Zuarungu (UE) Feb. 3, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo at the week announced that government will rehabilitate more irrigation dams to facilitate small-scale irrigation farming during the off season.

The project will also provide water for livestock and domestic use during the dry season. Mr. Woyongo who made this known when he addressed a durbar of the chiefs and people of Zuarungu Traditional Area, near Bolgatanga during the celebration of their annual Ndaakoya festival. He said government was constructing additional 200 boreholes in the region.

Mr. Woyongo said government had lined up a number of programmes to develop the North and listed the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority, Northern Rural Growth Programme and the Rural Safety Net Project as examples.

The Minister urged the people to support the government to fast track the growth of the economy to enable the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

The Paramount Chief of the area, Naba Charles Azibaalam Ayamga called on government to give attention to the development of traditional institutions as a way of bettering the lot of the citizenry. He appealed to the government revisit the committee established to probe the violence, which erupted during the creation of Talensi-Nabdam District leading to the loss of lives and property.

Naba Azibaalam noted that even though chiefs play vital roles in national development the allowances paid to them was nothing to write home about and therefore appealed to government to rectify the anomaly. Mr. Epsona Harry Ayamga, Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive noted that the festival, which means abundance of harvest, was one of the occasions which could bring sons and daughters home to initiate development programmes.