The Coastal Development Authority (CODA) has initiated and awarded 1,473 infrastructure projects and interventions since it started its operations in 2019, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Jerry Ahmed Shaib has said.
Out of this, about 129 have been completed while most of them were at various stages of completion.
These projects according to him formed part of the government’s Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), popularly known as ‘One million dollar per Constituency” initiative.
Taking his turn at the Minister’s Briefing series organised by the Ministry of Information, Mr Shaib said the projects covered all the majors sectors including, education, health, roads and bridges, provision of water and sanitation facilities, recreational centres and other special social interventions.
He gave the regional breakdown of the projects as Greeter Accra – 380; Western North – 125; Western – 220; Central – 412; Volta 229 and Oti 107.
Mr Shaib, said CODA, the project implementation agency, had spent GH¢162 million so far, stressing that “Funding for those projects came from the Government of Ghana (GoG) and Annual Budget allocations.”
He explained that the government had and continued to honour its promise of ‘One Million Dollar per Constituency’ initiative, adding that “the government is on course to ensure development in the coastal communities.”
Mr Shaib explained that for instance, under the ‘CODA Drive’ initiative it distributed 200 mini cars at GH¢250,000 each to ‘okada’ riders in 2021 who were supposed to buy them on hire purchase basis and pay within two years.
Under the ‘CODA Fisher Support’ it distributed 3,000 subsidised outboard motors to fishermen.
Similarly under the ‘CODA Health Train’ he explained that it collaborated with the National Health Insurance Authority to screen people with fibroid and hernia in some coastal communities and registered 100,000 people under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and issued them NHIS cards.
He said CODA was set to rollout the Clean Beach Campaign Project across all four coastal regions in the coming weeks.
Mr Shaib said the campaign which was currently being piloted in some selected districts in the Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western regions, would among other things, ensure clean beaches and exploitation of the country’s beach resources for economic development.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
