DON'T SPARE BAD CONTRACTORS (PAGE 20)

THE Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, has entreated implementers of the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) to deal swiftly with any contractor or consultant who would be found wanting in the execution of projects under the intervention.
He noted that the situation whereby “programme managers fail to take action regarding non-performance of contractors and consultants can no longer be tolerated, because it makes the region and for that matter the entire country lose valuable funds and time”.
Mr Nayina, who stated this in Tamale during the inauguration of the NRGP for the Northern Region, equally appealed to the programme managers to ensure that the highest qualified contractors and consultants were selected through the procurement processes to ensure that quality work was done on time.
The NRGP was aimed at increasing incomes and reducing poverty among farmers in rural communities of northern Ghana on a sustainable basis. The programme was earlier inaugurated by the Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, for the entire northern Ghana in Tamale in April this year.
The $104.34 million programme would benefit a total of 372,000 rural farming households in the Northern, Upper East and West and parts of the Brong Ahafo Region over an eight-year period. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is implementing it while the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the government, financial institutions and private investors are jointly funding the programme. Mr Nayina, however, pointed out that good-performing contractors should be commended and recommended and their information shared with other public institutions, stressing that the same should be done for the non-performing ones. The minister called for increased expansion in irrigation schemes to help modernise agriculture and ensure an all-year-round cultivation of crops by farmers.
The National Project Co-ordinator, Mr Roy Ayariga, emphasised that the NRGP would place emphasis on Water Resource Development and Management (WRDM) component of the programme. He further explained that water resource development was critical “for multi-purpose agriculture that holds the key to profitable agro-business and poverty reduction in the north”.
He intimated that under the WRDM, dams for irrigation purposes, fish farming and livestock, as well as water pumping schemes, would be provided to support beneficiary farmers.
Mr Ayariga indicated that on-farm water harvesting techniques to mitigate the effects of drought and floods in the rainy season would also be developed under the WRDM.
“The NRGP addresses the priorities of the government in pursuit of poverty reduction, bridging the north-south divide, women’s welfare and contributing to achieving the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals,” he stressed.
The co-ordinator announced that 800 kilometres of farm tracks, 600 kilometres of feeder roads, 270 culverts, 10 bridges and the upgrading of 348 kilometres of trunk roads would be done under the NRGP.
The Northern Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Mr Sylvester Adongo, hoped managers of the NRGP would form partnership with other programmes to provide the needed panacea to the poverty situation in the region. He noted that many residents in the region were still worried about the prevalence of poverty, ignorance and disease, in spite of the many interventions in the area.