The Volta Region has experienced unprecedented socio-economic development under the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The road sector in particular has benefited and it is estimated to have attracted the highest input among all regions.
The Volta Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, made these declarations when he addressed the Volta Region edition of the “Meet-the-Press” series in Ho last Thursday.
He said the government was delivering on its programmes and promises, adding that it was for the citizenry to take advantage of such programmes.
“I, therefore, call on the people of the region to always remember that the NPP government is discharging its responsibilities and obligations to the people of the region, and it is for them to make maximum use of the government’s programmes, policies and plans to improve upon the quality of their lives,” he admonished.
He said the Worawora-Dambai road, which is part of the Kpando-Dambai road, would cost GH¢60 million while the European Union would extend a credit of $50 million for the reconstruction of the Kadjebi-Nkwanta-Bimbilla road.
“These trunk roads are so important economically and socially that the government is spending colossal sums of money with the support of our donor partners to make them first-class roads,” he intimated.
Mr Dzamesi said the improvement of the road network would contribute to the growth of the tourism industry, and outlined a maiden tourism project to develop the Keta Platinum Seaside Resort, the Marina and the Amedzofe Mountain.
He said the Keta Platinum and Marina include the unique golden and silver beaches, the modern sea defence wall, mangrove scenery, lagoon, festivals, bird habitat and marina for varied yachts with pontoon berths.
On water, he said the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), with the support of DANIDA, was facilitating the provision of water and sanitation facilities throughout the region, particularly in the rural communities.
He said more than 740,021 of the rural population in the region had access to potable water, following the VRCWSA and other donors’ intervention.
Mr Dzamesi enumerated a number of water and sanitation projects undertaken in the region as of December 2007, which amounted to GH¢25million.
He extended gratitude to the Danish and United Kingdom’s governments and the European Union for the tremendous assistance for the improvement in the water and infrastructural development in the region.
He said the National Youth Employment Programme was going on smoothly in the region, notwithstanding a few challenges, and that so far, 13,981 people had been employed leading to a reduction in unemployment in the region.
In view of the universal acceptance of micro-financing as one of the most effective and sustainable strategies for poverty reduction, the government has brought financial services to grass-roots communities evident in the implementation of the Micro Financing and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) as part of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy of the government.
Since its launch in the Volta Region in 2007, Mr Dzamesi said MASLOC had disbursed GH¢1,373,655 to 3,217 beneficiaries in the region, adding that at present, GH¢5,286,000 had been approved for 860 groups made up of 44 persons under the Micro Credit and Small Loans Schemes respectively.
Mr Kofi Dzamesi said that apart from the upgrading programmes of schools in the region there was a massive infrastructure development such as the building of new classroom blocks for both the first and second-cycle institutions, as well as the provision of teachers quarters and libraries, which, he said, were among the few projects underway in the educational sector.
He said that it was pathetic and unacceptable for qualified students from the region to abort their tertiary education due to financial constraints.
He therefore called on all Voltarians to contribute to the education endowment fund to help supplement the government’s effort.
Mr Dzamesi lauded the School Feeding Programme and Capitation Grant as impacting very positively on education in the region, saying that school attendance continued to increase.
He said two primary schools in each district of the region were presently benefiting, adding that the number of pupils in the region before the programme started was 11,004 and that it had shot up to 14,135, an increase of more than 3000 at present.
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