Government to provide GH¢200m for SADA to finance its investment budget
The government has given the strongest indication yet of its commitment to fulfil a campaign pledge to provide GH¢200 million for the work of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).
According to Vice-President John Dramani Mahama, the government would provide the money in two tranches, adding that the first tranche of GH¢100 million was ready and would be presented to SADA in a few days’ time.
“The cheque is ready and we will be presenting it to the SADA Secretariat to finance its investment budget,” he stated.
Mr Mahama was speaking at the 17th Annual Regional Council Meeting of the Northern Chapter of the Assemblies of God Church at Kumbungu Wednesday.
The church used the ceremony to honour Mr Mahama who, it noted, had not only demonstrated his faith in God but also distinguished himself throughout his political, social and academic career.
Mr Mahama said the government would never renege on its promise to resource SADA, as some people suggested, adding that the Ministry of Finance had already allocated GH¢30 million to SADA to cater for its operational costs.
He entreated people who had been very critical of SADA’s activities to exercise patience because SADA was not a project but a process that would involve a lot of investments.
He said the government had demonstrated enough commitment to bridge the north-south development gap and mentioned a number of initiatives that would be implemented to realise that goal.
Key among those initiatives, he said, was the establishment of rice mills by private companies, in partnership with SADA, to support the local rice industry and create jobs.
“Two new rice mills will soon be established and, as I speak, one of them, Avnash Industries Limited, is already constructing its rice plant in Tamale,” he stated.
The Vice-President also made mention of plans to establish the Pwalugu Hydro-Electric Power project which would add about 80 megawatts of power to the national grid.
He said the construction of the dam was a strategy to address the annual flooding caused by the overflow of the Volta Lake because the water would be diverted into the dam, instead of overflowing to cause havoc.
“The dam will also serve as a source of water for an irrigation project that will cover about 4,000 hectares of land around the dam,” Mr Mahama said.
The General Superintendant of the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana, Rev Dr Paul Frimpong-Manso, acknowledged the progress made by the government in the development of the country, particularly the north.
He also applauded the establishment of SADA but entreated the government to involve church-based pro-development institutions, such as the Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (AGREDS), because many of them had years of experience in development work.
Source: Daily Graphic