By P. K. Yankey
Ndatiem (W/R), Oct 14, GNA-The Gwira Traditional Area is expected to benefit from eight out of eleven projects initiated by the Nzema-East Municipal Assembly this year.
The move has become necessary because the Gwira Traditional Area has lagged in development for a long time and seemed to be cut off by the Nzema-East Municipal Assembly.
Mr Herbert Kuah-Dickson, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the Nzema-East Assembly, who announced this during a tour at Ndatiem near Axim, gave a very strong indication that the projects would be completed within schedule as part of measures to give the Gwira area a general facelift.
He assured that “out of the 11 developmental projects the Assembly advertised for bidding this year, eight of the projects would be executed in the Gwira Traditional Area with the remaining three in Evaloe and Ajomoro areas of the Municipality”.
According to him, the Gwira Traditional Area which formed the Northern part of the Nzema-East Municipality and served as the food basket of the area, was lagging in development for a very long time as developmental projects had always been concentrated in the southernmost part notably Axim and its environs.
Mr Kuah-Dickson mentioned the projects to be executed in the Municipality as two CHPS Compound, four six-unit classroom blocks, a police station, zonal council, and 10 boreholes.
The MCE said the police station would be constructed at Kutukrom as the only police station in Axim was far from the Gwira area.
He acknowledged that the Gwira area faced a myriad of developmental challenges; hence, the Assembly turned its attention to the area.
Mr Kuah-Dickson hinted that after awarding these projects on contract, the Assembly would award another batch of contracts for the next phase of projects to be executed in the Gwira Traditional Area.
He was happy that funds earmarked for the projects were ready and that there would not be any break within the one year and eight months when all the projects would be completed.
Touching on the road network in the Municipality, the MCE said, ” when you come to the Municipality, apart from few town kilometers in Axim which are an asphalted, the rest of roads in the Municipality were rough roads especially for Gwira, there is not even one kilometer of asphaltic road”.He identified the major developmental challenge in the area as roads and that the assembly has decided not to wait for the road funds before tackling the road network but has started making use of the DRIP machines to grade the poor roads which had put the Enyinase to Bamiankor road and beyond in good shape.
He said the Assembly filled the road with quarry stones and gravel to make it more compact and motorable and durable as they wait for funds to asphalt the road.
The MCE said with the little amount that came to the Assembly’s Internally Generated Funds (IGF) the Assembly would reshape and compact the roads and make them motorable for transportation in the interim.
Mr Kofi Arko-Nokoe, Member of Parliament (MP) for Evaloe Ajomoro-Gwira said even without the disbursement of funds to the Assemblies, the Assembly would initiate steps to start development that would benefit the people.
He said there would be equity in terms of allocation of resources to the Evaloe, Ajomoro-Gwira constituency, to ensure that unity prevailed among the people.
Mr Arko-Nokoe said the Assembly had started reshaping the roads from Axim to Gwira-Asheim to Enyinase and Bamiankor and would continue to Kutukrom.
GNA
Edited by Justina Paaga/Kenneth Odeng Adade