THE government has made available GH¢5 million to support cotton farmers in northern Ghana to revamp the ailing cotton industry.
The package includes GH¢3.5 million direct support, which covers land preparation and provision of seeds and fertilisers, and GH¢1.5 million to be used as general subsidy.
The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, who made this known when he launched a cotton support programme in Tamale on Saturday, said the intervention would increase cotton yield to about 10,000 metric tonnes, with about 4,500 metric tonnes of lint.
By the end of this year, the industry is expected to generate more than $8 million in income.
Mr Mahama said the programme would cover a significant number of the 60,000 cotton farmers in the three northern regions, indicating that in the next four years all the beneficiary farmers would be covered.
The Vice-President said support would be extended to private cotton companies and other stakeholders, adding that “the success of the current support will determine how the government will progress”.
He urged farmers to take advantage of the intervention and start ploughing the land for cultivation, stressing that “the money is ready. Don’t wait for it, go ahead”.
Mr Mahama said the vision of the government was to ensure that Ghana became a net exporting country in all sub-sectors of agriculture, adding that it had made significant strides in that direction and was likely to achieve 100,000 metric tonnes of maize surplus this year.
The Vice-President said rice importation had reduced considerably from 500,000 metric tonnes to 400,000 metric tonnes this year and expressed the hope that more local rice production would drastically reduce the importation.
For his part, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Mabengba, noted that the golden age of prosperity in the Northern Region occurred in the 1970s and since then no massive investment in the rice and cotton industries had taken place.
According to him, the dug-out dams built in the 1960s had never seen any rehabilitation, making them easily washed away or silted.
The regional minister stated that the north was struggling to produce sorghum to meet the demand of the breweries, which stood at about 6,000 metric tonnes.
Mr Mabengba expressed the hope that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) would become the vehicle for transforming northern agriculture and the general environment of the area.
He called on the people of the region to turn the seven months of dry season which, hitherto, had been a season of “indolence, hunger and frustration which breed anger, intolerance and violence”, into seasons of productivity and plenty.
He lauded the launch of the cotton season and said it was in recognition of the pivotal role the private sector could play in fostering accelerated economic development and employment creation.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mahama Ayariga, lamented the inability of tomato farmers to produce enough to meet the needs of the Northern Star Tomato Factory at Pwalugu.
He said the government was working with all the stakeholders in the cotton industry to design a framework to address their problems.
He called for commitment, honesty and the zeal to direct the inputs for the purposes they were intended for.
The National Chairman of the Cotton Farmers Association of Ghana, Abdul-Rahman Mohammed, said low world market prices and high interest rates had been the bane of the industry.
He commended the government for the package and advised his colleague farmers against the diversion of farm inputs.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
FDB WARNS AGAINST UNCERTIFIED DRUGS (PAGE 42, JUNE 24, 2010)
THE acting Zonal Officer of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in Tamale, Mr Gorden Akurugu, has cautioned the public against the use of uncertified Chinese drugs particularly those purported to boost libido in both men and women.
He noted that the proliferation of such fake drugs on the Ghanaian market had caused deaths among some users.
Mr Akurugu stated this at a meeting in Tamale to sensitise stakeholders and the public to the consumption of unwholesome and unregistered products that are on the Ghanaian market.
The officer cited an instance where a fake Chinese drug was sold to an unsuspecting couple that eventually resulted in the death of the man.
He, however, intimated that the FDB in collaboration with the security agencies had investigated the matter and those behind it were arrested and prosecuted.
Mr Akurugu explained for instance that the public must be vigilant and report to the FDB, individuals who went on air claiming they had medicines that could cure various illnesses.
“The Board is fully committed to its mandate of ensuring the safety, efficacy and quality of food, drugs, cosmetic, household chemical and medical device,” he said.
He further stressed that his outfit had expanded its activities, saying “key areas of great concern to the board are the number of unregistered products currently on the market”.
“Consumers should take the initiative to complain to the manufacturer and ask questions about their products; consumers must also exercise their ability to make a choice by refusing to purchase unwholesome food, counterfeit and substandard products,” Mr Akurugu stated.
He therefore stressed the need for concerted efforts to develop a safety risk-based approach that strengthens effective regulation in Ghana.
“Local manufacturers and importers must assist the Board in ensuring the safety of their products and re-establishing of consumer confidence by collaborating with the FDB to ensure the implementation of the appropriate safety and quality systems,” he pointed out.
