YIRIMEA INSPECTS ROAD WORKS IN UPPER EAST REGION (D/G Monday September 1, 2008 PAGE 36)

A Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Alhaji Awudu Ahmed Yirimeah, has embarked on an inspection tour of some feeder roads under construction in the Upper East Region.
These roads were destroyed by last year's floods and were awarded on contract under a programme known as the Northern Floods Reconstruction Programme(NFRP) being executed under the Community-Based Rural Development Programme (CBRDP).
Alhaji Yirimeah, who was accompanied by the national coordinator of the CBRDP, Mr Matthew Brown Oppong, inspected some roads in the Bawku West, Builsa and Bongo districts in the region.
As a result of last year's floods, which killed several people, washed away livestock, and destroyed houses and other infrastructure, the Government of Ghana, through funding from the International Development Association and Agence Française de Developpment and the World Bank, initiated a programme towards the reconstruction of public infrastructure destroyed by floods in the three northern regions.
In all, 29 districts were selected and monies allocated for work to commence on some feeder roads. The works include reconstruction of damaged culverts.
At Bongo, the district chief executive, Mr Francis Asampana, who took the deputy minister round to inspect work of the 2.5 kilometre Dua-Apowongo road, said but for the timely intervention by the government, the Apawungo community would have been inaccessible.
He commended the government for the efforts to get the project carried out in the district.
He disclosed that the recent rains had washed off culverts along three other roads at Balungu and expressed the hope that the government and other development partners would go to the aid of the district.
He commended the CBRDP for assisting the district to construct two markets at Zorko and Beo to boost economic activities in the district and shore up its locally generated funds.
He hinted that the assembly had set aside part of its share of the Common Fund to attend to emergency need in the event of floods in the districts this year.
In a related development, Alhaji Yirimeah has underscored the need for District Assemblies to generate substantial income locally to enhance the pace of development.
He said the continuous dependence on the District Assemblies Common Fund to support development was not the best, stressing that institution of the fund was to complement funds generated locally.
He said in the past, assemblies were generating more funds to finance their development programmes but now it was the reverse and wondered how assemblies would perform if the common funds should cease to flow in.
At Zebilla, the DCE for the area, Mr Desmond Bugbilla, told the team that last year's floods resulted in the damage of most roads, cutting off links with the district capital.
He also said most contractors had cited the lack of funds for the delay in the execution of the contract.
Responding, Alhaji Yirimeah rejected the claim, stressing that under the NFRP, any contractor who completed work and submitted his or her certificates was paid without delay.
"No contractor is justified to use the delay in payment as an excuse for the delay in the execution of any contract. As far as the CBRDP is concerned, the money is paid for every work done," he said.