A former Western Regional Minister and also a former Member of Parliament(MP) for Sefwi Wiawso, Paul Evans Aidoo has described the 'One-District One-Warehouse' policy in the Western North Region as a complete waste of the country's resources.
He, has, therefore called on any future government to do a broader consultation with the people in any region and look at how beneficial a project will be to them.
Mr Paul Evans Aidoo made this disclosure when speaking in an interview with UTV's Western North Regional Correspondent, Kwabena Dickson at Sefwi Ewiase, a small farming community near the Western North regional capital, Sefwi Wiawso.
According to the former legislature, constructing a warehouse is not a bad idea but it should have been constructed for the regions who grow crops like maize, rice, beans for commercial purposes and storage.
He said after the construction of about nine warehouses in the region, not even an okro has been stored in the warehouses.
He challenged the media to visit all the warehouses in the Western North region to ascertain for themselves whether any food has been stored since its completion.
" . . Schools need logistics, text books and other materials for their academic works in the region, but why are we wasting money constructing a warehouse which is not functional all in the name of providing contract to families and friends in government?" he said.
He added that maybe the farmers in the Western North region were expecting to recieve farm inputs for their farming activities but here is the case the government has wasted money in the construction of warehouses.
The former NDC Member of Parliament for Sefwi Wiawso has declared his intention not to contest again for the Sefwi Wiawso Seat in the upcoming NDC Parliamentary primaries slated in May, 2023. He lost his Parliamentary seat to Dr Kwaku Afriyie who is on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP) for the first time in the 2016.
He was once again defeated in the 2020 Elections which created a lot of tension in the Sefwi Wiawso constituency.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in October 2017 rolled out the government’s one-district, one-warehouse programme with a sod-cutting for work to begin on the first warehouse project in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.
The warehouse project is a component of the government’s Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP).
Warehouses are to be constructed in the 216 districts to handle produce and store the anticipated surpluses under the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs initiative.
Post-harvest losses
Performing the sod-cutting President Akufo-Addo said the construction of the warehouses in all districts would not only minimise post-harvest losses but also improve the marketing of agricultural produce.
He said the warehouses would help address poor farm-level practices,handling and storage activities that exposed farm produce to moulds, rodents and other pests.
At the launch of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme in Sunyani in April 2017 , the President declared the intention of the government to construct 1,000 metric tonne-capacity warehouses in each of the 216 districts under its one- district, one-warehouse programme.
Source: Kwabena Dickson, UTV News Western North Regional correspondent
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
