Govt to roll out peace, development projects in U/E Region
The government is to roll out a GH¢311.2m project in the Upper East Region to sustain peace and security by improving regional collaborations and socio-economic resilience in border and conflict communities.
It will also ensure that communities hit with food insecurity, climate change, conflicts and violence (FCV) are supported.
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Dubbed: “The Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project”, it will be implemented within the next five years.
The project, being supported by the World Bank, will be implemented in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, who announced this at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, added that when implemented, the project would address poverty, provide more education and health facilities, as well as address issues of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
He said already the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) had begun putting together their respective plans to benefit from the project.
Infrastructure
The minister also said three major bridges on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakom road in the region were at various stages of completion.
They are the Kolaa Bridge in Bolgatanga, which is 30 per cent complete; the Red Volta Bridge at the Tilli Forest, which is 80 per cent complete, and the White Volta Bridge at Bazua, also known as the Kobore Bridge, which is 20 per cent complete.
The €127-million road, which is about 80 per cent complete, passes through six districts — Bolgatanga, Binduri, Pusiga, Garu, Bawku West and Bawku. It also links the region to Burkina Faso and Togo.
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“A lot of importance is attached to the major road in the region to ensure its completion within the scheduled date to facilitate the free movement of goods and services within the region and to neighbouring countries,” Mr Yakubu said.
He said the project comprised 109 kilometres of road rehabilitation, two kilometres of dual carriageway in Bolgatanga and the five-kilometre bypass in Bawku.
The minister also said the region had a total feeder road network length of 2,257.64 km.
Among the completed feeder road projects is the Navrongo-Tono road to improve access to the Navrongo Water Treatment Plant and the Tono Irrigation Dam.
Other completed ones are the feeder roads in the Garu, Bongo, Bawku West, Tempane and Kassena Nankana West districts.
Work on the Kulungugu, Garu, Doninga and Sissili bridges had also been completed, the minister added.
He further said the region had six dams, with the largest being the Pwalugu multi-purpose dam.
The rest are the Tono, Vea, Tamne, White and Black Volta River dams.
Agric sector
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development is also to set up a hatchery at Gowrie in the Bongo District to supply fingerlings to the five regions of the north.
On the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) initiative, Mr Yakubu said beneficiaries of the government's flagship programme increased from 30,009 in 2017 to 185,012 in 2020.
That, he said, resulted in an increase in crop production of 65 per cent over the period.
On the Rearing for Food and Jobs, the minister said 1,525 beneficiary farmers received 57,850 Guinea keets, layers, cockerels, sheep and small ruminants between 2019 and 2022.
Health
Mr Yakubu also said while expansion works on the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga were ongoing, the Agenda 111 projects were at various stages of completion in eight districts — Bolgatanga East, Nabdam, Binduri, Garu and Tempane, Kassena Nankana West, Pusiga and Builsa South.