President Akufo-Addo entering the durbar grounds at Nkwanta.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced the establishment of a Tree Crop Development Authority to boost trade.
He made the announcement at Nkwanta during his Oti Region tour where he has been commissioning, inspecting ongoing projects and cutting sod for more to commence.
The President explained that the authority when it takes off would transform the cultivation of cashew, rubber, palm oil and other tree crops into foreign exchange earners just like COCOBOD had done to cocoa over the years.
He said the Department of Feeder Roads was being equipped and well financed to improve farm roads as COCOBOD had done for cocoa roads.
The President, in a brief address, expressed gratitude to the people of Oti for having faith in him and his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He said although his promises in the run-up to the 2016 were branded as ‘lies’, the reality on the ground had proven that he was being true to his words.
Yielding Results
The Paramount Chief of the Akyode Traditional Area in the Nkwanta Municipality, Nana Obombo Sewura Lupuwura II, the host of the durbar in honour of the President, said the newly created region had started yielding the fruits of its creation.
Nana Lupuwura II, who spoke on behalf of the chiefs and people of the area, said by the creation of the region, the President had proven to be a man who walks his talk.
The chief expressed gratitude to the President for the ‘One District, One Warehouse’ project which he said had helped his people, who were mostly farmers, to make good use of their harvests.
Sod Cutting
After the durbar, the President cut sod for a two-storey Oti Regional Directorate of Food and Agriculture and two bungalows for personnel of the directorate; and the project is expected to be completed in eight months’ time.
Alan Kyeremanten, the Minister of Trade and Industry, assured the people that under the ‘One District, One Factory (1D1F)’ initiative, a cassava and yam processing factory was going to be established in Nkwanta.
Eastern Corridor Road
Roads Minister Kwasi Amoako-Atta said the government was putting measures to ensure new roads in the new regions were improved.
He said at Jasikan also in the Oti Region that ongoing works on the Eastern Corridor was not being constructed just for votes but rather a clear commitment by President Akufo-Addo towards completing the roads once and for all.
He announced that seven contractors had been put on the Eastern Corridor road from Asikuma to Damanko, all of whom were getting ready to move to site.
The Jasikan to Dodo Pepesu which is under the Sinohydro project and which sod-cutting was done by Vice-President Bawumia recently is being constructed. The €25.9 million European Union (EU) funded Dodo Pepesu to Nkwanta road constructed by Messrs Enterprise Oumarou Kanazoe Freres barely five years ago under the erstwhile NDC government was to be awarded this year for pothole patching and resealing of the entire stretch.
The 50-km Nkwanta to Sibi is being handled by China Jiangxi International Corporation while the 12km Sibi to Damanko is being handled by First Sky, an indigenous company.
The minister called on the media and the public to draw the attention of his ministry anytime it was evident the contractor had moved out of site.
He said per the brilliant advice of the President, the ministry, in collaboration with contractors, had devised a new model where contractors working on critical roads like the Eastern Corridor were paid a fixed amount to take care of recurrent expenditure while they await their bulk payments.
From Fred Duodu, Nkwanta (k.duodu@yahoo.com)