FACILITATE SMOOTH, SAFE TRANSPORTATION ON VOLTA LAKE (PAGE 17)

THE chiefs and people of the Pru District in the Brong Ahafo Region have appealed to President J.E.A. Mills to use his good offices to provide them with a ferry on the Volta Lake at Yeji to facilitate the smooth and safe transportation of passengers and goods on the lake.
According to them, the ferry, when provided, would replace the rickety one currently on the lake which had one of its engines damaged beyond repair.
Mr Masawud Mohammed, the District Chief Executive (DCE), made the appeal in a statement he read on behalf of the chiefs and people of the district just before the start of the first ordinary meeting of the assembly at Yeji, the district capital, at the weekend.
Mr Mohammed said the request was in line with the NDC manifesto, which states on page 90 that “an NDC government will establish two more landing sites on either side of the lake to reduce travelling distance between settlements and existing landing sites. The necessary support would be given to companies removing tree stumps in the Lake to complete the exercise quickly to improve navigation and reduce boat accidents on the Lake”.
“Additional ferry would be installed for more frequent and reliable crossing on the Volta Lake at Yeji to redistribute road transport services more competitively among the Western, Central and Eastern corridors,” it goes on.
He said the ferry carted people, vehicles, trucks loaded with yams, cattle and other foodstuffs from the northern part of the country to the south and vice versa.
The Pru DCE stated that currently there was a high demand for the services of the ferry but due to its slowness and obsolescence, it moved only once a day.
Mr Mohammed said the Pru District had no government hospital to cater for the health needs of the people and, therefore, called on the government to consider establishing a district hospital, which, he said, was in line with the NDC manifesto provision to provide a hospital in each district capital.
He commended the Mathias Hospital at Yeji which currently served not only the people in the district but also neighbouring districts such as East Gonja and Atebubu/Amantin.
The DCE and hispeople further appealed to the government to upgrade at least one of the two senior high schools in the district into a model one to provide quality secondary education for the people.
On electricity, they requested the government to extend electricity to Abease and its environs to enable them to benefit from the small town water supply system project.
They also appealed to the government to rehabilitate some feeder roads in the district, to enable farmers to cart their farm produce to the marketing centres. They particularly wanted the Yeji-Kadue road which was constructed during Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s era but had since not seen any maintenance to be rehabilitated as soon as practicable.