The Head of Food Safety Unit of the FDB in Accra, Mr Sylvester Oteng Kyei, cautioned against putting out adverts that had not been approved by the Board.
He noted that handling of meat in the country was a major challenge as many people seemed to disregard the need for the maintenance of hygienic conditions.
“If you patronise an expired product and unwholesome product you do so at your own risk,” he warned.
He noted that the proliferation of such fake drugs on the Ghanaian market had caused deaths among some users.
Mr Akurugu stated this at a meeting in Tamale to sensitise stakeholders and the public to the consumption of unwholesome and unregistered products that are on the Ghanaian market.
The officer cited an instance where a fake Chinese drug was sold to an unsuspecting couple that eventually resulted in the death of the man.
He, however, intimated that the FDB in collaboration with the security agencies had investigated the matter and those behind it were arrested and prosecuted.
Mr Akurugu explained for instance that the public must be vigilant and report to the FDB, individuals who went on air claiming they had medicines that could cure various illnesses.
“The Board is fully committed to its mandate of ensuring the safety, efficacy and quality of food, drugs, cosmetic, household chemical and medical device,” he said.
He further stressed that his outfit had expanded its activities, saying “key areas of great concern to the board are the number of unregistered products currently on the market”.
“Consumers should take the initiative to complain to the manufacturer and ask questions about their products; consumers must also exercise their ability to make a choice by refusing to purchase unwholesome food, counterfeit and substandard products,” Mr Akurugu stated.
He therefore stressed the need for concerted efforts to develop a safety risk-based approach that strengthens effective regulation in Ghana.
“Local manufacturers and importers must assist the Board in ensuring the safety of their products and re-establishing of consumer confidence by collaborating with the FDB to ensure the implementation of the appropriate safety and quality systems,” he pointed out.
The Head of Food Safety Unit of the FDB in Accra, Mr Sylvester Oteng Kyei, cautioned against putting out adverts that had not been approved by the Board.
He noted that handling of meat in the country was a major challenge as many people seemed to disregard the need for the maintenance of hygienic conditions.
“If you patronise an expired product and unwholesome product you do so at your own risk,” he warned.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
IMPROVED SEEDS FOR YILONAYILI FARMERS (PAGE 22, JUNE 22, 2010)
FARMERS at Yilonayili, a suburb of Tamale, have been provided with improved rice seeds, fertilisers and other farming inputs to enhance rice production in the area.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Fund Rice Project provided funds for the seeds. The seeds were part of the 120 tonnes, valued at GH¢120,000, distributed earlier to farming communities in the three northern regions.
The USAID Project Co-ordinator, Dr Wilson Dogbe, made this known at a seed fair at Yilonayili to distribute the seeds to beneficiary farmers in the area.
He said the beneficiaries were being linked to agro-input dealers to access rice seed and fertilisers at subsidised prices.
The fair was aimed at boosting rice production through increased farmer access to rice seed, technology, fertiliser and market.
Dr Dogbe stated that the seed fair was a follow-up to the two-year Emergency Rice Initiative (ERI) project being implemented in four West African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.
According to him, the ERI project started last year and was supposed to boost rice production in 10,000 farm households in each participating country.
“Domestic rice production is characterised by poor farmer access to production factors like improved seeds, technology for rice production, fertiliser and credit; domestic rice production is trailing far behind demand and stands at about 30 per cent of demand,” he observed.
Dr Dogbe further stated that plans were far advanced to reach out to 20,000 farmers with rice production videos by the end of 2010.
The Northern Regional Co-ordinator of the ERI, Dr Ibrahim Atokple, said the objectives of the ERI programme was to boost total domestic rice production in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal by about 30,000 tonnes of paddy rice with a current market value of about $21 million.
He explained that the seed fair would enable farmers to source vital inputs at the right time during each production season.
“In terms of yield, over 90 per cent of the farmers realised more than 100 per cent increase, harvesting between 15 and 20 bags of paddy rice per half an acre plot of farmland," he stated.
Dr Atokple said this year, the ERI was targeting 6,000 farmers, including those from Yilonayili.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Fund Rice Project provided funds for the seeds. The seeds were part of the 120 tonnes, valued at GH¢120,000, distributed earlier to farming communities in the three northern regions.
