The Member of Parliament (MP) for Afram Plains North in the Eastern Region, Emmanuel Aboagye Didieye, has pledged to use his car loan from Parliament to rehabilitate an abandoned pontoon at Akosombo and send it to his constituency which is completely surrounded by the Volta Lake to aid the movement of goods and services in the area.
The main aim of the Afram Plains North legislator is to open up the north-eastern part of Afram Plains to the Volta Region from Agodeke in Afram Plains in the Eastern Region to Kpando Torkor and Aveme Torkor both in the Volta Region to help boost economic activities between the two regions and also help create employment for the people in the area.
In line with this objective, Hon Aboagye Didieye on Thursday paid a visit to the managing director of the Volta Lake Transport Limited, Erik Yarboi, to finalise arrangement for the rehabilitation of the pontoon whose two engines have completely broken down.
The MP said even though there is one pontoon plying between Adawso in the Kwahu South District and Ekye Amanfrom in the Afram Plains South District, �there is no pontoon serving the people of Afram Plains North who have socio-economic and cultural ties with the people of the Volta Region and therefore depend on �bad� canoes powered by outboard motors at the peril of their lives to travel between the two regions.
�We have had incidents of boats getting capsized and innocent people losing their lives while travelling between Agodeke and Kpando Torkor and therefore as MP for the area, I want to see an end to this problem and provide safe transport for the people in my constituency that is why I have sacrificed my Parliament�s car loan money to undertake this project,� he said stressing that when that is done, he would be a fulfilled MP.
Mr Yarboi told the MP that engineers with his outfit were assessing the cost of rehabilitation which would include total overhaul of the deck and the hall as well as passenger areas.
According to him, in a week or two, the total cost would be made available to him so that the MP would be given the green light to rehabilitate the pontoon christened �Nana Kwasi Gyimah�.
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