A few weeks ago, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia launched the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) project to tackle conflict from the Sahel, reduce vulnerability to climate change, and strengthen local institutions, economic opportunities, and public trust.
The rationale behind the project, according to the Vice President, was a result of surging conflicts including terrorism in the sub-regions which affect lives and the Ghanaian economy.
“It focuses mostly on border communities in regions where the citizenry especially women and the youth are exposed and are susceptible to the threat of terrorism from the Sahel region. The project focuses on dealing with issues relating to fragility, conflict, and violence”, he stated.
Dr. Bawumia said this when he launched the 5-year SOCO project in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The US$150 million credit facility project is from the World Bank International Development Association (IDA) and will be disbursed to 48 districts in Upper East, North East, Upper West, Northern, Savannah, and Oti regions.
In line with that, the Bolgatanga Municipality is expected to receive Ghc4 million in the first year of the project. According to Rex Asanga, the Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, it is expected by very early in 2023, the first tranche of the funds would hit the accounts of the Assembly.
A healthy portion of this would be allocated for the rehabilitation of the Dorongo Dam.
“We are going to put this Ghc4 million into a number of projects. The Dorongo dam would be rehabilitated. The dam has been heavily silted. It was used for irrigation farming by all the communities around. The people have been complaining about that, especially the chief. Each time we go there, the Dorongo people, that’s the song they sing. When this project came up, while doing the community engagements, it came up again. I thought that for the people of Dorongo, that would be a major economic boost,” he said.
The rehabilitation of the dam would however happen in phases. Mr. Asanga explained that when an engineer from the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) was sent to conduct studies on the dam and what it would cost to rehabilitate it, it came to light that an entire rehabilitation would cost the Assembly Ghc1.8 million.
Therefore, the Assembly would commit Ghc500,000 to the rehabilitation of the dam until such a time when it is completed.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