The USAID Project Co-ordinator, Dr Wilson Dogbe, made this known at a seed fair at Yilonayili to distribute the seeds to beneficiary farmers in the area.
He said the beneficiaries were being linked to agro-input dealers to access rice seed and fertilisers at subsidised prices.
The fair was aimed at boosting rice production through increased farmer access to rice seed, technology, fertiliser and market.
Dr Dogbe stated that the seed fair was a follow-up to the two-year Emergency Rice Initiative (ERI) project being implemented in four West African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.
According to him, the ERI project started last year and was supposed to boost rice production in 10,000 farm households in each participating country.
“Domestic rice production is characterised by poor farmer access to production factors like improved seeds, technology for rice production, fertiliser and credit; domestic rice production is trailing far behind demand and stands at about 30 per cent of demand,” he observed.
Dr Dogbe further stated that plans were far advanced to reach out to 20,000 farmers with rice production videos by the end of 2010.
The Northern Regional Co-ordinator of the ERI, Dr Ibrahim Atokple, said the objectives of the ERI programme was to boost total domestic rice production in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal by about 30,000 tonnes of paddy rice with a current market value of about $21 million.
He explained that the seed fair would enable farmers to source vital inputs at the right time during each production season.
“In terms of yield, over 90 per cent of the farmers realised more than 100 per cent increase, harvesting between 15 and 20 bags of paddy rice per half an acre plot of farmland," he stated.
Dr Atokple said this year, the ERI was targeting 6,000 farmers, including those from Yilonayili.
Monday, June 21, 2010
'TAP POTENTIAL OF SHEA-NUT (PAGE 43, JUNE 21, 2010)
Story: Vincent Amenuveve, Tamale
PARTICIPANTS in a stakeholders meeting on unleashing the potentials of the shea nut industry have called for effective collaboration between research institutions, universities and farming groups to fully tap the potential of the crop.
They noted, for instance, that issues such as reducing the gestation period of the plant and enforcing bye-laws against indiscriminate bush burning in order to protect the shea nut trees were critical to the survival of the industry.
The participants were drawn from farming groups, research institutions and the Produce Buying Company (PBC).
The meeting was aimed at sharing findings of a report on “unleashing the shea potentials” with stakeholders. It was also to initiate a broad-base campaign on shea, as well as facilitate a platform for progressive discussions on the industry.
The Ghana Trade Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) organised the event.
The Deputy Executive Director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana at Akyem Tafo in the Eastern Region, Dr Francis Kofi Oppong, emphasised the need for “domestication of the shea tree with the view to reducing its gestation period.”
According to him, one of the mandates of the Cocoa Research Institute was to help reduce the gestation period of the plant and commended the University for Development Studies (UDS) for making giant strides in that area.
Presenting key findings of the report, the Coordinator of the GTLC, Mr Ibrahim Akalbila, stated that the document revealed serious challenges in research for improved varieties, inconsistent policy for the sector, difficulties of picking and processing by women groups and inadequate shea value chain.
He said other problems that had bedevilled the industry included low and fluctuating pricing, decades of neglect by policy makers, especially government, widespread suspicion and mistrust among actors in the system, as well as inadequate information on the plant.
“The industry is a very vibrant one though little has been done in terms of policy, research and support to boost it. It could help eradicate poverty and improve the livelihoods of people in northern Ghana," Mr Akalbila further stated.
He suggested, among other things, the need to “domesticate the plant while ensuring that pickers and processors were provided with equipment.”
The co-ordinator further stressed the need for clearly defined educational campaigns and ensuring that adequate funding and transportation were provided for research purposes and conveying the nuts from farming centres to processing areas.
PARTICIPANTS in a stakeholders meeting on unleashing the potentials of the shea nut industry have called for effective collaboration between research institutions, universities and farming groups to fully tap the potential of the crop.
They noted, for instance, that issues such as reducing the gestation period of the plant and enforcing bye-laws against indiscriminate bush burning in order to protect the shea nut trees were critical to the survival of the industry.
The participants were drawn from farming groups, research institutions and the Produce Buying Company (PBC).
The meeting was aimed at sharing findings of a report on “unleashing the shea potentials” with stakeholders. It was also to initiate a broad-base campaign on shea, as well as facilitate a platform for progressive discussions on the industry.
The Ghana Trade Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) organised the event.
