DCE wants byelaws to fight social vices in Wa West

Wechiau (UWR), Nov 25, GNA - Mr. Seidu Tungbani, the Wa West District Chief Executive, has expressed concern about the rate at which certain social vices such as child labour and defilement were on the increase in the area.

He said issues of child labour were very critical in Chogsia and some communities in the remote parts of the district. "Teachers should be seen as role models and preaching against such vices, but some of them are engaged in very shameful acts such as child defilement," he noted.

Mr. Tingbani was speaking at the Second Ordinary Meeting of the Wa West District Assembly at Wechiau in the Upper West Region, on Tuesday. The DCE, therefore, urged assembly members to propose bye laws that would help them to appropriately deal with the menace in order to save their children.

According to him, the abysmal performance of students in the Basic Certificate Examination (BECE) could be attributed to the poor attitude of some teachers.

Highlighting some of the successes chalked by the Assembly, the DCE said with the support of the District Assembly Common Fund, the District Wide Assistance Project and the Community Based Rural Development Project, the Assembly had successfully completed a number of developmental projects in the district.

On Agriculture, he mentioned the block farms at Siiyiri, Guse, Bienye and Salimaana, as projects to help alleviate poverty in the district. He said the foot and mouth disease that was killing cattle in the district had been eradicated through effective treatment. According to him, the bad road network and the lack of basic farming tools like cutlasses, Wellington boots and rain coats were challenges to be dealt with.

However, the government had allocated five tractors towards the mechanized farming in the district. On sponsorship, Mr. Tungbani said the Assembly would support 60 students into various tertiary institutions and stressed that they would be bonded to come back and serve in the district after completing their courses of study.

Touching on ICT, the DCE said the Assembly had established an ICT centre at Wechiau and contracted Akasanuma Industries to supply 60 computers to stock it. He explained that 45 of the computers had already arrived and the remaining computers, including a broad band internet facility, would be delivered after furnishing.

Mr. Mahmud Khalid, the Upper West Regional Minister, urged all the district assemblies to appreciate the recent climatic changes and consider supporting farmers to go into economically beneficial trees in order to enhance sustainable development.

The Minister said if farmers were supported to venture into the commercial farming of trees such as mangoes, cashew and sheanut, it would not only safeguard the land against desertification but reduce poverty on sustainable basis.

He, therefore, called on the assembly members to educate their community members to desist from bush burning as they were in the dry season, saying it would not only lead to the loss of property and lives but also impact negatively on the vegetative cover. He said tourism was one sector that held a lot of potentials and urged the Assembly to initiate and support ongoing efforts towards the development of tourist sites.

"Government is committed to fighting poverty with GHC2.3 billion having been allocated to pro-poor activities in the 2010 fiscal budget in addition to other interventions," he stressed