Builsa South DCE to bridge development gap

Published in the Daily Graphic on Tuesday 08 OCTOBER 2013. Elizabeth Jane Afuic, one of the two female District Chief Executives (DCEs) in the Upper East Region, has committed herself to collaborate with the technocrats and other assembly members to bridge the development gap between Builds South and the rest of the country. Madam Afuic who was recently endorsed by all the 27 members of the Builsa South District Assembly, in an interview with the Daily Graphic during the second ordinary meeting of the assembly at Fumbisi, said she saw her appointment and subsequent confirmation by the assembly members as a move to encourage more women in the district to enter local-level politics. She has, therefore, vowed to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in her. Out of the 13 districts in the Upper East Region, only two are headed by female chief executives. The other assembly headed by a woman is the Nabdam District Assembly, which has Madam Vivian Anafo as the DCE. “This singular act that saw my overwhelming endorsement is a clear demonstration of their preparedness to support me in our collective effort at delivering development to our people”, she said, adding that she would count on their support and unity to confront the numerous development challenges of the district. The DCE, who prior to her appointment, served as a government appointee in the assembly, said she intended to tap from the varied and diverse expertise of the assembly members as well as the technocrats in the district to accelerate development in the district, which was recently carved out of the Builsa District. Outlining her agenda for the district, Madam Afuic said her administration’s topmost priority would be to address issues related to illiteracy, poor healthcare delivery, low agricultural productivity, inadequate water and sanitation, poor road network and the creation of employment opportunities for the youth. Madam Afuic disclosed that the district had been selected as one of the first 50 districts to benefit from the construction of a senior high school (SHS) out of the 200 SHSs the government had decided to construct across the country. The DCE said the project site, between Kanjarga and Gbedema community, had already been selected and the site plan prepared for that purpose. In the area of health, the Builsa South DCE said, maternal mortality, malaria and teenage pregnancy were on the ascendency and to address that, she would work closely with the district directorate of health to sensitise the target population to take preventive measures to reduce such occurrences, if not to eliminate them. Madam Afuic said with agriculture being the mainstay of the people in the district and engaging about 70 per cent of the population, she would lead efforts to expand the sector, increase productivity and also make sure that farmers had value for money. She added that opportunities in the rice sector support programme and other government policy interventions such as the fertiliser subsidy programme, youth in agriculture and block farming programme would be embraced to address the food insecurity situation in the district. She lamented the poor road infrastructure in the area, especially the main trunk road spanning Sandema-Wiaga-Fumbisi, which is in a deplorable state and posing a great risk to commuters, and gave an assurance that she would coordinate with the Department of Feeder Roads and the sector ministry to have those roads tarred and to open up the areas, which incidentally are farming communities. By Benjamin Xornam Glover/Daily Graphic/Ghana http://graphic.com.gh/General-News/builsa-south-dce-to-bridge-development-gap.html