UE/R: SOCO PROJECT FACILITATORS URGED TO WORK HARD FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT – DCE NABDAM
By – Masahudu Jinkor
The Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr. Martin Adjei-Kosah has paid a day’s working visit to the Upper East Region to inspect ongoing SOCO projects spread across the region at various levels of completion.
Briefing the sector minister before embarking on his tour to project communities, the Upper East Regional Coordinating Director, Alhaji Inusah Abdulai described the World Bank sponsored project as a game changer that would transform the lives of residents of the region more especially in the beneficiary communities in the two regions if well implemented. He said the first face of the five year project which saw the construction of over 240 surface projects was being wined up to pave the way for the begining of the second face in 2024 which would see the construction of over 300 surface projects across the Bolgatanga zone that includes the North East Region.
On his part Mr. Samuel Larbi, the Zonal Head of the SOCO Project Team said despite the successes choked under the implementation of the project that seeks to reduce the impact of climate change on the environment and make life bearable for the people, there were still some bottlenecks associated with delays on the part of some contractors in the speedy execution of their projects and called on them to double up efforts so as to pave the way for the begining of the second face which was far behind schedule. Mr. Larbi disclosed that over 60 youth groups were trained on various skills during the first face of the project under the Youth Led component.
Briefing the media before embarking on the tour, the sector minister Mr. Martin Adjei-Kosah wondered why some contractors could delay projects which were so dear to the hearts of the people. He pledged to terminate and re-award the contracts of contractors who were under performing in line with the laws of the country to ensure the speedy execution and timely completion of the projects behind schedule. This according to him would pave the way for the begining of the second face which was a bigger package for the selected communities within the Bolgatanga zone.
Among the projects he inspected included; the ongoing Atafakuan culvert near Woriyanga in the Tempane District, the ongoing Dachio culvert in the Bolgatanga East District, the completed SOCO project office at the residency, a reshaped road project around Doctors Bungalow linking the main Bolgatanga-Bongo Highway as well as a completed and furnished three Unit classroom block with toilets and urinary facilities at Atolisum all in the Bolgatanga Municipality and a completed CHPS Compound awaiting commissioning at Atebabisi near Sherigu in the Kasena Nankana West District where he rounded up his tour.
On the sidelines of his visit the sector minister paid courtesy calls on the chiefs of the beneficiary communities such as Tempane chief, Dachio chief, Atasolum chief and the Sherigu chief respectively.
The chiefs of the above project co.munities who were full of praise thanked the government for considering their various communities for the projects saying they would alleviate the suffering of the masses.
Briefing the media after the tour which ended at exactly 6 pm on Thursday, Mr. Adjei-Kosah was satisfied on progress of work and praising the various contractors working on them saying most of the projects were completed within scheduled. He said the impact of these projects on the residents would be great citing the joy on the faces of the people as he visited some of the projects in the communities. He advised residents to owe the facilities by maintaining them well so as to drive maximum benefits from them.
He also praised the SOCO project team of the Bolgatanga Zone for a job well supervised and charged them to intensify their supervisory roles so as to ensure value for money.
Source – gbcuraonline.com.
