The government has set up centres in the Brong Ahafo Region to receive Ghanaians and refugees following the current unrest in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, should the need arise.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr. Ernest Akubuor Debrah disclosed this to journalists in Accra yesterday when he made a presentation on his region at the 'meet the press' series. He said emergency kit, such as tents have been acquired and "the only problem is that we are waiting for NADMO for logistical support".

He said the site could accommodate about 3000 people. He said Ghanaians should pray that the situation in Cote d'Ivoire did not escalate or else it would pose a major problem on the country in terms of over stretching the economy and Ghana's own limited infrastructure.

Mr. Debrah said a committee made up of the military, police, CEPS, NADMO and health professionals has been constituted to handle any emergency that arises. He said already the committee had visited the over eight entry points into the country from Cote d'Ivoire to assess the potential problems.

He said a team of joint police and military personnel patrol the borders daily and submit situation reports daily to him.

The Brong Ahafo Region, the Regional Minister said had seen lots of improvements in the areas of infrastructure development, education, health and agriculture.

On education, Mr. Debrah announced that one hundred and eighty-seven classroom blocks and twenty-eight teachers' accommodation at a total cost of ?25.5bn have been constructed to boost the education sector of the region.

He said a total of ?3.1bn has been spent on the supply of 17,224 tables and chairs to schools in the region. In addition, about 750 teacher trainees, he said, are on sponsorship from the District Assemblies to boost the number of teachers.

He said: "the above measures have resulted in a modest improvement in the performance of our schools at the BECE level from 49.6% in 2000 to 54.8% in 2001".

Touching on health, Mr. Debrah said in order to increase the number of health personnel in the region, a programme had been instituted to sponsor "student nurses under bond to come and serve in their districts after training".

He said each District Assembly is mandated to sponsor two nursing students this year.

On agriculture he said: "the region intends to boost further agriculture by concentrating on improving the feeder road network, access to good drinking water, improved health care and electricity for farmers in the rural areas".

He said construction of irrigation dams is being tackled to assist farmers to produce all year round. He announced that Afrique Link Company has acquired the defunct tomato factory in Wenchi, which is expected to be reactivated soon "to process tomatoes into puree".

Speaking on infrastructure development he said government has provided funds to the tune of ?184.4 bn since last year to maintain the highway network in the region. The rehabilitation of the 30km Wenchi-Sampa road is ongoing and it is expected that "this will open up the north western corner of Brong Ahafo".

He said ten towns in the region have been provided with small town water systems while work is ongoing to provide additional six towns with the same systems as part of measures to curb water shortages in the rural areas. He said a company in the USA, LEMNA International has presented a feasibility study to Ghana Water Company Limited to find permanent solutions to the water problems of Sunyani, the regional capital. Mr. Debrah said the region has investment potentials in tourism and clay products, adding that they are in the process of developing the Kintampo and Fuller water falls among others for tourism purposes.

Brong Ahafo is the second largest region in the country in terms of landmass with an area of 39,557,08 sq kms. It has a population of about 1,824,827 with an average growth rate of 3.1%. The economically active population that is between 15-64 years is made up of 842,230 approximately, out of which 73% live in the rural areas.