By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, Jan. 11, GNA – The Bono Region has equally benefited from development projects under the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister has said.
“It will, however, be disingenuous for government critics in the region to create the impression that the Bono Region has been neglected in terms of development,” she told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the inauguration of the refurbished conference hall of the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Sunyani, Madam Owusu-Banahene said, “the government is gradually turning Sunyani, the Bono regional capital into a modern city.”
The National Petroleum Authority funded the rehabilitation of the 60-seater conference hall furnished with air conditioners and standard equipment.
Madam Owusu-Banahene said the regional capital would soon a standard 29 kilometer access roads, modern streetlights, and pedestrian walkways “because of administration of President Akufo-Addo’s government.”
She said construction works on several development projects in the education and health sectors would soon be completed, saying the completion of works on the expansion and rehabilitation of the Sunyani Airport remained a great achievement of the government.
Madam Owusu-Banahene called on the people of the region to keep and maintain their faith, as the government addressed some of the development deficit in the region.
Highlighting some of the development projects in the region, the regional minister said the government had handed over new administration block for the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, constructed a new regional command for the Ghana National Fire Service, and constructed a modern Agric Business Centrein the Dormaa West District.
Other projects include 60-bed capacity Paediatric Ward with offices, rest rooms, and 12 wash rooms at the Nkrakwanta District Hospital, 12 Unit two Storey classroom block for the Sunyani Senior and St James Seminary Senior High Schools, and standard maternity block at the Dwenem Health center.
The government has also constructed and handed-over two Storey market with 72 stores and a standard lorry terminal with washrooms in the Dormaa and Berekum Municipality, as well as another standard market at Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality.
Madam Owusu-Banahene said the Weddi Africa Tomato Processing Factory and Agro Farms in the Berekum West under the One-District-One-Factory project had created several jobs for the youth in the area.
She said huge investments had been made to improve physical infrastructure development at the Sunyani Technical University (STU), Methodist Technical and Vocational Institute in Sunyani and the Koase Senior High and Technical School.
Sunyani was also selected to benefit from a World Bank (WB) facility which is investing US$ 1.8 million to facelift the capital and improving lighting systems, and other social amenities, she added.
Madam Owusu-Banahene explained under the five-year WB project, all concrete light poles in the capital were being replaced with galvanized ones, to add to the beauty of the capital, saying closed to 115,000 LED bulbs have been installed on the major streets of the town.
GNA