Garu-Tempane District achieves 80 per cent development plans

Garu-Tempane (UE), April 7, GNA - The Garu-Tempane District in the Upper East Region has achieved 80 per cent of its Medium Term Development Plans from the years 2014 to 2016.

The District, which focuses on improving upon the socio-economic conditions of the people has achieved that much at ensuring and sustaining micro economic stability, accelerating agricultural modernization and sustainable natural resource management.

The attainment of uniform infrastructure and human settlement development, human development, productivity and empowerment, transparent, responsive and accountable governance for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 gave indicators that the District has been able to execute its medium term development plans.

Mr Reuben Kaaraa-iibu Yenli, the District Planning Officer, disclosed this at a two-day meeting on the 2014 to 2017 District Medium Term Development Plan review organized by the Assembly, and funded by CARE International-Ghana at Garu in the Upper East Region.

Mr Yenli noted that the District focused on some thematic areas, which included ensuring and sustaining micro economic stability, education, health and the socio-economic growth of the people.

He said the District made a giant move in revenue mobilization from 2014 to 2016, achieving 217,413.39 Ghana Cedis out of a target of 307,061.00 Ghana Cedis in 2014 and 274,725.78 Ghana Cedis out of a target of 341,101.00 Ghana Cedis, while in 2016, 313,384 Ghana Cedis was achieved out of a target of 425,440.4 Ghana Cedis.

He said in order to enhance competitiveness in the private sector, the District Assembly had built a number of sheds and stores among others in the market, and rehabilitated roads to improve on the road network, which would connect the communities and allow farmers to have easy access to the market to sell their farm products.

Mr Yenli said about twenty irrigational dams had been constructed for agricultural purposes, while the agriculture department had trained some farmers on new farming methods to boost agricultural productivity in the area.

Mr Francis Akologo Awini, the Assistant District Director of Education in charge of Planning, in a presentation disclosed that to improve on quality education in the District,  875 teachers had been given capacity building on mathematics and science .

He said the District had provided support to 63 teachers on the Universal Teacher Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) programme, in the various colleges of education, provided teaching and learning materials such as textbooks, teaching guides, crayons and exercise books for 92 schools.

In order to ensure equity in the deployment of teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning at the pre-tertiary level of education in the District, conscious effort was being made to deploy more teachers to deprived schools in the District, thereby reducing the wide disparity in the Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTR) as well as the Pupil Trained Teacher Ratios (PTTR), he said.

Mr Donatus Nbonibe Abaane, the District Nutrition Officer, said due to frequent education on good health and prevention of infectious diseases, neonatal deaths had reduced remarkably in the District.

He said teenage pregnancy had reduced from 1.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent, while family planning patronage had increased from 23.2 per cent to 26.4 per cent during the period under review.

GNA

Read Full Story