One district, One factory project starts in Cape Coast
The implementation of the one-district, one-factory project has commenced in four Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central Region.
The factories, which are at various stages of completion, include a potato processing factory in the Gomoa West District, a block moulding factory in the Awutu Senya West District, a pineapple processing factory in the Ekumfi District and a fruit processing factory in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Municipality.
Speaking at the Central Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) meeting in Cape Coast on Friday, the Central Regional Minister, Mr Kwamena Duncan, said raw materials for the running of the factories were available, adding that some of the factories were almost 50 per cent complete.
He said the factories were already providing jobs for some of the youth in the region, saying, “upon completion, I am sure more of the youth would be employed”.
The meeting, which had in attendance various heads of department and organisations, was to monitor and evaluate the performance of the various sectors of the regional coordinating council in the region.
Security
Presenting a report on the state of security in the region, the minister called for a strategic national security plan to tackle the growing rate of crime at Kasoa.
He said as one of the fastest growing communities in the country, with a very rapid rate of expansion, with people from different nationalities, there was the need for the security agencies to put in stringent measures to curb the menace.
He further commended the Central Regional Police Command for its commitment to fight crime in the region.
Mr Duncan said a stakeholder engagement on education had been held by the RCC to find out problems of the schools and provide the necessary solutions to them.
He also touched on education and said problems facing the schools had been made known to the appropriate authorities for consideration.
Speaking on sanitation, Mr Duncan said although there were still challenges in the area of sanitation, there had been some improvement at the various assemblies.
Last year, he said in the area of sanitation, the region moved from the seventh position to the fifth position on the District League Table.
Mr Duncan called on all stakeholders and departmental heads in the region to work towards the region’s development, saying the Central Region, with its status as the first capital of the country, could not remain so poor.
He charged them to work harder and adopt more effective supervisory roles in their departments to move the communities and the region's development forward, adding that they must be focused as they discharged their duties creditably.
Giving a brief overview of the agricultural sector, the Central Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr Gershon Wodzrah, said the swine fever outbreak, which attacked pigs in the region, had been brought under control.
He noted that there had been a ban on the movement of pigs from the region and said affected farms had also been closed down.
He further urged farmers to engage in good animal husbandry practices.
The occasion was used to cut the sod for the construction of a three-storey presidential lodge on the Regional Coordinating Council premises.