The Volta Regional branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has questioned the claim by Agric Minister, Afriyie Akoto, that an uncompleted borehole was the share of the South Tongu District from a US$2.8 million grant split between four districts.
This means that the borehole, whose pictures have been sighted by Whatsup News gulped a whopping US$ 712,000.
“The Volta NDC is calling upon the Minister to come out with further and better particulars because when $2.85million is shared among four (4) districts, each district will receive a little over $712,000. Hence the total work done in South Tongu, to a large extent, Volta Region leaves much to be desired,” the NDC said in a statement.
The statement which is signed by Sorkpa K. Agbleze, the NDC’s Volta Regional Communications Officer expressed dissatisfaction with the answers given by the Minister of Food and Agriculture when he was put on the spot to account for the funds.
According to the Minister, the borehole was what the share of South Tongu was from a US$2.85 million grant from the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF).
The grant which had been drawn from a trust arrangement with the World Bank was to be shared among four districts in the country, including South Tongu in the Volta Region.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto in his answer to a question posed by Hon. Kobena Woyome, Member of Parliament for South Tongu said the borehole project was South Tongu’s part of the booty from the funds for Ghana’s Peri-urban Vegetables Value Chain Project (GPVVCP).
“Volta NDC can confirm that separate visits by the Member of Parliament for South Tongu and other interest groups reveal that, the only significant thing done with the $2.85 million fund in South Tongu is an uncompleted borehole, which was used to test the salinity of the water and subsequently abandoned. This abandoned facility located at Hikpo has not in any way benefited the vegetable farmers in South Tongu as the Minister sought to portray,” the angry NDC branch slammed the Minister in their statement.
The Agric Minister, who is reputed to be able to sleep on a dime has often been accused of being out of touch with reality.