TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MILLENNIUM VILLAGES PROJECT...Opoku Manu advises beneficiary communities (PAGE 42, SEPT 15, 2010)

THE third annual review meeting of the Bonsaaso Millennium Villages Project (MVP) has been held in Kumasi with a call on the stakeholders of the project to take advantage of the available opportunities to fight poverty in the project area.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, who made the call, said the fight against extreme poverty demanded sacrifices and hard work to achieve results, and it was important that the stakeholders worked extra hard.
Mr Opoku-Manu, who is also the board chairman of the MVP, stated that it was important for the Amansie West District Assembly, which is the implementing district, to incorporate best practices for the project implementation in the beneficiary communities.
The MVP has, among its objectives, been eliminating hunger and malnutrition by increasing production, access and utilisation of nutritious foods, and improving livelihood and incomes of people in the beneficiary communities.
Mr Opoku-Manu stressed the need for the district to take advantage of the MVP for the realisation of the objectives of its poverty reduction strategies.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Charles Oti Prempeh, stated that the effective collaboration built between the district assembly and the MVP had created a platform for the exchange of ideas, which had sustained the gains of the project.
“We cannot afford to lose the good interventions of the project and everything possible will be made to continue the programmes that have been initiated,” he added.
Mr Prempeh touched on the threat of galamsey operations to the project, adding that in spite of efforts to arrest the problem, it appeared the battle was far from being won.
He said action plans for the execution of projects under the MVP had been formulated at the community levels as a way of getting the people involved in the project execution.
The DCE said the project was also building the capacity of community members in the cluster to address development needs of the areas.
He stated that the school meals programme that had been established under the MVP was one sure way of getting the children to enrol and stay in school.
The Bonsaaso Cluster Manager of the MVP, Mr Samuel Afram, said the project had improved access to medical services in the area as a result of equipping and establishing new clinics.
He said it had also increased access to the Internet and mobile phone services in the beneficiary communities.