The North East Region is witnessing a massive infrastructure facelift through the government’s flagship Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP) initiative spearheaded by the Northern Development Authority (NDA).
About One Hundred and Ninety-One (191) of the IPEP infrastructure projects have been rolled out in the region since the implementation of the programme begun in 2017.
THE CUSTODIAN has gathered that One Hundred and Four (104) out of the total number have thus far been completed and handed over to the beneficiary communities across the six Municipal and Districts Assemblies in the region.
The Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Progrmme (IPEP) is a special Government flagship programme aimed at prioritizing the development of underserved communities, with the allocation of One Million dollars per Constituency promised made by then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo to fund selected development projects.
Upon assuming office as President in 2017, 10-member teams were constituted in the then Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions to conduct a region-wide needs assessment exercise to afford beneficiary communities the opportunity to determine their priority needs.
Some of the priority projects being executed under the IPEP intervention include the construction of School blocks and Classroom Furniture, Rural Clinics and accommodation facilities for Health personnel, re-shaping of feeder roads to facilitate the movement of farm produce, Electrification poles, Tractors and accessories, Boreholes, Institutional Toilet facilities among others.
The acting Northern East Regional Director of the NDA, Mr. Issah Salifu Musah, in a media interaction in Nalerigu said a unique feature of the roll-out of the IPEP was the adoption of the bottom-up approach, which underscores the significance of the projects for the people in the beneficiary communities, and expressed the hope that, they will do whatever it takes to ensure the facilities stand the test of time.
According to Mr. Musah, these massive investments in the Constituencies is a manifestation of Government’s commitment to providing the basic social needs of the people in other to improve upon living conditions in the rural areas.
Mr. Musah said, to further deepen the NDA’s resolve to play a leading role in the development space in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ), which encompasses the five operational regions of the NDA, a Stakeholder Mapping Exercise has been initiated to enable the Authority compile data on all key stakeholders such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Development partners, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) operating in the zone.
This will ensure the effective roll-out of its Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS) launched by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