The Deputy Executive Director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana at Akyem Tafo in the Eastern Region, Dr Francis Kofi Oppong, emphasised the need for “domestication of the shea tree with the view to reducing its gestation period.”
According to him, one of the mandates of the Cocoa Research Institute was to help reduce the gestation period of the plant and commended the University for Development Studies (UDS) for making giant strides in that area.
Presenting key findings of the report, the Coordinator of the GTLC, Mr Ibrahim Akalbila, stated that the document revealed serious challenges in research for improved varieties, inconsistent policy for the sector, difficulties of picking and processing by women groups and inadequate shea value chain.
He said other problems that had bedevilled the industry included low and fluctuating pricing, decades of neglect by policy makers, especially government, widespread suspicion and mistrust among actors in the system, as well as inadequate information on the plant.
“The industry is a very vibrant one though little has been done in terms of policy, research and support to boost it. It could help eradicate poverty and improve the livelihoods of people in northern Ghana," Mr Akalbila further stated.
He suggested, among other things, the need to “domesticate the plant while ensuring that pickers and processors were provided with equipment.”
The co-ordinator further stressed the need for clearly defined educational campaigns and ensuring that adequate funding and transportation were provided for research purposes and conveying the nuts from farming centres to processing areas.
SAVELUGU-NANTON TO BECOME INDUSTRIAL HUB OF NR (PAGE 43, JUNE 21, 2010)
Story: Vincent Amenuveve, Savelugu
THE Savelugu-Nanton District is to become one of the industrial hubs of northern Ghana by 2025. The district, which is located along the Tamale-Bolgatanga road, is about 15 minutes drive from the Northern Regional capital, Tamale.
The strategic location of the district and its nearness to the Tamale Airport requires that the area be face-lifted to contribute to the industrial growth of the region.
To that effect, the district has been selected as one of the six pilot areas for the implementation of the new planning system for Ghana. Under the 15-year Spatial Development Framework (SDF) of the district, the area would become the spatial planning element of Medium Term Development Plans (MTDPs) aligned with regional and national planning policies.
Under the programme, stakeholders including developers, government, utility companies, communities and individuals will help create a congenial atmosphere for accelerated development of the district.
The present policy of concentrating support on existing villages, diversifying agriculture from traditional methods in order to provide food security and providing basic village levels of infrastructure, health and education, is the basis for the initial period of the plan which covers five years.
Efforts will be concentrated on better road access to villages rather than regional connectivity or urban infrastructure.
In the next five years, the district’s development will be focused on making the area attractive to large-scale investors by ensuring that large tracts of land are available for investment. Already, Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC) has invested huge resources in mango cultivation in the district.
there are plans to establish food processing, packaging and distribution facilities at Savelugu.
Additionally, higher education and research for this type of agriculture will be expanded at Pong-Tamale.
Under the SDF, settlements such as Gushie, Diare and Pong-Tamale will be supported to grow to accommodate the increasing wage-based and more job-secured population.
At a recent workshop at Savelugu to inaugurate a draft paper on the SDF, the International Planning Expert, Dr Christopher Cripps said 90 per cent of the working population in Savelugu is engaged in agriculture with about 70 per cent being subsistence farmers.
According to him, commercial farmers constituted the remaining 30 per cent of the farmers with farm sizes between 20 and 120 acres per farm.
Dr Cripps further stated that agro-processing constituted the main industrial activity in the district and includes sheanut processing, groundnuts processing, cotton ginnery and rice processing. Others are carpentry, blacksmithing, dressmaking and fish processing.
He stated that trading and service activities employed only three per cent of the economically active population. This includes public servants and petty traders.
The expert mentioned a number of challenges that the SDF was expected to address.
They are low household incomes and food insecurity, high illiteracy rate and lack of education generally among the working population.
Emerging urban settlements such as Savelugu and Pong-Tamale are unplanned with little or no infrastructure. Other development challenges include high youth unemployment, high level of unskilled labour, unhealthy environmental conditions, lack of coverage of electricity in half of the communities in the district and dilapidated school and health facilities.
Dr Cripps further stated that such issues as reducing the percentage of households that run out of food by the second quarter of the year needed to be critically examined during the implementation of the SDF.
“There is the need to increase electricity coverage to 80 per cent of the district as well as improve feeder roads and extend fixed line services to the district,” he said.
