Wa, April 20, GNA - The government has released an initial among of one billion cedis for the commencement of work on the new Wa court complex building project which is expected to start in June. The court complex project when completed will comprise two high courts, one regional tribunal, two circuit courts and one district court.

This was made known by Mr Matthew Amponsah, Principal State Attorney in-charge of Upper West Region when he briefed a seven-member team of the parliamentary committee on judiciary at Wa on Tuesday. The team led by Mr. David Appasepa, and MP for Bolgatanga and vice chairman of the committee is on a two-day tour of the region to assess the level of facilities available to the judiciary with regard to court premises, residential accommodation and other facilities in all the five districts.

The districts are Wa, Lawra, Jirapa, Sissala and Nadowli. The other members of the team are Prince Oduro-Mensah, MP Techiman South , Mr. Cletus Avoka, MP Bawku West, and Mr. I.K.N. Ofori, MP Sefwi Wiawso.

The rest are Mr. Adu Yeboah, MP Agona East and Alhahji Abukari Sumani, MP Choggu-tisshigu.

Mr. Amponsah told the lawmakers that the original cost of the project by 2002 estimates was 5.5 billion cedis, which, he said, is likely to be reviewed.

At Wa, the team inspected facilities at Wa high court and the circuits during which some members expressed satisfaction compared to what they saw during their last visit in 2002 on their regional hearings of public perception of corruption in the judiciary.

Earlier, the team had interacted with the regional Minister Sahanun Mogtari and all the five district chief executives.

In the discussions that followed, some members appealed to district assemblies to plan and budget for the provision of court houses and bungalows for the judiciary by using some of the HIPC fund.