MINISTER INSPECTS PROJECTS, CALLS ON BUTCHERS AND TRADERS

Honorable Stephen Yakubu, the Upper East Regional Minister has inspected some completed and ongoing projects in the Bolgatanga Municipality.

The move was part of the Minister’s 2022 itinerary to ensure Government’s projects in the region progressed steadily for successful completion within the time frame.

Honorable. Yakubu’s first point of call was the Bolgatanga Abattoir located at Yorugo, a community in the Municipality after he earlier interacted with management and staff of the Municipal Assembly.

The World Bank-funded Abattoir was constructed in 2017 at a cost of Gh¢1.2 million, with modern slaughtering facilities, and commissioned in 2018 for use.

However, the Bolgatanga butchers who operated from the old Abattoir initially declined to relocate to the new facility until recently, when the management of the Assembly locked up the old Abattoir and called for applications from butchers willing to use the new facility.

The Minister, after a tour of the facility, expressed satisfaction about the operations of butchers in the Abattoir and its components and assured the leadership of the butchers that the Assembly would resolve some of their teething problems to enable them to operate comfortably.

He said the Assembly would improve on the road network leading to the Abattoir to facilitate easy movement of the carcasses to market centers, and further assured them of a meat van to help transport the carcasses to the markets.

Honorable. Yakubu extended his tour to the Leather Tanning Factory under the ‘One District, One Factory 1D1Finitiative, which is about 500 meters from the Abattoir.

The Abattoir is expected to feed the factory with skins of animals processed, to beef up the Government’s industrialization agenda across the country.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Honorable. Rex Asanga said the Municipality benefited from the 1D1F initiative as a result of the availability of raw materials, and the processed leader would be used to boost the region’s craft industry.

The main focus was to encourage young graduates to venture into agribusiness, craft, and arts along the value chain through skills training and internship models as a source of employment in line with the Government’s 1D1F policy, he said.

Honorable. Asanga disclosed that 60 young graduates were selected and trained to enable them to operate as Cooperative Business when they commence operation.

The Regional  Minister as part of his tour, stopped at the old market to interact with cereal sellers who were relocated to decongest the new market and moved on to inspect the first phase of the mechanical enclave at Tindonsolugu-Kalibo, a suburb of the Municipality.

The enclave, funded by the World Bank under the Ghana Secondary City Support Programme, would be a one-stop shop for mechanical services for residents in and outside the Municipality.

The project is valued at about GH¢2,208,635.94, and when completed, would have eight-unit sheds, washrooms, toilet facilities, Police and Fire Stations, health facility among others.