By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Nakpanduri (NE/R), Oct. 28, GNA – Residents of Nakpanduri, a community in the North East Region, have appealed to the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regions Social Cohesion (SOCO) Project to support them with the provision of potable water, improved healthcare infrastructure and address other development challenges to enhance their living conditions.
Naba Fedrick Loaman Kansuk, the Regent of Nakpanduri, in an address to a delegation of project officials from Ghana and Togo during a visit to the Palace, said the community continued to benefit from SOCO’s interventions, particularly the improvement of the local market, which had boosted business activities.
“The community market has gotten a facelift because of the presence of SOGO in the district and the community,” he said, and further expressed appreciation for the project’s contribution to local development.
Naba Kansuk said the community was grateful for the interventions and appealed for further assistance to address pressing infrastructure and livelihood needs.
He identified access to potable water as a major challenge and explained that efforts by residents to drill additional boreholes had not adequately addressed the situation due to the community’s growing population, and appealed to SOCO to support the establishment of a small-town water system to ease the water crisis.
The Regent also appealed for the construction of dining halls and boarding facilities for two senior high schools in the community, as the current situation in the schools compelled students to eat under trees due to inadequate infrastructure.
He called for support to improve the community’s inner roads to reduce accidents and facilitate movement as the area continued to develop.
Other requests included the rehabilitation of the ageing Nkrumah Guest House, which he said had existed for more than five decades, and the provision of boreholes and irrigation facilities to support dry-season farming along riverbanks.
The Regent noted that improved irrigation facilities would enable farmers to sustain their livelihoods throughout the year and increase agricultural productivity.
Ms Elizabeth Ohenewah Agyei, National SOCO Project Coordinator for Ghana, in her remarks, said the visit to the community was intended to assess interventions undertaken in the community and promote the exchange of experiences between Ghana and Togo.
She explained that the community was part of the project’s implementation areas since its inception and expressed satisfaction that its development priorities for the coming year had already been communicated to the project team.
“I am very happy that already the long list of the community interest for the coming year has been submitted indirectly to the SOCO team,” she said.
Ms Agyei indicated that the requests would be formalized to enable the community to prioritise its needs for possible implementation, subject to the relevant processes.
The Coordinator said the project was being implemented across four Gulf of Guinea countries, with efforts to ensure that interventions in the northern parts of the participating countries were aligned and informed by shared experiences.
“Our purpose here is simple. As Togo is implementing their own, Ghana is doing theirs, we want to make sure that we are learning from each other,” she said.
Ms Agyei noted that the engagements would allow participating teams to share successful approaches, provide advice and identify lessons to strengthen implementation.
She added that the visit offered the delegation an opportunity to observe activities on the ground and learn from the interventions undertaken in the community.
She expressed appreciation to the visiting delegation for taking time to engage with the project team and inspect the interventions and was optimistic that the exchange would contribute to successful implementation across the participating countries.
The visit formed part of efforts to strengthen collaboration, promote shared learning and improve the delivery of development interventions in beneficiary communities.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Reporter’s email address: [email protected].