According to him, access to potable water and sanitation facilities needed to be increased while making sure that all the six Area Councils were operational.
The Project Manager, Mr Alistair Blunt stated that there were major problems facing land use and spatial planning in the country.
He said the Land Use Planning Law was out-of-date based on the Town Planning Ordinance of 1945( Cap 84).
He said planning authorities were under-resourced, saying 69 out of 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) had professional land use and spatial planners.
Other challenges include poor linkage between planning and registration of plots, lack of a linkage between social and economic development policies and spatial plans, lack of adequate and up-to-date base maps.
Mr Blunt said the overall objective of the Land Use Planning and Management Project was to help the growth of the Ghanaian economy through the revival and modernisation of an effective land use planning and management system that facilitates the implementation of spatial and land use plans.
THE Savelugu-Nanton District is to become one of the industrial hubs of northern Ghana by 2025. The district, which is located along the Tamale-Bolgatanga road, is about 15 minutes drive from the Northern Regional capital, Tamale.
The strategic location of the district and its nearness to the Tamale Airport requires that the area be face-lifted to contribute to the industrial growth of the region.
To that effect, the district has been selected as one of the six pilot areas for the implementation of the new planning system for Ghana. Under the 15-year Spatial Development Framework (SDF) of the district, the area would become the spatial planning element of Medium Term Development Plans (MTDPs) aligned with regional and national planning policies.
Under the programme, stakeholders including developers, government, utility companies, communities and individuals will help create a congenial atmosphere for accelerated development of the district.
The present policy of concentrating support on existing villages, diversifying agriculture from traditional methods in order to provide food security and providing basic village levels of infrastructure, health and education, is the basis for the initial period of the plan which covers five years.
Efforts will be concentrated on better road access to villages rather than regional connectivity or urban infrastructure.
In the next five years, the district’s development will be focused on making the area attractive to large-scale investors by ensuring that large tracts of land are available for investment. Already, Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC) has invested huge resources in mango cultivation in the district.
there are plans to establish food processing, packaging and distribution facilities at Savelugu.
Additionally, higher education and research for this type of agriculture will be expanded at Pong-Tamale.
Under the SDF, settlements such as Gushie, Diare and Pong-Tamale will be supported to grow to accommodate the increasing wage-based and more job-secured population.
At a recent workshop at Savelugu to inaugurate a draft paper on the SDF, the International Planning Expert, Dr Christopher Cripps said 90 per cent of the working population in Savelugu is engaged in agriculture with about 70 per cent being subsistence farmers.
According to him, commercial farmers constituted the remaining 30 per cent of the farmers with farm sizes between 20 and 120 acres per farm.
Dr Cripps further stated that agro-processing constituted the main industrial activity in the district and includes sheanut processing, groundnuts processing, cotton ginnery and rice processing. Others are carpentry, blacksmithing, dressmaking and fish processing.
He stated that trading and service activities employed only three per cent of the economically active population. This includes public servants and petty traders.
The expert mentioned a number of challenges that the SDF was expected to address.
They are low household incomes and food insecurity, high illiteracy rate and lack of education generally among the working population.
Emerging urban settlements such as Savelugu and Pong-Tamale are unplanned with little or no infrastructure. Other development challenges include high youth unemployment, high level of unskilled labour, unhealthy environmental conditions, lack of coverage of electricity in half of the communities in the district and dilapidated school and health facilities.
Dr Cripps further stated that such issues as reducing the percentage of households that run out of food by the second quarter of the year needed to be critically examined during the implementation of the SDF.
“There is the need to increase electricity coverage to 80 per cent of the district as well as improve feeder roads and extend fixed line services to the district,” he said.
According to him, access to potable water and sanitation facilities needed to be increased while making sure that all the six Area Councils were operational.
The Project Manager, Mr Alistair Blunt stated that there were major problems facing land use and spatial planning in the country.
He said the Land Use Planning Law was out-of-date based on the Town Planning Ordinance of 1945( Cap 84).
He said planning authorities were under-resourced, saying 69 out of 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) had professional land use and spatial planners.
Other challenges include poor linkage between planning and registration of plots, lack of a linkage between social and economic development policies and spatial plans, lack of adequate and up-to-date base maps.
Mr Blunt said the overall objective of the Land Use Planning and Management Project was to help the growth of the Ghanaian economy through the revival and modernisation of an effective land use planning and management system that facilitates the implementation of spatial and land use plans.
