By Philip Tengzu
Issa (UW/R), Oct. 8, GNA – Mr James Wor, the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa (DBI) District Chief Executive (DCE), has appealed to the government to allocate part of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to finance road works under the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP).
He said the lack of dedicated funding for the programme had made it difficult for the Assembly to fully utilise the DRIP machines to improve the district’s road network.
“The machines are there, but even the Common Fund that is given to us, you can’t use it to do anything. So, unless you have a special intervention,” he said.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), at Issa, on the condition of roads in the district, the DCE said with support from the Member of Parliament for the DBI Constituency, the Assembly used the DRIP machines to work on some roads, including the Daffiama inner roads.
He, however, said the Assembly could have done more in improving the road network in the district if they had dedicated funding for the DRIP.
Mr Wor indicated that the situation has been compounded by the district’s low Internally Generated Fund (IGF) mobilisation, which he attributed partly to the residents’ reluctance to pay taxes.
He said the Assembly had, however, put in efforts to improve its IGF since he assumed office, which had significantly appreciated compared to previous years.
The DCE identified also inadequate Common Fund allocations as a major development challenge to the district.
He could not fathom why the DBI District was among districts receiving the lowest Common Fund allocations, which made it difficult to meet the district’s development needs.
On agriculture, Mr Wor indicated that the Assembly had implemented several interventions, including the construction of irrigation dams in some communities to improve the sector.
They included the construction of dams at Kojokperi and Tabiasi, and rehabilitation of a dam at Duang through the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
Additionally, the district had secured European Union support to rehabilitate an irrigation dam at Dakyie to aid dry season farming, while a new dam would be constructed at Moyiri community.
Also, a cold room had been constructed at Duang, and agroforestry projects had been implemented in four communities through GIZ support.
The DCE added that the district received 1,500 bags of fertiliser under the government’s Feed Ghana Programme for distribution to farmers.
Mr Wor observed that the district had also been earmarked to benefit from the first phase of the Farm Service Centre, with land acquired at Kojokperi for that centre.
The DCE indicated that the district had also seized the annual Farmers’ Day celebrations as an opportunity to support and motivate farmers to increase their production and to encourage more people, particularly the youth, to venture into agriculture.
He said, for instance, that the awards presented to the district’s best farmers during the 2025 National Farmers’ Day celebration surpassed the prizes awarded to the regional-level winners.
The DCE indicated that the Assembly was working with an investor to revive a gari processing plant at Jolinyiri.
Mr Wor said the Assembly would continue to collaborate with development partners and other stakeholders to address the district’s infrastructure and development challenges.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Philip Tengzu, GNA
Reporter’s email address: [email protected]