Journalists tour development projects in Volta Region

Ho, April 24, GNA - Mr Mawutor Goh, District Chief Executive for Ho in the Volta Region has disclosed that the Ho District Assembly has expended 16.2 billion cedis on developmental projects since 2001. Prominent among the projects are a 3.2 kilometre Ho township roads, popularly referred to as "missing link" and a 16-kilometre Sokode-Abutiateti feeder road that links the district with Juapong in the Eastern Region.

The money also covered the rehabilitation of the Ahoe market in Ho, the Ho Central market, a mechanised borehole project at Anyirawase, as well as the construction of a number of school blocks for some communities.

Mr Goh was briefing a team of 25 journalists from Accra who were on a three-day tour of the region to see completed and on-going projects in the district.

The Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department organised the tour in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association. It was the first in a monthly series lined up to afford the media the opportunity to assess projects being implemented by the various districts assemblies since the NPP government assumed power. However, due to the inadequacy of the three-day period, the journalists could only cover three out of the 12 districts in the region. These were Ho, Ketu and Keta districts.

Mr Goh led the media personnel to Abutia-Kloe in the Ho West Constituency where they inspected two projects - an 85 million-cedi maternity block and 159.5 million-cedi rehabilitation works on blocks of flats for medical personnel of the Abutia-Kloe Health Centre. Some of the health personnel the GNA interacted with at the health centre appealed to government to provide them with a borehole, as well as some medical equipment.

The Maternity facility serves about ten communities in the area. At Abutia-Agove, the assembly had replaced the structures of the Primary school with a new block of three classrooms, a store, library and teachers' common room, costing 138 million cedis.

Similar projects had been carried out in other areas. These included a 208 million-cedis Kwanta-Awudome new school block in the Ho West Constituency, a new JSS block for Avenui and a 135 million-cedi Etodome JSS block.

The media personnel also inspected a 128 million-cedi renovated clinic at Hlefi and a related two-bedroom medical officer's quarters. Mr Goh told the journalists that Ho roads had been in poor condition for sometime and that the assembly was now focusing on rehabilitating them to facilitate the transportation of goods and foodstuffs.

He said the Assembly had so far achieved 45 percent water coverage in the district and that substantial parts of the district were covered by electricity supply.

In the Ketu district, the District Chief Executive, Linus Koffie led the team to inspect a 4.5 kilometre urban Roads project at Aflao being financed by the French Development Agency at the equivalent of 4.2 billion cedis. Work on the project was about 85 percent complete. The Media also inspected an 848 million-cedis Aflao streetlight project sponsored by the International Development Agency and a building being constructed for a mammogram machine at the Aflao Hospital. The team also inspected a 4.78 billion-cedis Ketu District Coastal Belt Water Scheme financed by the Danish International Development agency under which water is provided to several communities along the coast in the district.

Other projects in the district included a 201 million-cedi European Union funded Adina Clinic and an 80 million-cedis nurses quarters, a 365 million-cedis classroom block for Amutinu-Salakope primary school, and a 165 million-cedi Kporkuve teachers quarters.

Other major project in the Ketu district assembly were a 465 million-cedi Ohawu Irrigation dam project and a facelift project of the Dzodze market to be financed by the assemblies common fund. The irrigation project was started in 2001 and completed in 2003 but due to a misunderstanding on the naming of the dam by the locals the facility has not been used yet.

At Keta, the team met the absence of the District Chief executive but were taken round the Sea defence project site by some officials of the assembly.