VRA DONATES SEEDLINGS FOR PLANTING ALONG RIVERS (PAGE 43, JUNE 21, 2010)
Story & picture: Vincent Amenuveve, Tamale
THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has donated 700 Mahogany seedlings to the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for planting along river banks in three districts in the region.
The gesture is part of the VRA’s efforts to support the presidential special awareness of sanitation in the region.
The seedlings are to be planted in the Central Gonja, Yendi and Saboba Districts to check erosion along water bodies.
Presenting the seedlings, the Principal Natural Resources Officer of the VRA, Mr George Bamfour Morris, stated that unless something urgent was done to prevent indiscriminate felling of trees along river banks, the Akosombo Dam might face crisis in the near future.
He stated that sand particles and filth which engulfed water bodies due to human activity was not good enough for the turbines that turn to generate power.
Mr Morris therefore stressed the need for rigid enforcement of bye-laws to protect the country’s water bodies, saying: “Communities must also be educated to plant more trees to protect our water resources.”
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbengba, who received the seedlings, called for intensive education campaign against indiscriminate tree felling and sand winning along river banks.
The Regional Co-ordinator of the President’s sanitation campaign, Mr Justice Joshua Dawuni, thanked the VRA for the support.
He bemoaned the rapid depletion of forest cover along river banks as a result of farming activities and appealed to other public-spirited organisations to support the campaign to protect water bodies.
* Picture: Mr Justice Dawuni (in smock), Mr George Morris (in black suit, middle) and Mr Moses Magbenba (left), jointly inspecting the 700 seedlings donated by the VRA.
THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has donated 700 Mahogany seedlings to the Northern Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) for planting along river banks in three districts in the region.
The gesture is part of the VRA’s efforts to support the presidential special awareness of sanitation in the region.
The seedlings are to be planted in the Central Gonja, Yendi and Saboba Districts to check erosion along water bodies.
Presenting the seedlings, the Principal Natural Resources Officer of the VRA, Mr George Bamfour Morris, stated that unless something urgent was done to prevent indiscriminate felling of trees along river banks, the Akosombo Dam might face crisis in the near future.
He stated that sand particles and filth which engulfed water bodies due to human activity was not good enough for the turbines that turn to generate power.
Mr Morris therefore stressed the need for rigid enforcement of bye-laws to protect the country’s water bodies, saying: “Communities must also be educated to plant more trees to protect our water resources.”
The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Magbengba, who received the seedlings, called for intensive education campaign against indiscriminate tree felling and sand winning along river banks.
The Regional Co-ordinator of the President’s sanitation campaign, Mr Justice Joshua Dawuni, thanked the VRA for the support.
He bemoaned the rapid depletion of forest cover along river banks as a result of farming activities and appealed to other public-spirited organisations to support the campaign to protect water bodies.
* Picture: Mr Justice Dawuni (in smock), Mr George Morris (in black suit, middle) and Mr Moses Magbenba (left), jointly inspecting the 700 seedlings donated by the VRA.
Friday, June 18, 2010
3 COMMUNITIES GET SOLAR-POWERED WATER SYSTEMS (PAGE 22, JUNE 18, 2010)
SOLAR-POWERED and electro-mechanised water supply systems have been inaugurated for three deprived communities in the Central Gonja District in the Northern Region.
The facilities valued at GH¢280,000 are fitted with transmission and distribution pipelines and located at Buipe, Kegbripe and Mpaha.
They were provided jointly by the European Union (EU) and the United Nation’s Education Fund (UNICEF) under the UNICEF’s Integrated Approach to Guinea Worm Eradication Through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Northern Region (I-WASH) programme.
The Central Gonja District Assembly, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and New Energy,a Tamale-based non-governmental organisation are the other partners of the project.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the Regional I-WASH Project Management Team Leader, Mr Gilbert Dery, stated that the facilities would ultimately help to prevent the outbreak of water borne diseases, particularly guinea worm.
He said last year,the Central Gonja District alone recorded 62 per cent of incidence of the guinea worm as against zero this year, and it was envisaged that the provision of such facilities would help forestall the recurrence of the disease.
He further explained that rehabilitation of the electro-mechanised Buipe Small Town Water Supply System was completed in 2006 with support from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) under the management of a seven-member Water and Sanitation Development Board.
