GOVT SECURES GRANT TO CONSTRUCT ELUBO TOWN ROADS (SEPT 16, PAGE 20)

THE Government has secured a Japanese grant for the construction of town roads in Elubo in the Jomoro District in the Western Region.
The project, which is under the District Capital Road Improvement Project, would cost more than GH¢500,000 and would take a year to complete.
Under the project, roads in the town would be tarred and the drains constructed.
At the sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of the project, the Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, called on the chiefs and people of Elubo to co-operate with the contractor to expand and construct the drains.
He urged them to remove containers on the shoulders of the road to pave way for the contractor to complete the work on schedule.
The minister said an inspection of the various areas that would be covered under the project, kiosks and extension of structures had taken the greater part of the roads.
Mr Aidoo said even though that was due to the long neglect of the town roads, the co-operation of the people was the only lifeline towards the early completion of the project.
“I must be honest with you that your refusal to go back for the road to be constructed could be a setback for the development of the town; funding for the project covers a period of one-year and any delay means the Government would have to dole out more money,” he said.
The minister used the opportunity to urge the chiefs and people in the area and the region to settle all chieftaincy disputes and ensure that development did not elude the people.
“Many of the letters and discussion with the people had to do with chieftaincy, my people, let me tell you that there cannot be development in the situation we found ourselves,” he stressed.
“Development is one very expensive commodity and on high demand, and it would not wait for us to decide in a distant future before it comes, we take the path of peace now to ensure that we grab as much as we can,” Mr Aidoo said.
For his part, the former Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Lee Ocran, who sourced for the grant from the Japanese government with counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana, said his dream was to ensure that the area was developed to an appreciable level.
Mr Ocran used the opportunity to bid his people farewell, saying that he will work hard as Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa.