ado he mounted her.
After satisfying himself, he wanted to go home but the girl was not done yet. She grabbed him and forced him to go three more ’rounds’. After the fourth ‘rounder’ he said he was completely exhausted panted like a tired dog.
The girl wanted a fifth round and he had to run away after disentangling himself from her grip. If he hadn’t shown a clean pair of heels, he would have died on the job.
Recently, someone also told me he used Spanish fly on his girlfriend who had left him. He put it into her cola drink. After a while she started grabbing at his huge phallus, whereupon he told her not to misbehave. But she wouldn’t listen. She was bent on unzipping his trousers and drawing out his organ right there at the beer bar.
Bewildered, he started protesting vehemently. He virtually had to drag her to a hotel to work on her to save the situation.
So Spanish fly really is in town and I hear it is being sold in certain selected drug and chemical stores off the counter.
A little Palava research has revealed that the drug used to be made from the dried bodies of beetles which have aphrodisiac properties, hence the name Spanish Fly. The beetle is a fly. The substance is used medicinally and on pigs to make them go on heat so that they can mate enthusiastically and increase production.
Now the Federation of African Women Education (FAWE) has urged the authorities to investigate how a substance (Spanish Fly Liquid) found its way into the country.
They say the substance is being used to stimulate women and girls sexually without their consent to make them demand sex. They add that research has also revealed that the substance is used in tertiary institutions and is well known and widely used at the JSS and SSS levels. I don’t doubt it.
Well, the drug is actually in use and I guess rapists are using it subtly so they can’t be accused of rape. In other words, the substance induces the girls to ask the men to rape them, which seemingly cannot be interpreted as rape. At best it could be described as ‘chemical rape’.
I guess, the way out is public education on the issue. If the population at large is made adequately aware that Spanish fly is being used, women and girls would be careful about what they imbibe or accept to drink from men.
This article was first published on Saturday November 28, 1988
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Features
The eye is indeed the lamp of the body
There is a scripture that is found in Matthew 6:22 which says that the lamp of the body is the eye and therefore the eye must see well to enable the body to get to its destination.
What most people do not know is that behind the scenes, there is a strong interaction between the eyes and the brain before a picture becomes clear. The state of mind therefore is crucial to the eye seeing clearly to enable the body to process accurately the information the eyes are feeding it for proper identification of what the eyes see.
This is similar to how a person behaves i.e. what informs the decisions that forms in the mind that results in the actions that a person performs. The actions of a person does not therefore just happen but is as a result of things that went on in the mind, which in most cases resulted from information passed on to it by the eyes either consciously or unconsciously.
There are so many issues that affect our society which makes one wonder, whether the people who displayed such acts were created by someone or something other than God.
How can a person see a beach created by God with beautiful beaches and fresh air blowing all around, decides to defecate at such places, and therefore desecrate the environment? lt is simply mind boggling?
When other people in other countries who dwell on the coast are using their beaches for tourist attraction purposes as a means of livelihood and also to promote environmental health, some people living around our beaches, have turned them into rubbish dumping sites and toilets.
It is a very sad situation and the earlier we did something about it the better. It is a national emergency that must engage the attention, first of the government and then the citizenry, where religious bodies and NGOs must play a critical role.
The things we focus on in this country, needs to be addressed. Our minds which processes the info the eyes send to the brain, must be disciplined. There are certain behaviours that a disciplined mind can ignore even when the eye has provided info to the brain. One of the things a disciplined mind does, is the avoidance of a second look, which is critical for every person who wants to avoid adultery or fornication.
Once a person is not blind, he will see things. The boobs, the ‘shankus’, the coca cola shapes, the light complexioned, the dark complexioned etc. the eyes will definitely see and report same to the brain. What the brain or the mind decides to do or instructs the eye to do is the issue.
It can decide to instruct the eye to take a second look and let the mind drool over it or say ignore it and that will be the end.
If the mind becomes trained to focus on environmental issues like clean environment, the eyes will automatically be reporting on insanitary conditions to the brain as and when it sees them. The mind will pay attention to such data and begin to process them and to identify solutions to deal with the reported insanitary conditions.
There is the need to encourage citizens to train the mind to focus on the right thing so that in tandem with the eyes, focus will be maintained. When the mind is so trained, it communicates with the eye to also focus on hood things that helps in both are spiritual life and our secular lives, for indeed the eyes are the lamp of the body. God bless.





