Tolon District takes lead in afforestation project

Mr. Joseph Mabingah, Northern Regional Minister(LEFT),Sumani Mahamadu Abukari, Presiding Member Tolon-Kumbungu Assembly(RIGHT)

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, Mahama Iddi-Manzah, has entreated chiefs, opinion leaders and assembly members in the area, and the region at large, to support the government's ongoing afforestation project under the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), to curtail the looming desertification.

According to the DCE, the afforestation programme, initiated by the government, was not to only recover the lost forests or prevent desertification, but to also create jobs for the idle youth across Ghana.

Addressing the 2nd Ordinary Meeting of the Tolon-Kumbungu District Assembly, Iddi-Manzah appealed to all stakeholders in the district, especially, the chiefs, heads of departments, school authorities and assembly members, to develop the habit of tree-planting, and also woo their communities to also get involved in the afforestation exercise.

He also appealed to traditional rulers to make lands available for the project to take off smoothly in their areas of jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Tolon-Kumbungu District Assembly has already identified 22 different sites throughout the district, with a total of 287 hectares of land, for the afforestation project.

About 287 people have also been employed to nurse, plant, and take care of the young trees.

So far, Iddi-Manzah disclosed, a total of 102 hectares of the land had been cleared, and planting also started.

The DCE further disclosed that the government had provided cutlasses, wellington boots, uniforms, hand gloves, and chemicals to beneficiaries, in addition to the seedlings.

He said the Minister for Lands and Forestry, Collins Dauda, would be visiting the Tolon-Kumbungu District to inspect the plantation sites, due to the positive response the district has given to the project.

Iddi-Manzah, therefore, appealed to the chiefs, assembly members, heads of departments, and other agencies in the district, to help educate the people within the beneficiary communities on the importance of tree-planting, and the need to lend support to the on-going plantation exercise, since it goes a long way to also enrich the district's ecological system.

On the other hand, the 2nd Ordinary Meeting discussed other important issues, including, education, health, security, internal revenue, water and sanitation and other development programmes.

The DCE announced that the government was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring massive infrastructural development across the nation.

Even though some contractors, he said, had not been effective on some of the projects, the assembly had been able to construct one No. 3-unit classroom block with furniture, 4-seater Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP) toilet, and urinal for the Tolon Model Junior High School, at the cost of GH¢58,024.30, a one No. 3-unit classroom block with furniture, 4-seater KVIP toilet and urinal for the Kumbungu Senior High School, at the cost of GH¢58,047.35, construction of one No. 3-bedroom bungalow for the police in Tolon, at GH¢43,741.80, and another GH¢58,999.25 one No. 3-unit classroom block with furniture, toilet and urinal for the Bogu-Palgu Primary School.

Others are, construction of a 6-unit classroom block, library, office, store, KVIP and urinal for Lingbung-Gurigu, at the cost of GH¢144,960.50, a 6-unit classroom block, library, office, store, water closet and urinal for the Tolon Senior High School, funded by the Ghana education Trust Fund (GETFund) at sum of GH¢273.058.80 and a 6-unit classroom block each for the Namdu and Tindan communities, at the cost of GH¢138,039.67 and GH¢142,987.60 respectively.

The assembly is also putting up a new bungalow for the District Coordinating Director at the cost of GH¢248,460.00 with Messrs AESL of Tamale as consultant.

The assembly, he noted, had also provided some water and sanitation facilities, electricity, and health facilities for some communities.

Conversely, The Chronicle can say that the Tolon-Kumbungu District Assembly is not doing much in mobilising funds and other resources internally, to initiate its own local projects. Meanwhile, one of the core functions of the District Assembly is to put in place programmes and strategies for effective the mobilisation of resources necessary for the overall development of the district, and finance is one of the critical resources needed for the sustainable development of programmes.

In his address, Iddi-Manzah said that the assembly's performance in local revenue collection as at June 30, 2010, stood at GH¢42,950.11 out of the target revenue figure of GH¢63,110.10.

The DCE intimated that the assembly's revenue performance was fast dwindling, and urged the collectors and the assembly members to effectively educate the people to honour their tax obligations.

In the area of water provision, the assembly, in collaboration with NORPREP, and UNICEF/IWASH, had drilled some 25 boreholes in 17 communities, and also initiated moves for the extension of the Tamale water supply system to the Dindo, Gurimanchegu Yili, Garishgu, Gbandu, Gburimani, Vogu, Voggu-Kpalsogu and Voggu-Kushibo communities.

However, Iddi-Manzah said that out of the 25 boreholes, eight were successful, and his office was negotiating with NORPREP, which financed the project, to possibly shift from borehole provision to extension of the Tamale water supply system to the target communities, to reduce the incidence of the guinea worm disease.

Other sanitation facilities were also being provided to some communities in the district.

The DCE was however, appreciative of the relative peace and security the area was enjoying, and appealed to the chiefs and youth to assist the District Security Committee (DISEC) to further maintain the peace, to attract investors to the area.

Even though Tolon-Kumbungu District is the nearest district to Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, with just about 20 kilometers interval, it remains one of the most deprived areas in the region.

Investors and other organisations are yet to show interests in establishing in the district, to create the needed job opportunities for the people.

Mr. Iddi-Manzah also used the occasion to appeal to chiefs, members of the assembly and departmental heads, to encourage the people to fully participate in the next month's National Population Census.

He also appealed to the people in the district to observe good personal hygiene.