Stop mentioning the Castle in stories...

without sourcing Accra, March 20, GNA - The Office of the President has expressed concern about the unbridled use of the name of the Castle, the seat of the Presidency, in news reports by sections of the media in recent times and called for a stop to that.

The situation where the Presidency was inserted into all manner of issues published by sections of the media without sourcing, just to give the reports credibility, must not be allowed to continue, Mr Kwabena Agyepong, the Press Secretary to the President, said at a Castle briefing on Monday.

He did not mention the offending media houses but said most of those stories tended to be mere speculation and conjecture. Journalists, he said, should ensure that they treated the Presidency with decorum by always checking their facts and seeking clarification on matters relating to the Presidency from the Castle Press Office.

Mr Agyepong also touched on the economic strides being made by the country under the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on garments and oil palm.

Five new factories, he said, had been established in the Garment Village in Tema with orders from Europe and America.

The Government, as part of the drive to make the garment industry become more vibrant and serve as a major source of employment, was providing between 150,000 dollars and one million dollars support for indigenous garment manufacturers.

He said there were now 9,000 machinists trained to operate high-speed industrial machines for garment production. On the PSI on oil palm, Mr Agyepong said 12 nurseries had been established and it was expected that within the next four years the area under plantation would go up by about 300 per cent.

Mr Agyepong also announced that a Government delegation, which includes Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, Senior Minister; Professor George Hagan, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture and Mr Ambrose Dery, Upper West Regional Minister, would attend the investiture of Cardinal Peter Dery in the Vatican.

The delegation would be joined by Professor Owusu Sarpong, Ghana's Ambassador to the Vatican and Dr Dsane Selby, Ambassador to Rome, Mr Ben Assorow of the Catholic Secretariat and three members of the new Cardinal's family.

Meanwhile Mr Agyepong has received on behalf of the Government a giant Coat of Arms, the work of a Ghanaian Sculptor, Richard Amoako, which is valued at about 40,000 dollars.

Atlantic Pools, a company that has specialized in the building of swimming pools and sculptures, donated it as part of its contribution towards the beautification of the Castle. 20 March 06