Govt will soon reach completion stage of HIPC -Kufuor

Ejura (Ash), Aug. 26, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Tuesday that the government will soon reach the completion stage of the HIPC initiative adopted as a stop gap measure for the implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies.

He said with the current economic progress, stability and the envisaged increase in cocoa production, the economy would soon be put on a sound footing.

President Kufuor was addressing separate durbars at Ejura and Mampong on the last leg of his tour of the Ashanti region. He had addressed similar durbars at Nsuta and Kumawu.

President Kufuor said the government had targeted more than 500,000 tons of cocoa in the next main crop season following the success of the mass spraying exercise.

He announced that the Ejura-Sekyedumase-Nkoranza road would be tarred, while some feeder roads in the district will be rehabilitated. Efforts would be made to revive the abandoned Ejura Farms, he intimated.

Nana Kwaku Sarfo II, Ejurahene, commended the government for initiating projects in the district and said the district, which produced large quantities of food crops had many deplorable roads which made it difficult for farmers to bring their produce to the markets. He therefore, appealed to the government to rehabilitate the roads and woo investors to resuscitate the abandoned Ejura Farms to provide employment to the youth in the district.

At Mampong, Daasebre Osei Bonsu, Mamponghene, also commended the government for embarking on an aggressive rural development programme through the rehabilitation of feeder roads, the provision of health facilities and potable water.

He appealed to the Sekyere West, Sekyere East and the Ejura-Sekyedumase District Chief Executives to liase with one another to establish an industrial starch factory under the President's Special Initiative (PSI) in their areas.

Daasebre Osei Bonsu said the chiefs were prepared to release tracts of land for the establishment of such a factory.

He said land was also available for the construction of a sport complex, a youth vocational training centre and the expansion and subsequent upgrading of the Mampong Campus of the University of Education Winneba into a fully-fledged University College of Agriculture.

Daasebre Osei Bonsu asked President Kufuor to pay regular visits to the chiefs for advice and encouragement on improving the country's socio-economic development.