Oti Region will see accelerated development — President Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the people of the Oti Region that the region will see accelerated development in his second term in office.
The President said this at a durbar of the chiefs, queenmothers and people of Nkonya Wurupong in the Biakoye District in the Oti Region on the first leg of his two-day working visit to the region.
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He said the government had laid a good foundation necessary to speed up the development of the region.
The road project
Before the durbar, President Akufo-Addo had inspected ongoing rehabilitation works on the 21-kilometre Nkonya-Wurupong-Kwamikrom road.
From Nkonya Wurupong, he went to Kpassa, the capital of the Kpassa District, where he inspected ongoing road projects.
The Nkonya-Wurupong-Kwamikrom road is being executed by First Sky Construction Company Ghana Limited at a cost of GH¢58.8 million, which is being financed from the Consolidated Fund.
The project is expected to be completed in May 2022.
President Akufo-Addo addressing the durbar at Nkonya Wurupong
The President said the NPP government had fulfilled the promises it made to the people in the 2016 electioneering, including the decision to create the Oti Region and undertake projects to develop the region.
He said he was prepared to develop the area further to improve the standard of living of the people.
He assured the Paramount Chief of the Nkonya Wurupong Traditional Area, Nana Kwadwo Asiakwah II, that the people’s concern over the poor road network and means of water transport for settlers along the Volta Lake would be addressed.
Patrol boats
He said the government would provide patrol boats along the Volta River to assist the settlers, who are mainly farmers and fisher folk, to cart foodstuffs to other parts of the country.
When that was done, he said, it would support agricultural growth in the area and make the government's flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), become beneficial to the people.
“In spite of being loyal to the NDC for many years, the Oti Region has not seen any improvement. It is time you voted for NPP parliamentary candidates who will help me implement the policies and plans that I have for the region,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He asked the people to consider the good foundation the NPP government had laid for the region’s development and give him another term.
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Mr. Kwesi Amoako Atta, said when the Nkonya-Wurupong-Kwamikrom road was completed, it would enhance socio-economic activities in the area, as well as facilitate the movement of people and goods to towns such as Kpando, Worawora, Apesokubi and surrounding communities.
That, he added, would bring massive improvement to the Oti Region.
Compensation package
Nana Asiakwah appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, address the issue of compensation for the Oti Region for some lands that had been lost to communities in the Volta Region following resettlements that occurred during the creation of the Volta Lake.
He also made a passionate appeal to the government to provide a means of transport for chiefs in the various traditional settings to help them rally their people for the region's development.
Nana Asiakwah commended the government for implementing the free senior high school policy, which he said had been of great advantage to people in the Oti Region.
He said because of the free SHS policy, enrolment at the Biakoye Girls’ SHS had increased, and, therefore, appealed for more infrastructure for the school.
He also appealed to the President to upgrade the Nkonya Wurupong Health Centre into a hospital, since the facility, which served more than 40 communities, had not seen any major improvement since its construction in 1957.