Hawa Koomson’s ‘Sneaky’ Visit to Upper East Region Sparks Anger

By:brightwebtv.com/nana asare barimah

There is a widespread disquiet among some residents and members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper East Region over a rather evasive visit by the Minister of Special Development Initiatives Mrs. Hawa Koomson to the region in the face of widespread reservations and challenges confronting the implementation of a project under its auspices dubbed One Village One Dam.

Following media reports suggesting shoddy work in the ongoing construction of Dams in rural communities in the North of the country, the sector Minister reportedly visited the Upper East region on Thursday June 13 to ascertain the situation in respect of the construction of the dams.

Mrs. Hawa Koomson who visited some dam sites in the Tempane District of the Upper East region expressed satisfaction at the work done so far.
The visit of the Minister has however been met with discontent and disappointment following what some party members have described as unsatisfactory especially because she failed to visit the dams that were widely reported in the media as poorly constructed.
Sources within the rank and file of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the region say the failure of the minister to visit dam sites that have in the past week gained media attention and used as a barometer to question the commitment of government in implementing the project was worrying. For them, visiting those sites and reassuring the communities of further works on the said dams would have saved the party a great deal of stress.

Amongst other concerns raised by well-known party members who spoke to MyNewsGh.com on condition of anonymity were the failure of the minister to visit the families of victims who died in some of the dams and also meeting with party and government communicators for a briefing on how the ministry intends dealing with the challenges moving forward.
Checks with the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council also revealed a lack of involvement of the office, state agencies connected to the project and District and Municipal Chief Executives.
Just when one is tempted to appreciate the position of persons who have registered their reservations on the poorly planned visit of the Minister, the media in the region have also been left wondering why there was a seeming blackout of journalists from media houses in the region especially as issues of the dams have dominated the media space in the region in the past weeks.
An obviously shocked reporter said “how can you come and you would not even involve the journalists who have been reporting on these dams to even take you to the places they visited [where there were bad reports]” he questioned.

In the Upper East Region, 83 out of 150 earth dam are being constructed and are at various stages of completion but have been faced with some challenges.

Source:MyNewsGh.com/