Wa Municipal Assembly solving water problem
Mr Duogu Yakubu, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, said that the assembly was sinking 19 boreholes to address the water problem in the area.
He said five of the boreholes would be mechanised and Busa and Charia communities would benefit from the small towns pipe water system.
Mr. Yakubu was addressing the Wa Municipal Assembly at its third ordinary session to dissolve the assembly since the four years mandated of its members has ended.
He said, Wa, which is the capital town of the Upper West Region depends on boreholes and mechanised systems for water.
Mr. Yakubu said government in 2008 initiated a special water project to provide boreholes for some rural communities in the municipality.
He said that some communities including Tagarayire, which was selected for the provision of boreholes, under the project, could not provide alternative drilling ground following the rejection of the first proposed site.
Mr. Yakubu said that the fate of 12 other communities hanged in the balance even though community animation services had been carried out under the project.
He said the Ghana Water Company, which won the contract to sink the boreholes, was yet to fulfill its part of the bargain, while other partners, Water Aid and Pronet had provided mechanised water system for Sawaba/Banungoma and boreholes for Tambleju and Tender Day Care areas.
On energy, Mr Yakubu said 186 wooden electricity poles had been replaced with galvanized aluminum poles.
He expressed disappointment about the improper functioning of the newly installed street lights in the Wa township.
Mr Yakubu said: “We have registered our displeasure on that and we have instructed the contractors to take immediate steps to rectify the anomaly”.
About infrastructure development in the municipality, Mr. Yakubu said the qualification of the assembly for the District Development Fund had enabled it to get 612,242.47 Ghana Cedis for projects.
He said 576,892.90 Ghana Cedis out of the amount would set aside for capital projects, including the provision of boreholes, the contraction of health facilities and classroom blocks in the communities and the remaining 35,349.56 Ghana Cedis would be used for capacity building.
Mr. Yakubu said the District Wide Assisted Programme, had supported the assembly with 250,000 Ghana Cedis, which would be used to provide classroom blocks, health facilities and the supply of 138 dual desks for schools and furniture for teachers.
Source: GNA
Women acknowledged as backbone of the fishing industry
The boss of a non-governmental organization has praised women for their contribution towards the growth of the fishing industry over the years.
Mr Kwadwo Yamoah Kyei, the Programmes Coordinator of Friends of the Nation an Environmental, recounted how women had contributed to the sector in terms of pre-financing men to go to sea, buying and selling the product and this had kept most of the coastal cities alive.
Mr Kyei said this in an interview with the GNA at the close of a one-day capacity workshop for journalists on governance issues and the right and responsibilities of stakeholders towards sustainable fishery resource management.
He said by their active engagement in the industry, women had contributed to poverty reduction, adding “the coastal woman can now put food on the table, and support in paying school fees and meet other needs of the family”.
Mr Kyei said the NGO, with support from the Overseas Development Institute, had put up programmes and activities aimed at managing the country’s ecosystem to generate long term socio-economic benefits to communities while sustaining biodiversity.
He noted that the NGO was also strengthening the capacity for fisheries compliance and enforcement in coastal communities as a means of solving the problem of depletion of fish stock.
Source: GNA
Protect wetlands for aquatic life to continue
Mr Kwadwo Yamoah Kyei, Programmes Coordinator, Friends of the Nation, a non-governmental organization, said on Monday that wetlands were not waste lands and they should be protected to ensure any pollution or destruction would endanger such species.
Mr Kyei was speaking at a day’s workshop organized by the NGO for journalists on governance issues in the fisheries sector as well as the fishery policy in the Western Region.
The workshop would also set the stage for the media to join in efforts to promote fishing and reducing poverty in coastal communities.
Mr Kyei said he was not happy that some wetlands had been converted into industrial sites and for other purposes adding, “such activities will definitely deplete the marine industry”.
He appealed to stakeholders in the marine industry to advocate and protect such water bodies to avert the level of depletion of fish stock.
Source: GNA