Tano-Adwumam (Ash), March 4, GNA - Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, First Lady and President of the 31st December Women's Movement (DWM), on Friday launched a rural housing scheme at Tano-Adwumam in the Kwabre District to end her five-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

The projects involve the rehabilitation and completion of old and abandoned houses, construction of core-houses, drainage and erosion control in the communities.

The Kwabre District Assembly is funding them through the Rural Housing Fund of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Nana Konadu said the government's decentralisation programme and the provision of good roads, water, electricity and communication facilities are meant to bridge the gap between the rural and urban centres.

She pointed out that the government has its development plans programmed up to 2050, with the first phase ending in 2020. The First Lady said the plans, which are aimed at improving the lives of Ghanaians, include the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP), Youth in Agriculture Programme and the Poverty Alleviation Fund.

She appealed to the District Assembly to extend the facility to other communities, saying the government is committed to the development of the people. Mr J.C. Appiah-Ofori, Ashanti Regional Director of the Department of Rural Housing, said the scheme would help rural dwellers to put their houses in good shape.

He said the fund is supposed to be a revolving one, and urged the beneficiaries to pay the loan on schedule to enable others to benefit from it. Mr Samuel Nuamah-Donkor, Ashanti Regional Minister, said the government is doing all that it can to help alleviate poverty, illiteracy, ignorance and diseases and urged all to rally solidly behind it.

He called on the people to refrain from the politics of rancour, blackmail, hatred and acrimony, which retard national development. Mr Ernest Opoku-Fofie, Kwabre District Chief Executive, said the district has purchased 150 bags of cement and 20 bundles of roofing sheets for the commencement of the project in the town.

Nana Kumigyahene, Chief of Tano-Adwumam, in a speech read for him by Mr Bismark Adu-Ansere, assembly member for the area, appealed for the gravelling of the Kenyase-Tano-Adwumam-Fawoade and Bosore-Wadie-Adwumakase roads to reduce the flow of traffic on the Kumasi-Mampong road.

He also appealed to the government to help the three communities in the area, namely Bosore, Manhyia and Tano-Adwumam, complete their electrification projects begun five years ago.