Minister restores hope after moving to address concerns of demonstrators

Hon Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister has taken steps to address the concerns raised by four demonstrating districts in the region.

The districts, Wa East, Sissala East, Sissala West and Lambusie demonstrated against what they described as injustice and discrimination as far as the EU-GAP road project is concern.

The Chiefs and people of the four districts petitioned the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwesi Amoako Atta over their exclusion from a €35 million European Union (EU) farm access roads project.

The government of Ghana, the World Bank, and the European Union broke grounds for the project which was aimed at granting support for “improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and market market centers.”

The Upper West Regional Minister has since met with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to deliberate on the issues raised by the angry demonstrators.

In his Facebook page, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih revealed he together with the MP for Sissala East, Amish Chinnia Issahaku subsequently had a meeting with the Minister of Roads and Highways and that the outcome will be made public in due course.

“This afternoon, together with the Member of Parliament for Sissala East Constituency, Hon. Amidu Chinnia we had a Frank and fruitful meeting with the Minister for Roads and Highways, Hon. Kwesi Amoako Atta in his office. The outcome of this important meeting will be made public in due time.
All is well that ends well.” the Regional Minister said

The government of Ghana received a grant of €35 million from the European Union for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 670 km of feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region.

The financial support is aimed at improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and marketplaces.

In a joint statement released by the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the European Union, the sector minister, Kwasi Amoako-Atta, noted that the support falls in line with the government’s vision to provide a better transportation system for farming communities.

The grant comes under the larger EUR €160 million European Union-Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP) to develop sustainable agriculture in the Upper West Region.

The roads are organized in three packages, as follows:

1. Wa Municipal, Wa West, Nadowli-Kaleo (235 km)

2. Jirapa, Lawra, Daffiama-Bussie (210 km)

3. Nandom and Lambussie-Karni (225 km)

This intervention aims at improving inter-connectivity between areas of production and marketplaces in the Upper West Region.

The objective is to reduce the travel time on these sections of roads, promote road safety, and strengthen at the same time the institutional management of the transport sector.