More communities to be connected to National Grid

Kasoa (C/R), Jan. 15, GNA- One hundred and ten communities in the Central Region are to be connected to the national electricity grid by the end of June, this year.

The programme forms part of government's plan to provide power to 1,069 communities throughout the country this year. Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Energy announced this at a People's Assembly at Kasoa on Thursday. He has therefore, appealed to communities who have been earmarked for the programme to exercise restraint.

Dr Nduom was answering a question by Mr David Pobee, Assemblyman for Awutu-Bontrase/Bantama electoral area on the stalled Bontrase electrification project on which the state had already sunk nearly 800 million cedis.

Professor Dominic K. Fobih, Minister of Land and Forestry announced that the government would soon take inventory of all lands which had been vested in the state by Legislative Instrument to enable it take a concrete decision on them.

He stressed government's decision not to involve itself in land matters and advised traditional authorities with land dispute to strive to resolve such differences through dialogue without resorting to violent clashes.

Miss Christine Churcher, a Minister of State, in charge of Girl Child Education appealed to pensioners to exercise restraint on issues bordering their pay increases, adding that the NPP administration recognises the vital role both pensioners and workers in active service have been playing towards national development and was doing everything possible to make lives better for them.

She called for the co-operation and understanding of pensioners to support government policies.

Mrs Isaac Edumadze, Central Regional Minister and Captain Steve Kwamena Armah (Rtd), Awutu-Effutu-Senya District Chief Executive, highlighted on the development projects the NPP government had provided in the district and the region in general and assured people in the area of more of such projects this year.

On the creation of a separate district for people in the Awutu and the Senya Beraku Traditional Areas, Mr Edumadze said their request cannot be met now and asked them to allow government enough time to take appropriate decision on it.

He explained that the creation of a district involves money, adding that the government cannot at a go fulfil the request of various areas which have submitted their applications for the creation of separate administrative set-ups.

Earlier Mr Baba Lamin Abu-Sadat, former Member of Parliament for Awutu/Senya had commended the government for the commencement of the Mallam-Nyamoransa road and appealed to it to expedite action on the Kasoa water project to save the people from perennial water problem. He also asked the government to speed up plans to relocate the Kasoa Police Station, the clinic and the Electricity Company premises in the area, which have been affected by the reconstruction of Mallam-Kasoa road.

Nii Attoh Kofi III, Chairman of the Kasoa-Oboom branch of the GPRTU also commended the government for commencing rehabilitation work on the 28-kilometre Kasoa-Oboom road, which he said had been neglected for over 30 years.

He appealed to the government to ensure that contractors working on the road provide good quality job to avoid waste.

Among the major issues discussed at the assembly included poor sanitation at Kasoa, water, electricity and lack of access roads and poor planning of the fast developing commercial town.