Ashanti Regional Minister enumerates government’s developmental projects in the region
Despite agitations by a section of residents in the Ashanti Region about lack of development, the Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah has stressed that the region has not been left out completely in the sharing of the national development.
According to the Minister, there are numerous developmental projects that have been initiated by the NPP government since they inherited the reins of government in 2017 with some fully completed whiles others are at various stages of completion.
Simon Osei Mensah made these remarks on Wednesday, August 24, when he interacted with the media at the Ministers’ Press Briefing in Accra to bring to light some of the developmental projects in the region which is considered as the stronghold of the NPP.
Speaking at the media briefing, the Minister stressed that a lot has been done in areas of Health, Education, Roads, Infrastructure among others by the government in the region.
Commenting on the achievements of government in the area of roads, Simon Osei Mensah disclosed that a total of 336 road construction contracts have been awarded since 2017 totaling 6.498.75km. Out of the total, 1515.06km have been completed so far whiles the remaining are at different completion stages.
He further indicated that Parliament has approved a loan facility for the Construction of the Suame Interchange.
According to the Minister, one major achievement of government in the area of health is the abolishment of the Capitation Policy introduced by the previous government in the region. Describing the policy as a “killer policy” for causing unfortunate deaths in the region, he noted that the people in the region are forever grateful to President Akufo-Addo for the suspension of the policy in the first half of his first year.
On health infrastructure, Simon Osei Mensah was quick to mention that the government has not abandoned health projects initiated by the previous government in the region as often heard in the media. He explained that out of the 7 projects inherited by the NPP government, 3 of them have been fully completed whilst all the remaining are above 80 percent completion. The Bekwai and Tepa Municipal Hospitals have been completed and in use while Konongo is completed awaiting commissioning.
The government flagship Agenda 111 Hospital Project, the Minister mentioned are progressing steadily in the region. He revealed that 13 of them have been started and are at various completion stages.
On the area of Education, Simon Osei Mensah noted that the Ashanti Region can be said to be one of the major beneficiaries of the government’s Free SHS Initiative. Due to the Policy, SHS enrolment increased by 63.7percent between 2016/2017 and 2021/2022 with total beneficiaries totaling over 100,000 students.
He further mentioned that about 970 school infrastructural projects, mainly Basic and SHS, have been awarded to contractors since 2017. 327 projects have been completed, 393 are ongoing whilst 250 projects have been stalled due to a number of reasons.
He added that 19 TVET Schools have been initiated in the region in order to promote the government’s agenda of Technical and Education. According to the Minister, majority of the projects have been completed whilst others are at significant stages of completion.
On legacy projects in the region, Simon Osei Mensah made mention of the Kumasi Airport Expansion Project, Accommodation for the Judiciary, Kejetia/Central Market Phase II Project and the Akumadan Green House Village.
Despite the numerous projects, the minister admitted that “government has not been able to bridge the gap between the regional expectation for infrastructure development and the actual delivery.” He however stated that he is of the “strongest conviction that the NPP government has not performed badly in terms of the provision of development facilities in the Ashanti Region.”
Find the full details of the Minister’s Press Briefing below;
