Focus on Talensi

Published in Daily Graphic of Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Isaac Yin is a teacher at Tongo but lives in Bolgatanga from where he communes to work daily. He always gets to work with brown hair because of the dusty roads between Winkongo and Tongo. He wants work on the road to be completed early so that he avoids the inconveniences he has to endure every week on his way to and from school. The seven kilometre Winkongo-Tongo road in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region was one of several road projects awarded in 2012. The project is expected to be completed in June 2014. Even though work on that stretch of road is progressing at an appreciable rate, some residents of the area, especially those whose houses are close to the road have decried its dusty nature because it has serious health implications. In an interview with the District Chief Executive for Talensi, Mr Edward Awunore at Tongo, he said the assembly would ensure a speedy completion of the project.

“I have been on the engineer to ensure that the contractor delivers a quality job and so far they have not disappointed. All the old culverts have been demolished and new and stronger ones constructed,” he said, adding that work was progressing speedily as the contractors were now left with the last stage of gravelling before the application of bitumen on the surface of the road.” Mr Awunore said the Talensi District Assembly has initiated a number of developmental projects to help address the myriad of both educational and social problems in some communities in the district. The lined up projects, which cut across the area of education, provision of electricity and access to potable water, have been spread evenly to benefit each community. Education The DCE for Talensi said his assembly had chosen education as its main priority to help improve its human resource base and enhance the socio-economic transformation of the people. Therefore, the assembly in consultation with the chiefs and opinion leaders has initiated a new senior high and technical school which is ready to admit its first batch of students. He said the assembly had set up an implementation committee to supervise enrolment for this year and also written to the National Service Secretariat to post personnel to the school to aid with teaching. He said the assembly has also identified indigenes who have studied relevant courses in the universities and polytechnic and would engage them to help support the school in order to improve quality education for children in the district. He conceded that although Bolgatanga Senior High School (BIGBOSS) was located within the district, it was more like a regional model school and not all qualified students from the district gain admission to BIGBOSS, hence the initiative to establish a new school to complement the existing senior high school. Mr Awunore disclosed that his district has also been selected to benefit from the community Senior High Schools (SHSs) initiated by the president adding that already a 51 acre land has been secured for that purpose. Technical and Vocational Education The DCE said technical and vocational education also remained the focus of the assembly and the assembly had extended support to two institutions within the area. These are the Namalteng Integrated Vocational School and the Duusi Vocational School, initiated by the former MP for Talensi, Mr John Tia Akolgu. He said the Namalteng Integrated Vocational School had its facility recently renovated and painted by the assembly and was also supplied with some freezers and gas burner to support the practical lessons in the school. The Duusi Vocational School which will soon commence enrolment also received some sewing machines and 25 computers procured by the former MP for the use of the school. At the Namalteng Integrated Vocational School, an administrator of the school, Mr Clement Anaba, confirmed the assembly’s support for the school but bemoaned the lack of interest in vocational and technical education on the part of parents and children. He said the school, which runs a four-year programme in courses such as catering, secretarial practice, building and construction, carpentry, textiles, hand weaving and dressmaking, has a student population of only 31. He said sometimes, tutors had to go into town to canvass for enrolment and suggested that the school be placed on the computerised placement system to address the issue of low enrolment. Streetlights The DCE said the assembly had installed a number of streetlights in some communities and institutions to boost security. Among them are the Bolgatanga Senior High School and the Pwalugu Police Training School, emphasising that the assembly is ready to do its best to bring development to the people. Water One other challenge facing the people in the district is access to potable water. Due to the rocky nature of the area, any attempt to drill a borehole is met with difficulties. That notwithstanding, the DCE said the assembly was also implementing a Small Town Water System in communities such as Pwalugu and Duusi to address the challenge of access to potable water in the district. He added that the assembly was also looking at drilling about 10 boreholes in selected communities to help to ease challenges facing the people with regards to access to water. According to Mr Awunore, the assembly was also collaborating with World Vision International Ghana with the drilling of some boreholes in the district. “It is my strongest belief that when these projects are fully implemented, the people of the district, especially Pwalugu, will no more have water problems,” he said. Health In the area of Health care, the DCE said the assembly was working hard towards upgrading the health centre into a district hospital. As a result, the assembly has initiated the construction of a new patient ward and a theatre facility, and work is progressing steadily. Mining He said the Talensi District was blessed with mineral resources, mostly gold. This has seen an active small scale mining industry in the area. He noted that in the midst of this enterprise, the district has recorded a number of security challenges as a result of disputes among mining firms over who owns a concession. The DCE said to address the challenge, the Talensi District Security Committee (DISEC), in collaboration with the Ghana Immigration Service, the police, the Mineral Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has stepped in to help bring calm at the various mining sites and promote harmonious working environment. Revenue Mobilisation He said the assemblies, realising that they could not continue to rely on the District Assemblies Common Fund to support development projects, have put in place mechanisms to increase its internal revenue mobilisation. As a result, as of June 2013 this year, the assembly mobilised GH¢ 74.000 as against GH¢ 61,000 estimated as internally generated funds. Support for Women groups Mr Awunore said the assembly had assisted women groups by putting up two craft centres; one at Winkongo and the other at Tongo, where women groups converge to engage in basket weaving. By Benjamin Xornam Glover/Daily Graphic/Ghana http://graphic.com.gh/General-News/focus-on-talensi.html