No Security worries(page 29)

Story:Michael Donkor
THE Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) have mapped out strategies to support the Local Organising Committee of the Ghana 2008 fiesta to make it a success.
To this end, the GAF has divided its role during the tournament among its three arms namely the Ghana Army, the Navy and the Airforce.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview at Burma Camp in Accra, the Deputy Director of the Ghana Armed Forces Public Relations Unit, Lt. Col. Mbawuni Atintande, said the army would deploy troops at all the stadia and playing grounds where the participating teams would be training to ensure their safety.
He said the army would also provide escort for the officials of the tournament as they travelled across the country while operation “calm life” which seeks to clamp down on the activities of armed robbers would be intensified.
He said the Armed Forces Band would also play the national anthems of Ghana and other participating countries before and after the start of every match.
Lt. Col. Atintande said the 48 Engineers Regiment would display firework during the opening and closing ceremony.
He said the Recce Regiment would also provide horses some of which would be used for dispersing crowds.
Lt. Col. Atintande said the army would provide medical personnel who would be on the standby at all the stadia to attend to any health matters that would arise.
He said it was only when the issue was very serious and critical that a patient would be carried to the hospital.
Lt. Col. Atintande said the Air Force would provide air transport to carry any casualty to the hospital as well as give support to the army in maintaining security.
The Navy, he said, would also intensify its sea operations to ensure that criminals did not take advantage of the occasion to engage in their nefarious activities at sea.
He said the naval personnel would patrol the territorial waters of the country consistently for any suspicion to be dealt with quickly.
He, therefore, called on the public to co-operate with the GAF to ensure that they have an incident free tournament.