New Patriotic Party Parliamentary candidate for Navrongo central constituency, Joseph Kofi Adda has said it is a shame for the Irrigation Company Of Upper Region Ltd, (ICOUR) to be gradually folding up although the Act that established the company automatically made the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mark Woyongo the board chairman who superintended the activities of the company when he was the regional minister.
Irrigation Company of Upper Region Ltd. (ICOUR) is a Ghana Government organization established to promote the production of food crops by small scale farmers and manage the irrigation scheme. The organization has suffered greater loses and has seen most of its staff sacked leaving behind just a few administrative figures.
But speaking to a1radioonline.com, the former Member of Parliament mentioned that the inability of the company to flourish although it was under the watch of the current Member of Parliament for Navrongo central constituency, Hon. Mark Woyongo betrays the incompetence and insincerity on the part of Mark Woyongo and his NDC government.
“The fact that Woyongo was a regional minister and by the enabling Act that set up the company, Mark was a Chairman of the Board. To sit and superintend over this for four years and not be able to add one tractor or one combine harvester to the ICOUR Company or to initiate anything beyond the rehabilitation of the canal that I have done is something that betrays the incompetence and the insincerity of Mark Woyongo and his NDC government.”
He noted that the company is the backbone of Northern Ghana and it was expected that much work would have been done there to help it improve the lives of the people who are mainly into agriculture.
“This is the backbone of Northern Ghana in terms of agriculture and much needed to be done about it but for Mark to be a board chairman, minister and MP and to sit and watch all workers to be laid off for over a year is very worrying.”
The former minister of energy blamed the ‘death’ of the company on the Board and Senior Managers of the company adding that Hon. Mark Woyongo does not have the moral right to tell the people of Navrongo that he wants to represent them after superintending the failure of ICOUR.
Hon. Kofi Addah bemoaned the state of workers of the company and the buildings which are going waste as a result of the failure of Hon. Mark Woyongo to ensure its success.
The former Member of Parliament promised a review of the company under his tenure in order to make life better for the people of Navrongo calling on them to join the campaign for change.
FARMERS BEMOAN UNAVAILABILITY OF RICE HARVESTERS
Meanwhile rice farmers in the Tono rice enclave in the Kasena Nankana Municipality are calling on government to intervene to provide farmers with farm implements and subsidies to help arrest post-harvest losses.
According to them, the unavailability of basic farm implements and modern technology has over the years been a worry to farmers who make mild returns at the end of every rice harvest.
They noted that the availability of farm implements and modern technology such as combine harvesters to farmers will not only aid in the swift preparation of farmland and planting but will also play a key role in ensuring that harvesting is swift to avoid their produce from losing its value.
By: Offei-Akoto Ayeh/A1RADIOONLINE.COM/GHANA
