CHANGE OF GOVT WON'T AFFECT SADA (PAGE 42, DEC 22, 2010)

THE Development Policy Advisor at the Office of the Vice President, Dr Sulley Gariba, has observed that the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) has come to stay.
He stated that the basic components of SADA and its objectives would not be affected by the continuous change in government in the years to come.
Dr Gariba was reacting to concerns from some technical experts in Tamale to the effect that SADA must have a sustainable plan to ensure continuity of the programmes for the benefit of the people in northern Ghana.
He made the observation at a three-day technical roundtable conference on flood mitigation and development programme for Northern Savannah organised under the auspices of SADA.
More than 40 experts drawn from the Water Resources the Commission, the Volta River Authority, the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, Institution of Engineers, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the University for Development Studies, Community Water and Sanitation Agency, district assemblies and regional co-ordinating councils in northern Ghana attended the conference.
Selected media practitioners also participated in the discussion, which was designed to review existing strategies for integrated water resources management and flood control, define long-term strategies for converting flood waters into productive uses.
The conference followed an urgent call from the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, on technical experts to convene and provide the government with a long-term solution to the flooding in northern Ghana.
Dr Gariba further stated that although the nomenclature of SADA might change from “time to time and from regime to regime, its basic thrust will remain the same”.
He said political commitment towards the successful implementation of SADA “was a tricky matter” but stressed that demands from entire citizenry, particularly those from the northern Ghana, would put governments on their toes in the years ahead.
Touching on funding for SADA implementation, he stated that there were three-pronged approaches, including regular budgetary allocation to the sector, donor and private sector funding and the proposition of a formula for funding under a law that was yet to be promulgated to help charge levies on petroleum products for the SADA funding.
The SADA Technical Team Leader, Dr Charles Jebuni, said the SADA was meant to provide additional funding to supplement the regular budgetary allocations to relevant institutions, including ministries and departments.
“SADA is not meant to reduce these budgetary allocations to the various sectors; it has been given the mandate to facilitate development in northern savannah”, Dr Jebuni stressed.
According to him, SADA was meant to address three main issues, namely, bridging the gap between northern and southern Ghana, long-term adaptation to climate changes and short-term development and security.