30 communities in Builsa North to be connected to national grid

The Builsa North District Assembly has announced that 30 communities in the area have been approved by the Ministry of Energy for connection to the national grid.

This was after the district submitted a total of 78 communities in the area without electricity to the Energy Ministry in March this year.

David Afoko, the Builsa North District Chief Executive (DCE), who disclosed this at a media encounter in Sandema on October 30, said assessments of the approved communities have been completed by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and work will soon start to add the areas to the national grid.

He indicated that the 30 communities were the first batch to be tackled under the rural electrification project and assured that the rest of the communities will be approved in the coming months.

Giving the breakdown of the total number of approved communities, the DCE said Sandema had 12 communities, Wiaga 8, Chuchuliga 6, and Siniesi and Kadema had 4.

“When we took over, we realized that we had over 78 communities in Builsa North that are not connected to the national grid. And so we took the number of the communities and sent them to the ministry of energy. Out the total, about 30 communities have been approved for the phase 1,” the DCE said.

On road infrastructure in the district, the DCE said contractors, who had previously abandoned work over payment infractions, have returned to site and are earnestly working to improve the roads network in the area.

He said for instance that, work on the Sandema-Katiu road, which has never had attention under any government in the past, has been awarded to a contractor and work has commenced.

Mr. Afoko added that roads totalling about 92.2 km have so far been awarded to contractors for constructions and spot Improvement.

Touching on the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) policy in the district, Mr. Afoko said the programme has achieved greater impact due to the availability of farmers support systems and subsidized agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.

He said through the PFJ programme, rice production in the district has recorded tremendous improvement and encouraged a lot of people to take up rice farming as a source of livelihood.

Under water and sanitation, Mr. Afoko said the district, through the Ministry for Special Development Initiative, has sank 25 boreholes and six mechanized boreholes in communities as part of efforts to provide the people with clean drinking water.

He added that Water Closet toilets with solar mechanized boreholes, which are being constructed in six communities, have reached various stages of completion.

The DCE thanked government for the 1,000 metric ton capacity warehouse at Suwarinsa, with the indication that work is progressing steadily and the facility will soon be completed for use.

“The construction of the 1,000 metric ton capacity warehouse at Suwarinsa is progressing steadily and will soon be finished and used for storage purposes”.

On education, the DCE disclosed that the district has, with an amount of GhC61,092.00, offered scholarships to some 45 students to further their studies in institutions across the country.

The district is also sponsoring the training of three doctors who upon completion will support improve health care delivery in the area.

He hinted of processes to procure 100 pieces of dual desks furniture for onward distribution to basic schools in the district, saying, “we are now only waiting for the green light from the DDF secretariat to effect the procurement”.