A post on the twitter page of the Ministry for Information,@moigovgh ,has shared the activities of the government in the past week.
The post shows the government highlighting 14 engagements spanning infrastructure, funds disbursement as well as successes chalked
It touts the government for its efforts which has led to the ranking as the best performing currency as “it records the highest gains in 2020 against major currencies especially the US dollar”.
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The post adds the allocation of 79 million dollars for the governments one region one industrial park project, inauguration of the Akumadan Green House Capacity Building and Commercial Center, Installation of 912 kilowats capacity solar panels at the Jubilee House,allocation of GH¢ 2.5 million to the initial implementation of the National Preparedness Plan Against Coronavirus as well as the commissioning of three new tug boats at the Tema Port to help with operations.
Another key area highlighted was the government securing a total of 81.67 million dollars from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to roll out the first phase of the Eastern Corridor Roads Development Programme. This loan will be paid in 25 years time but has a grace period of 5 years on it at 1% interest per year.
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Below is a quick highight of some of the projects;
National Preparedness Plan Against Coronavirus
The amount of 2.5million dollars allocated for this plan against coronavirus is the governments response to the World Health Organization to strengthen their systems due to the outbreeak of the deadly coronavirus whose cure is yet to be found. This according to reports by ghananewsagency.org and confirmed by the health minister will help in he procurement of 10,000 pieces of personal protective equipments as well as sustain the plans the government has set in place to protect the country against the disease.
One Region One Industrial Park Project
This project is aimed at creating factories in areas marked as industrial zones to help Ghana add value to raw materials produced here. In 2019, the government of Ghana partnered with a chinese consortium, Green House International Development Group to set up the first of such parks at Afienya near Tema in the country’s capital. The enclave, called the Bright International Free Zones Project at the time of its commissioning had one tomato processing factory, Leefund Food Stuffs Limited ready and also commissioned by the president. The zone covers a total land size of 800 acres. It is close the Tema port and about 300 kilometers from the Kotoka International Airport.
Eastern Corridor Roads
The Eastern Corridor Roads is made up of a total of about 695 km of road that links Accra to the Sahel Region (Countries in the northern part of Africa). It includes the roads from Have to Hohoe and Asikuma to Kpeve making a total of about 51Km.
Construction of these roads will reduce the travel distance from the capital Accra and sea ports to the northern sector by 200 km and possibly end the use of the roads in the central corridor (Accra-Kumasi-Paga roads). This loan according to the roads ministry will see the Dufor Adidome to Asikuma Junction (39.2km), Asutuare to Aveyime (23.9km) constructed as well as the construction of two interchanges at Dufor Adidome and Asikuma Junction.
The Eastern Corridor Roads was a hot topic leading ahead of the 2016 general elections as the ruling government sternly criticized the the John Mahama-led government of not fufilling their promise to construct the roads. They (The current government) campaigned on this promising to deliver on assumption of office. Some believe that these roads were a contributing factor to the NPP’s win in thhe 2016 elections as well as their “improved” performance in the volta region touted to be the “world bank” of the opposition NDC.
Akumadan Green House Capacity Building and Commercial Center
This project is under the governments policy of ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ aimed at providing youths with the knowledge , skills and expertise in crop production through the use of modern technology. It is also going to be an avenue for the government to create more jobs in its vision of “facilitating the development of the complete value chain of vegetable producers, aggregators, seed suppliers, input dealers, transporters and produce distributors as well as the production of quality and fresh vegetables for urban dwellers in Kumasi, Accra and Tema and also for export throughout the year”, a report by graphic.com.gh said.
The Akumadan Green House Capacity Building and Commercial Center comes to add up to the already existing projects launched by this government at Bawjiase in the central region and Dawhwenya in the greater-accra region. It covers a total of 13,500 square meters out of which 4500 square meters has been allocated for the production of tomato, sweet pepper and cucumber.
The centers currently can run a 3 months farming program for agricultural graduates at a go.