According to him, the remaining two facilities at Kegbripe and Mpaha were solar powered.
The facilities will provide potable water to a total of 22,667 people with 6,700 of them being children in the three beneficiary communities.
“Prior to the installation of the water systems, the communities were relying on water from such unsafe sources as dams and dug dugouts,”Mr Dery stated.
The Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Mr Claude Maerten commended the district assembly and health authorities in the district for their efforts in eradicating guinea worm in the area.
“This is a real great achievement and I hope all partners involved in disease prevention and eradication would strengthen their ties towards achieving greater things in the area of disease management in the district,” Mr Maerten stressed.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory commended residents of the district for embracing and accepting the education programmes carried out by health authorities.
He, however, stressed the need for them to focus on sending their children to school, saying that was a big challenge in the area.
Dr Sory entreated residents of the beneficiary communities to maintain the facilities to enable them to derive maximum benefits from them.
The Central Gonja District Chief Executive, Mr Salisu Be-Awuribe, expressed gratitude to the EU and UNICEF for the intervention.
According to him, the district’s water coverage was about 36 per cent due to the low water table in the area.
Mr Be-Awuribe explained that although the district was endowed with the Black and White Volta that passed through the area, access to potable water had been the greatest challenge due to the huge capital investment required to provide potable water using such sources.
The EU head accompanied by his entourage, including Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, the UNICEF Country Representative, visited the Guinea worm case containment centre at Fufulso and also inspected a household water filtration and treatment plant.
The District Co-ordinator of guinea worm eradication programme, Mr Sulemana Ibrahim, stated that between January and December, last year, Fufulso recorded 148 cases of guinea worm as against zero this year.
The facilities valued at GH¢280,000 are fitted with transmission and distribution pipelines and located at Buipe, Kegbripe and Mpaha.
They were provided jointly by the European Union (EU) and the United Nation’s Education Fund (UNICEF) under the UNICEF’s Integrated Approach to Guinea Worm Eradication Through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Northern Region (I-WASH) programme.
The Central Gonja District Assembly, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and New Energy,a Tamale-based non-governmental organisation are the other partners of the project.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, the Regional I-WASH Project Management Team Leader, Mr Gilbert Dery, stated that the facilities would ultimately help to prevent the outbreak of water borne diseases, particularly guinea worm.
He said last year,the Central Gonja District alone recorded 62 per cent of incidence of the guinea worm as against zero this year, and it was envisaged that the provision of such facilities would help forestall the recurrence of the disease.
He further explained that rehabilitation of the electro-mechanised Buipe Small Town Water Supply System was completed in 2006 with support from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) under the management of a seven-member Water and Sanitation Development Board.
According to him, the remaining two facilities at Kegbripe and Mpaha were solar powered.
The facilities will provide potable water to a total of 22,667 people with 6,700 of them being children in the three beneficiary communities.
“Prior to the installation of the water systems, the communities were relying on water from such unsafe sources as dams and dug dugouts,”Mr Dery stated.
The Head of the EU Delegation in Ghana, Mr Claude Maerten commended the district assembly and health authorities in the district for their efforts in eradicating guinea worm in the area.
“This is a real great achievement and I hope all partners involved in disease prevention and eradication would strengthen their ties towards achieving greater things in the area of disease management in the district,” Mr Maerten stressed.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Elias Sory commended residents of the district for embracing and accepting the education programmes carried out by health authorities.
He, however, stressed the need for them to focus on sending their children to school, saying that was a big challenge in the area.
Dr Sory entreated residents of the beneficiary communities to maintain the facilities to enable them to derive maximum benefits from them.
The Central Gonja District Chief Executive, Mr Salisu Be-Awuribe, expressed gratitude to the EU and UNICEF for the intervention.
According to him, the district’s water coverage was about 36 per cent due to the low water table in the area.
Mr Be-Awuribe explained that although the district was endowed with the Black and White Volta that passed through the area, access to potable water had been the greatest challenge due to the huge capital investment required to provide potable water using such sources.
The EU head accompanied by his entourage, including Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, the UNICEF Country Representative, visited the Guinea worm case containment centre at Fufulso and also inspected a household water filtration and treatment plant.
The District Co-ordinator of guinea worm eradication programme, Mr Sulemana Ibrahim, stated that between January and December, last year, Fufulso recorded 148 cases of guinea worm as against zero this year.
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