The Member of Parliament (MP) for Zabzugu Constituency Honorable Jabaah John Bennam, has visited ongoing construction of multi-purpose irrigation dam project at Tasundo in the Zabzugu District of the Northern Region.
The MP embarked on the visit in the company of the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Zabzugu, Mr. Ahmed Abubakari Iddrisu Adarkwa, and some constituency executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The tour was intended to get first-hand information on the pace of work.
Honorable Jabaah John Bennam after inspecting the project, commended the contractor for the work done so far.
Addressing the media after inspecting the facility, the MP mentioned the Tasundo dam was part of the One Village One Dam initiative, but was subsequently expanded to a multipurpose dam through the Ghana Irrigation Agency (GIA) after a technical advice by the technicians.
He added the facility when completed will be one of the biggest dams in the Northern Region.
“So far so good. We have been told by the technical people that the project is 70% complete”.
“We started this as the One Village One Dam. But technically, we were informed that the valley here is very conducive for us to do dry season farming if only we could expand the dam. So, together with my DCE we had to lobby the Ministry of Agric, specifically the Ghana Irrigation Agency. Thank God they listened to us and was ready to support. So that brought about this dam”, he said.
The MP in his remarks also indicated that, the Tasundo No.1 irrigation facility when completed will bring about major socio-economic transformation to the people of the area most especially the women and the youth.
He opines that, the purpose of the dam is not only for drinking but also aimed at enhancing irrigation farming in the area.
He thus encouraged the people of the area most especially the youth and the women to take fully advantage of the dam to better their livelihood.
“The purpose of this is not just for drinking. We also want the youth particularly and women around the area to take advantage of the facility and do dry season farming to improve their livelihood”.
Honorable Jabaah John Bennam while encouraging the youth, also expressed his believe that, the construction of the dam will in a long way address the annual water crises in the area.
“I am so happy that at least we have been able to as a government to do this for our people. Water is one of the major challenges we have in this constituency. So having this in one of the whole electoral area and beyond, people will now have a good drinking water; their animals will have water drinking”, he stated.
On his part the Zabzugu District Chief Executive (DCE) Ahmed Abubakari Adarkwa revealed that, government has directed all MMDAs to fashion out programs that will enhance local economic development within their jurisdictions. Therefore, the management of the Zabzugu District Assembly has put measures in place to leverage on the facility to enhance local economic development in the area.
“We have prepared our action plan and submitted it to the Ministry of Local Government, that as part of Zabzugu enhancement of local economic development, this dam is going to be one of the facility that the assembly is going to be leveraging on, to ensure that fishing, dry season farming, and all that the assembly can think off, have already contacted my Agric Director and he has put in place certain activities to enable us augment government pledge of creating 100 jobs within a year”, he said.
He added that, the construction of the multipurpose dam in the area is part of the opportunity government has created to enable Zabzugu District Assembly achieve local economic development (LED).
Meanwhile, some community members who could not hide their happiness thanked the MP and the DCE for the numerous developmental projects they have sanctioned in the district and pledge to make good use of the dam when it is completed.
The MP as part of his two-day working visit in the area, also inspected a number of electrification projects and other infrastructural developmental projects he initiated at Suborini, Naagbamba, Bagmani, among others.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana
