SO FAR, SO GOOD
… Says Okudzeto Ablakwa
Posted:The Chronicle | Friday, September 11, 2009
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
The Mills administration has assured Ghanaians that it is on course to fixing the broke economy left for them by the previous administration. A Deputy Minister of Information, Okudzeto Ablakwa told a news conference in Accra yesterday, that “the better Ghana we promised is on course to be delivered.”
Ablakwa, who was commenting on the achievements of the government, noted that they were proceeding slowly, but steadily. “We will fulfill our promises to the people of Ghana, despite the present economic difficulties,” he said.
The Deputy Minister indicated that the government had managed to engage a sizeable number of the country’s teeming youth in the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP) it promised in its manifesto.
According to him, over 300 of these organised youth, who are working on the Block Farm Concept (BFC) deployed at Damongo in the West Gonja District, have cultivated a total of 1,440 hectares of land.
1,200 hectares of the land is said to have been used to cultivate maize, whilst 200 hectares has been used to cultivate rice, with the remaining 40 hectares used for Soya bean cultivation.
In all this, he said, those involved did not have to put in a pesewa up till this stage, since the government provided them with tractors to plough the land, while seedlings, fertilisers and pesticides were also supplied.
In order to sustain the programme, he indicated that the various groups were required to pay the input costs after harvesting.
This, according to him, had created jobs for the inhabitants, including holiday jobs for school pupils who have been engaged to administer fertilisers, weed the farms, and provide other services.
Mr. Okudzato said a similar programme had also been rolled out in the Komenda, Potsin in Gomoa West, Gomoa East and Agona East areas of the Central Region, stressing that a total of 100 hectares had been ploughed in Komenda and ready for planting, 30 hectares in Gomoa West, 72 hectares in Gomoa East, and 40 hectares in Agona East.
When the programme becomes fully operational across the country, the Minister said a total of 14,000 hectares of land would have been cultivated, thereby creating more than 20,000 job opportunities periodically.
For this reason, the government is said to have made provision for an amount of GH¢10.7 million, looking forward to the programme offering tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs to not only the youth, but the general public.
The Northern, Upper East and West, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Central and Volta regions have been slated to benefit from the programme when it finally becomes fully operational. To enable the Mills administration realise its objective of food security and reducing poverty drastically, as promised on page 51 of the NDC’s ‘Better Ghana’ manifesto, Mr. Ablakwa said the government had taken the issue of irrigation development very serious, since agric contributes 35% of the country’s GDP, and employs some 60% the people.
The government thus intends to complete the required feasibility study and detailed designs for the first phase of 5,000 hectares under the Accra Plains Irrigation Project, by the end of this end of this year, to enable it to undertake the project.
Furthermore, the government is said to be rehabilitating 70 breached dams in the three regions of the north.
When completed, these dams are expected to put 360 hectares of land under irrigation. These areas can engage in dry season farming, with its attendant economic and social benefits to the people and the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, the government is currently sourcing for funds for the construction of two fishing harbours and 12 landing sites, at a total cost of $200 million.
In addition to these interventions, which are aimed at addressing the challenges of safety and post harvest losses, the government intends to build six cold stores in selected fishing communities, with a €7million loan facility from the Spanish government.
In order to effectively patrol and protect the country’s marine domain, two out some six patrol boats, which are being acquired for the Ghana Navy, are expected in December 2009, to augment their fleet.
The two boats, which have been paid for already, are expected to help the Ghana Navy enforce the country’s fisheries laws, and also protect its fishermen who have suffered from heavy lights thrown at sea by big trawlers, and the activities of pair trawlers.
The government has also offered farmers a 50% subsidy on fertilisers, as a result of which GH¢10 million has been released to support the subsidy payment, with the hope that this would contribute to the expected expansion in agricultural production.
The Deputy Minister cautioned those he described as ‘nation-wreckers,’ who had started making plans to smuggle the fertilisers bought at subsidized rates across the borders, that the security agencies are on high alert at all entry and exit posts, and ready to arrest and prosecute anyone caught in the act.
On the issue of narcotics drugs, Mr. Ablakwa said, “I am happy to report to the people of Ghana, that President John Atta Mills is on course to redeeming his campaign pledge that he will not allow this country to be turned into a haven for the narcotics trade.”
In furtherance of the NDC’s pledge, and the President’s personal commitment to the fight against drugs, he emphasised that the NDC government had initiated very effective and practical steps towards dealing with the drug menace.
According to him, the government was not only demonstrating the required political will, but also implementing very key strategies and measures aimed at combating the very disturbing drug problems it inherited as a government.
These measures, he said, include skills training, exposure to modern techniques in fighting narcotic drugs, and steps to transform the Narcotics Control Board into an autonomous commission, are yielding very positive results that Ghanaians are generally very proud of.