Government has announced that one of its flagship projects, the ‘One-Village, One-Dam,’ will fully start this year.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who made this known yesterday in Parliament while delivering the State of the Nation Address, said though the project is a simple, low-tech project, the dams would “make a big difference to all our lives and the livelihoods of our farmers.”
“Already, many of the little dams that had been abandoned have been rehabilitated and brought back into use. A deliberate and specific intervention to help farmers is paying off. Our farmers can see that the government is putting resources to back up the usual words. The 50 percent subsidy on fertilizer and the increase in the provision of extension services are making a great difference to the performance of Ghanaian agriculture.”
Planting for Food and Jobs
Under this scheme, he said Ghanaians were witnessing a fresh interest in farming, disclosing that the success of the first-year had encouraged government to increase the scope of the programme.
He added that this year, some half a million farmers would be signed on up from the figure of 200,000.
Fisheries
Touching on fisheries, he said his administration had identified 100 dams in five regions across the country – Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Volta and Western – and stocked them with fingerlings.
This is the start of big things to come.
Tourism
“We are building a Ghana, where tourists will feel at home, and we shall feel proud when they say “I was in Ghana.” On December 15, 2017, I joined the chiefs and people of Osu and Gbese to cut the sod for the 241-acre Accra Marine Drive Project.
“This project, during construction and upon completion, will generate thousands of jobs for the local community and across the value chain, and position Ghana as a key tourism destination.”
Economic formalization
President Akufo-Addo said that the start of the digital address system, introduction of paperless transactions at the country’s ports, the rapid and continuing spread of broadband services are all helping to formalise and modernise Ghana’s economy.
“Subsequent to Cabinet approval, the framework agreement between Ghana and the Republic of Mauritius for an initial investment in the development of a technology park in Dawa, in the Greater Accra Region has been ratified by Parliament for implementation to begin.
“Unfortunately and predictably, a whole new set of dangers of cyber insecurity and fraud have emerged with these modern tools.”
He said his administration was working to strengthen cyber security to build confidence and protect the use of electronic communications in national development, and ensure that Ghana’s young technologically savvy people would keep the country firmly in the exciting IT economy and its many opportunities.
By Samuel Boadi