Government to construct more irrigation dams in the Upper East Region

Government has prioritised the construction of irrigation dams as the panacea to rural-urban drift and to create more jobs for the teeming youth of the Upper East Region, says Vice President John Dramani Mahama.

He said while government was seeking financial backing for the projects, the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in partnership with other domestic and international partners would also undertake some of the projects.

Vice President Mahama made this known when he called on Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, Bawku Naba on his way to inaugurate some development projects at the Garu Tempane District.

He mentioned the Sisili, Kulkpong, Pwalugu and the Tamde irrigation projects as some of the projects government was undertaking feasibility studies for construction in the succeeding years.

The Vice President said, agriculture would serve as a major component in the implementation of the SADA programme, and called on the beneficiary regions to take advantage of the facility to better their lot and to create a food buffer zone for the country.

On the Bawku-Bolgatanga road, Vice President Mahama promised that government would in the interim work on 25 kilometres of the facility before the Eastern corridor road project construction got to the area.

He commended the people of Bawku for maintaining peace in Bawku for months now; adding “Government will continue to provide the necessary conditions that will ensure long lasting peace in this part of the country.”

Naba Azoka commended government for creating two new districts for Bawku and its environs, which he said would accelerate the development of the area.

He appealed to government to work on roads that were in a deplorable state and provide the people with irrigation dams that would encourage farming and sustain the incomes of the youth in the area.**