KNWD ASSEMBLY TO GET NEW OFFICE COMPLEX SOON 11TH SEPTEMBER, 2019

The Kassena-Nankana West District Assembly [KNWDA] in the Upper East Region, will soon relocate into a modern two-storey office complex located off the Y-junction point on the Paga- Nakolo-Navio road. It would be recalled that, the Assembly was carved out of the then Kassena-Nankana Municipality in 2007 and inaugurated on 29^th February, 2008 having been established by Legislative Instrument [L.I] 1855.

 

The New Assembly Block Complex

However since its establishment, the Assembly has been operating from an old town council building in Paga, capital of the district. But this will soon change as the Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Tangoba Abayage has inspected construction works on the new office complex which has a capacity of 20 rooms and being funded solely by the Government of Ghana. At the time the minister called at the project site, the super structure had taken shape, stairs constructed and the first floor was cast while pillars were erected for laying the second and last floor to the building.

Hon Abayage was in the district with her team on Wednesday to climax her duty tours to all 15 districts across the region. It came to light during interactions with the contractor’s representative on site that, the whole building had only three wash rooms to which the minister responded was not too adequate for a 20-room building. She thus suggested that about 10 wash rooms should rather be provided within the building and asked the contractor to ensure that was incorporated into the construction since huge numbers of people would visit the assembly on daily basis for service and other forms of engagements.

The site was handed over to the contractor in April, 2018 and he started actual works by June the same year with a job delivery period of 18 months. As of this month, the project had traveled 14 months and has four more months to completion implying that, work was within schedule. 

Hon. Abayage noted that upon its completion, the new office will create a conducive working environment for staff of the various departments of the Assembly which should lead to speedy execution of assignments. But she also observed that, with the volume of work left to finish, there was no way the project would be completed in the next four months and stated that, extending the time would not be out of place. She charged the contractor to take his time and deliver a quality job by the end. 

Meanwhile, the minister also made time to inspect a new 20-bed maternity block at the Paga Health Centre that was constructed and furnished by the Assembly with resources from the District Development Facility. A children’s ward which was also refurbished by the Assembly and provided with beds, was inspected by the minister. The maternity block has a theatre for deliveries, lying-in unit, labour ward and a nurses’ station among others. Meanwhile, the health centre as an entity, has a total of 56 beds comprising all wards.

District Director of Health Services, Madam Juliana Anam-erime who guided the minister through the health facility announced that for the past three years, the district had not recorded any maternal death. She said the health centre had grown and gained lots of experience in health service delivery through the years and also had the needed human resource and adequate installations to qualify as a full hospital. She thus appealed to the regional minister to help push for its upgrading to a hospital status and also, assist in providing additional modern health equipment to enhance their service delivery to the populace.

Madam Abayage in response, commended the staff of the centre for their zero record of maternal deaths over such a long while and pledged that, she will do her best to lobby persons and institutions such as the Ministry of Health and the First Lady’s outfit, the Rebecca Foundation to extend some support to the facility.

She later joined the District Chief Executive, Mr. Gerard Ataogye in presenting 95 pieces of dual desks to the Paga R/C Primary School and 30 pieces of same to a near-by English-and-Arabic school. The DCE disclosed that, his Assembly had already procured and distributed some 1,500 dual desks to 20 selected schools district-wide. He revealed that the district had a total of 67 primary schools, 54 junior high schools and 67 kindergartens and that with all of these, the Assembly could not satisfy all their needs at a go but that, it will continue the efforts to cater for them regardless.  

A total of 125 dual desks as presented to the schools in Paga

 Bongo District was the minister’s second point of call in the day. Here, she inspected a ware house in Bogrigo community which two additional structures as office and changing rooms of staff. These buildings had been roofed with minimal works to complete. She was taken on tour of the newly constructed Soe-Sanabisi CHPS Compound which had since been handed over to the district health directorate.

Still in Bongo, the minister inspected a completed 10-seat pour flush toilet at the Soe market enclave and also, inspected ongoing redevelopment works at the Soe main market which will turn the market into a well-planned and spacious one with modern stores to boost economic activities in the area.

Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly hosted Miss Abayage and her team to close the day. She was led the chief executive, Hon. Joseph Amiyuure to inspect a modern abattoir completed and commissioned in December, 2018 but which had since not been put to use. Consequently, the regional minister promised to called for a dialogue with all stakeholders in the butchers association in order to immediately occupy and use the facility as so much money had been invested in it. 

Interior view of the abattoir in Yorogor - Bolga Mun.

After touring the facility, she observed that any meat product that comes out the abattoir would have been deemed the cleanest meat for meals and for export. She then did her very last stop at the Azalonge Primary School on Sherigu. It was an addition of three-unit classroom block with a computer laboratory, staff common room and a store.