Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says all the necessary plans have been put in place to roll out the One-Village, One-Dam Project next year, as promised by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 2016 campaign season.
He said construction works would go ahead which would provide all-year round water for irrigation and enhance agriculture productivity and net export of foodstuffs.
The government has earmarked GH¢94.5 million in the 2018 Budget for the implementation of the project in the three regions of the North.
Vice President Bawumia, who said this at the opening of the Regional Ministers’ Conference in Kumasi at the weekend, noted that it was the government’s fervent desire to roll out the project not for political convenience but due to its critical role in the development of agriculture.
He said the agriculture sector is key to national development because “it is the engine of growth to move our economy beyond aid.”
Vice President Bawumia said it was fundamental to boost agriculture productivity so as to achieve sustainable industrial and agribusiness growth for wealth and job creation.
“Government has placed renewed emphasis on the agriculture sector, pumping in much resource to facilitate rapid integration to global and regional value chains,” he said.
The Vice President said the Akufo-Addo-led administration had worked assiduously to lay a solid foundation for rapid development of the country.
He mentioned programmes such as the Digital Property Addressing System, E-registration of drivers’ licence and vehicles, and plans for the issuance of National Identity cards to Ghanaians, which would formalise the economy and create avenues for revenue generation.
Land title registration would also be digitised next year to enhance the registration of lands and avert protracted land litigations, Dr Bawumia said.
He said since the country’s independence, there had been tremendous efforts by successive governments to develop the nation, therefore the current administration would consolidate the gains made so far.
Ghana is currently classified as a middle-income country based on certain economic indicators such as the country’s per capita income, Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Income.
However, the Vice President said all those economic indicators would remain meaningless if it does not reflect in the lives of the people.
It is against this backdrop that the government is striving to lay a solid foundation for rapid development, he said.
“It is the vision of the Akufo-Addo-led government to develop Ghana beyond aid by galvanising stakeholders, including regional ministers, metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives, and coordinating councils to build the necessary infrastructure that would sustain economic growth and reduce poverty,” Vice President Bawumia said.
GNA