President inaugurates Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic project

President John Dramani Mahama, Monday inaugurated the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Backbone Infrastructure project with the assurance that the government would spend judiciously to advance national development.

The US$38 million project funded by the government of Denmark is meant to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural communities and promote Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications to support education, health delivery, e-government business development,     agriculture development and national security, among others.

The project, which stretches nearly 800 kilometres from Ho in the Volta Region to Bawku in the Upper East Region, is linked to the existing network in other parts of the country and facilitates network access to 20 district and municipal assemblies and 120 communities.

Designed and implemented by Alcatel-Lucen, a leading innovator in the field of networking and communications technology, products and service, the project had the construction of a data centre and a managed service component to ensure the security of data on the entire network.

President Mahama said massive injection of resources was going into tangible and intangible projects across the country, with the view to improving the lot of the people.

Technology moving fast 

President Mahama mentioned the fast rate at which technology was moving and said Ghana could not afford to be left behind.

That was why the government was investing heavily in information technology (IT).

The President said work on the main campus of the University of Health and Allied Sciences in the Volta Region would soon be completed and subsequently inaugurated.

He also indicated the government's determination to see to the completion of the Eastern Corridor Road project.

Besides, construction works on the community day senior high schools were progressing.

Danish ambassador 

The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Margit Thomsen, said her country was proud to be part of the project.

She expressed the hope that the project would help Ghana make massive strides in the IT environment.

"Ghana is doing well in infrastructure in ICT," she said, and added that she was happy that Danish taxpayers' money had been spent judiciously.

The Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane-Boamah, took the audience through the history of the project and said the project  was one of the best things to happen to the nation as it sought to open up the country to IT.