North East Region takes delivery of Earth-Moving Equipment under DRIP initiative

By – Sadat Dabo

The North East Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, has unveiled Modern construction equipment under the District Road improvement Project (DRIP) for onward distribution to the Six (6) districts to enhance road networks across the region.

The Programme launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Accra, has taken off in earnest across the country with several regions receiving road equipment allocated as part of the programme.

DRIP, an initiative of the President, is aimed at enhancing the country’s road network by decentralising road infrastructure development to improve the poor road networks.

At the Regional coordinating council in Nalerigu, where all the road equipment has been parked and will be dispatched to all districts in the region, the Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria has called for non-politicization of the District Road Implementation Programme (DRIP)

Mr. Yidana Zakaria revealed that there are mobile maintenance teams comprised of Chinese and Ghanaian technicians that will be deployed to undertake routine maintenance of the equipment.“There are arrangements for knowledge transfers where Ghanaian technicians including students of technical institutions will be trained in proper handling of these machines”, he indicated.

Mr.Yidana Zakaria said “arrangements for fuel depots to fuel all the machines to undertake the needed roads in the districts is made.

Mr.Yidana Zakaria expressed gratitude to the President of Ghana, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance, and the Administrator of Common Fund for their partnership in implementing a successful road improvement programme.

The programme is expected to create nearly 5,000 direct jobs, stimulate local economic development and reduce post-harvest losses since farmers will have improved roads to transport their farm produce to market and improve general service delivery across the country.

The North East Regional coordinator of J.A Plant Pool, Nahimu Adams in his statement said, the region alone is expected to receive sixty-one (61) of the machines and J.A Plant Pool and its Chinese partners (LiuGonG) are providing technical support to the DRIP project.

The chairman of the ceremony and representative of the Nayiri, Kpatidana Ben Bukari wudana, chief of kpatiya Traditional area, speaking during the handing over ceremony in Nalerigu, said the provision of the machinery was a bold step towards decentralising development. He added that it would ensure that every part of the region received the benefits of prosperity and progress. He underscored the significance of machinery in facilitating the construction and maintenance of roads, saying this would ultimately improve socio-economic activities and enhance access to education and health care services. He urged the MMDAs to ensure that the machinery was put to good use to facilitate development, especially in the remote areas of the region.

The equipment being distributed include tipper trucks, backhoes, rollers, motor graders, water tankers, wheel loaders, bulldozers, low beds and concrete mixers, which were procured by the government in collaboration with J. A Plant Pool

Source – gbcuraonline.com