President John Dramani Mahama has described the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam Project as a crime scene that the government will focus some attention on.
Addressing chiefs and people of the Upper East Region on his ‘Thank you Tour’ of the Upper East Region, President Mahama described the project as a crime scene where the immediate past government spent almost 12 million dollars on the project, without any significant work to show.
The Pwalugu multi-purpose dam project has been on the drawing board for decades without any significant work on the ground. The immediate past government led by Nana Akufo Addo cut sod for the construction of the dam in November 2019, however, nothing much was done at the construction site.
President Mahama said: “Transformational projects, which were designed over the years to speed up development and livelihoods in the North, have been used for petty partisan electoral point scoring opportunity, and have largely remained abandoned.
Indeed, a clear case in this point is the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam, a project which was designed to produce about 110 megawatts of hydro and solar hybrid power, to bring thousands of hectares of land under irrigation, and also serve as a way for flood control on the White Volta River.
The sod was cut by the previous administration just before the 2020 elections, with a lot of fanfare and jubilation. Unfortunately, the project stands abandoned and has indeed become a crime scene, with almost 12 million dollars of taxpayers’ money paid without any tangible work done.
This is one of the hundreds of cases the Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, is studying as part of the government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) policy.”
President John Dramani Mahama has therefore assured the people of the Upper East Region that the project will be executed during his tenure as president of Ghana
“I have asked the Finance Minister to commence a re-scoping of the project and re-evaluation of its various phases for inclusion into our Big Push Infrastructure Financing Program.” The president noted.
Touching on other infrastructural needs of the region, the president said the Northern part of Ghana has vast arable lands and favorable conditions for agriculture, which holds immense potential to become a food security and agro-industrial hub for Ghana and the West African sub-region.
The president mentioned that he is prioritizing targeted investments in irrigation, agro-processing, and rural infrastructure to create sustainable economic opportunities that transform livelihoods and reverse decades of marginalization in the northern part of Ghana.
“It is necessary for us to unlock Ghana’s full economic potential by ensuring that every region contributes at its fullest capacity to national development. In pursuit of these objectives, I have asked the Minister of Finance to fast-track efforts to unlock funds for stalled infrastructural projects in the Upper East Region, recognizing not only the region’s strategic role in Ghana’s quest for agriculture and industrial transformation but also the need to bridge the developmental gap.
One of our top priorities will be the completion of the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Pulmakum Road. A critical route that will boost trade and improve access to markets for farmers and businesses. We will also commence the resurfacing of the Tamale-Bolgatanga-Paga Road, which is currently in a very poor condition. Other priority road projects will be, to link Bolgatanga, to the Upper West Region. We have also selected as a strategic road, the Navrongo-Sandema-Fumbisi-Daboya Road.” President Mahama revealed.
Spokesperson for the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Nangodi Traditional Area, Naba Yelzoya Kosom Asaga II, reminded President Mahama of his promise to complete the Upper East Regional Airport project when voted into office.
President Mahama in response said: “… I have also asked the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company, to commence the sourcing of funding for the construction of the Upper East Regional Airport. We intend to do this under a Private-Public Partnership model, in conjunction with the gold mining companies in this region, since this will allow them to also airlift their gold bullion safely to Accra, directly from the Upper East Region.”
From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga