Government will fulfil promise to develop the north –Amidu

Mr Martin Amidu, Minister of the Interior, has noted that government would fulfil its campaign promises to bridge the development gap between northern and southern Ghana. Speaking during a visit to the Upper East Region, where he interacted with the chiefs and people, he said during the second round of Election 2008, he pledged to voters in the area that if they gave their mandate to the party it would appoint more sons and daughters of the place into the government. “No government had ever appointed many ministers… as compared to the NDC (National Democratic Congress) government and this is a clear testimony that the NDC government is fulfilling its campaign promises,” he stressed. He said government had also honoured its promise to establish the Savannah Accelerated Development programme. “The passage of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) bill and the inauguration of the SADA board by the government is a clear indication that government is committed to fulfilling its promises.” Mr Amidu said government was committed to a massive development programme in the region this year, which include the construction and de-silting of dams to facilitate irrigated farming and expansion of agriculture subsidy to boost food production. He said reconstruction of most of the road network in the region, especially those leading to farm areas had been awarded on contract and work would soon start in 2011. The Minister said efforts to construct a railway from Accra to Paga to ease the transportation problems in the area was on course. Touching on the Rural Electrification Project, he said, there was a bill in Parliament to hook al rural areas to the National Electricity Grid this year. Mr Amidu said government was also determined to implement the one time premium National Health Insurance Scheme, which was aimed at addressing poverty. He thanked the chiefs and people for voting the NDC into office in the 2008 general election.