Unity is essential for development - President Mills

Asankragwa (W/R), May 20, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday called on Ghanaians to bury their differences and unite to enable development to take place unhindered. He made the call when addressing separate durbars at Asankragwa, Asawinso, Juabeso and Sefwi Essam during his three-day official visit to the Western Region. President Mills asked the people to rally behind their Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives and Assembly members to enable them to deliver on developmental needs. He said disunity would not benefit the country and could erode development achievements so far chalked.

President Mills said his government had developed various sectors of the economy in the past two years but there were more development projects in the pipeline. Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, said the distribution of free school uniforms to pupils of basic schools would be decentralized in 2012. He said the materials for the uniforms would be given to the assemblies, who would have them sown by local tailors and distributed in cooperation with assembly members. He said the decentralization was to make possible for more pupils in deprived communities to benefit.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the School Feeding Programme would also be re-packaged for children in deprived communities. He said about 7,100 children were benefitting from the programme and the number would increase to about 9,000 after the re-packaging. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said his Ministry was undertaking studies on the re-demarcation of some districts and make recommendations to government. He said his Ministry was also carrying a study on newly created districts with a view to assisting them to stand on their own feet. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said people with disability were now being catered for under the District Assemblies Common Fund. Mr Joe Gidiso, Minister of Roads and Highways, assured the people that the region would receive its fair share of road development projects. He said the region had been earmarked for projects under government and donor funding, mainly from China and Dutch Governments.

Mr Gidiso said projects to be undertaken alongside the upgrading and tarring of roads included construction of bridges. He said the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) had made funds available to the Government for road projects in cocoa growing areas to facilitate the transporting of cocoa to buying centres and to open up the areas. The President inspected the progress of work on the ultra modern Tarkwa Municipal Hospital, Dadieso Clinic, Enchi-Dadieso Road and the Asankragwa-Enchi Road. He also cut the sod for commencement of work on the construction of a girls' dormitory at the Bia Secondary Technical School and commissioned a classroom block for the Sefwi Bodi Senior High School.