NPP says President's tour is waste of resources

Koforidua, June 7, GNA - The Eastern Regional Secretariat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described the recent tour of President John Atta Mills of the region as waste of national resources. The NPP said the projects the President inaugurated could have been don= e by Municipal and District Chief Executives and that the tour was more of a propaganda and campaign towards the July congress of his party. Addressing a press conference in Koforidua on Monday the Estern Regiona= l Communication Officer of NPP, Mr Owusu Barfi, appealed to the President to stop the propaganda and prosecute programmes that address the fundamental issues of the time.

These include high rate of graduate unemployment, good jobs with good pay, industrialized economy, modernized agriculture and a modern integrated public transport system that links every corner of the country. Mr Baafi said the NDC had not executed any big projects within the two years in office and therefore had no stand in the political terrain of the region.

"We want to assure all NPP supporters and sympathizers that the party= is solid on the ground and that come 2012 we will deliver the region massively to the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo." he said. Mr Baafi said among the infrastructural development that were undertake= n by the NPP administration in the New Juaben Municipality included the construction of Koforidua Zongo roads, the Koforidua town roads, building o= f and rehabilitation of dilapidated school blocks, construction of Zongo market, Koforidua water project and fixing of numerous traffic lights. Mr Baafi challenged the NDC to show one single programme that it had been able to implement apart from the one they inherited from the NPP which include the National Youth Employment Programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme, Capitation Grant, Free Maternal Care and the School Feeding Programme.

"The people of Ghana need the NDC government to institute programmes that will address the little things that matter to us in our communities such as safe neighbourhoods, clean gutters, hygienic and affordable food, street with names, flowing tap water, reducing road traffic and accidents and making sure that law and order are adhered to." he maintained He accused the NDC government for neglecting the affordable housing projects started by the NPP on Koforidua Akwadum road and called on the government to continue and complete them.