Accra, Sept. 29, GNA - Mr Emmanuel Amah-Kofi Buah, Deputy Minister of Energy in-charge of Power, has appealed to the management of China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) to engage local professionals in the execution of a 170 million dollar project under the Self Help Electrification Programme (SHEP).

He said the appeal was in line with the NDC Government's local content policy which sought to empower indigenous Ghanaians and businesses in every sector of the economy and create employment for Ghanaian engineers and contractors. The appeal was made in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday and signed by Mr Gabby Asumin, Assistant Public Relations Officer of the Ministry.

It said Mr Buah, who is also Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, made the appeal during the 'kick-off' meeting with CWE, VRA and ECG towards the project.

The statement said under the project, about 800 communities throughout the country would be connected to the electricity grid and by 2020 the entire country would have universal access to reliable electricity supply.

Mr Xie Dahu, Country Director of CWE, assured the Ministry that the Corporation would execute the project in accordance with the specification and construction standards of the ECG and VRA and completed within the four year period.