Mabengba defends government's action year record

Tamale (N/R), Dec. 15, GNA – Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, has defended the government’s ‘action year’ mantra, saying President Mills and his lieutenants have delivered projects and programmes that have greatly improved the living conditions of Ghanaians.

At the day-two on-going Northern Regional Policy Fair (NRPF) in Tamale, he said the region had not been left out of the numerous projects initiated and some completed in the action year.

The NRPF, which opened on Wednesday, December 14, is the third in the series intended to bring governance to the doorsteps of the people.

Most Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Region are represented at the fair and have displayed photographs and brochures of their activities for the public to appreciate and ask questions about them.

The Regional Minister’s had answered a question by a member of the audience at the dialogue session of the NRPF, which suggested that the “action year” had rather become an “inaction year”.

Mr Mabengba enumerated a number of projects and programmes initiated and some completed in the region to support his point.

They include; construction of five polyclinics and on-going construction of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, rural electrification projects, distribution of 70 combine harvesters to farmers to boost food production, provision of educational infrastructure for tertiary, second-cycle and basic institutions, roads amongst others.

He, therefore, argued that those who believed that the action year had turned to an inaction year “must have been pretending to be sleeping and it will take a long time to wake them up”.

President Mills in 2010 declared that the year 2011 would be “an action year” for the government in which it would deliver a lot of developmental projects.

Earlier, in a presentation, Mr Mabengba assured the pubic that the National Democratic Congress’ government was on course with its manifesto pledge of “Investing in people”, to make a better life for all Ghanaians.

“This is because we believe that the wealth of any nation is the health of its people and good health is a basic ingredient that an individual requires to sustain life,” he said.

Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, Chief Executive Officer of the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), in a presentation on the way-forward for SADA on food security, said it would partner with research institutions to find interventions that were relevant to addressing food insecurity in the northern regions.

Alhaji Iddi said the implementation of SADA was not to duplicate or take over the responsibilities of other agencies but add value to such programmes through complimentary roles.

Dr Joshua Yidana, Lecturer at the Department of Horticulture, University for Development Studies, who made a presentation on the topic: “The Shea Butter Industry in Perspective”, called for the establishment of sheanut processing centres to ensure high quality shea products and a good producer price.