By Edward Acquah
Accra, Sept. 04, GNA- The Sissala Development Network (SiDNET), a development-oriented organisation, has appealed to the Government to improve the state of roads in the Sasala area in the Upper West Region to improve the well-being of the people.
A study conducted by the SiDNET on the development challenges and opportunities in the area found that major trunk roads in the Sissala area, including Wa-Tumu-Navrongo, Tumu-Gwollu-Hamile, and Tumu-Wallembele-Funsi roads, as well as farm-access roads were in a deplorable state.
Presenting the findings of the research at a media briefing in Accra, Professor Roger Adamu Lure Kanton, Chairman of SiDNET, said the Sissala area constituted “one largely neglected and marginalised zone in the political economy of Ghana.”
Prof. Kanton, a former Deputy Director of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – at Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, expressed worry that the Sissala area, in spite of being the bread basket of the country, had the poorest road network, and low human capital development infrastructure.
The Sissala area constitutes four districts –Sissala East, Sissala West, Wa East, and Lambussie. The area occupies about two-thirds of the land mass of the Upper West Region.
The districts are predominantly rural, with farming being the major economic activity in the area.
In the area of agriculture, the SiDNET research found that the four districts in the Sissala area lacked produce processing centres for maize and soybeans to add value to the produce, as well as government warehouses for post-harvest storage.
The SiDNET recommended the establishment of reliable mechanisation centres in the four districts to provide timely, accessible, and affordable farm energy, and build more dams to support sustainable farming.
Under Education, the research found that apart from Tumu which could boast of tertiary institutions, the other districts had no tertiary institutions.
“We want the Government to set up a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) school in the Sissala area.” Prof. Kanton said.
Under health, the SiDNET expressed concern about the absence of a major referral hospital in the Sissala area as all cases were referred to either Wa or Tamale.
“Fonsi is the only District without neither a hospital nor a medical doctor, which is unacceptable in modern-day Ghana,” the report said.
Prof. Kanton said the Sissala area is endowed with natural resources and called on the Government and development partners to come to the aid of the people to maximise the productivity, profitability, and efficiency of the natural resources.
Kuoro Professor Baduawaali II, Paramount Chief, Wallembele Traditional Council, said security was a major concern for the people and appealed to the Police Administration to upgrade the Wellembele Police Post to a police station.
Dr Bright Yelviel Baligi, Member of Parliament for Lambussie, said the programme for the development of the Sissala area as prepared by SiDNET should be incorporated into the State Development Plan for the Sissala area.
Alhaji Amidu Chinnia, MP for Sissala East, said an improvement in the state of the roads in the four districts would improve critical development sectors such as agriculture, health, and socio-economic development.
“Our roads are bad and we need to find solutions to the challenges because the development of roads is interconnected to the development of all the other sectors,” he said.
GNA