The Upper East Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Women’s wing has lauded the president and the NPP government for kick-starting the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-purpose dam project and other social interventions geared towards improving livelihoods in the region.
It noted that the facility when completed would not only help serve irrigational and hydropower purposes, but curb the perennial flooding in the area to ameliorate the plight of residents to improve their living standards.
In a press release signed and issued by the Upper East Regional Women’s Organiser, Georgina Ayamba and copied to the Ghanaian Times here on Sunday, they expressed their gratitude to President Nana Akufo-Addo for the sod cutting ceremony for the Pwalugu Multi-purpose dam and Rock Estates Affordable Housing Project both in the Talensi District, an indication of his commitment to bridge the development gap between the Northern and Southern sectors of Ghana.
The $993 million project area is located on the White Volta River, about 16km east of Pwalugu ridge on the Tamale-Bolgatanga road in the Talensi District and sharing boundary with North East Region.
The release said the prospect of the timely social intervention when completed would be a sustainable solution of rural-urban migration of women and children in the region, ameliorate plight of the people, deaths and destruction of farms and properties as a result of spillage of the Bagre Dam from Burkina Faso would become a thing of the past once the project was completed.
“The irrigation facility which has the capacity to create thousands of both direct and indirect jobs for women through the agricultural value chain is certainly a sigh of relief to the people, migration of our people from the region especially women and the girl-child to Southern Ghana in search for greener pastures engaged in menial jobs and in some cases sexually exploited, with others becoming dropouts is a worrying situation that requires such interventions to salvage the vulnerable in our society,” the release said.
It called on women to prepare in readiness for the opportunities the project comes with to improve livelihoods since the construction of 60mw hydropower and 50mw solar electricity under the project would improve the environment as many rural women who resorted to firewood for domestic use would have access to electricity.
FROM SAMUEL AKAPULE, BOLGATANGA
