President Akufo-Addo has visited one of the eight sites for the “One Village, One Dam” programme at Anyorpia in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region as part of his seven-day tour of the three northern regions.

The Bongo District is the first to start work on the dams in the region, even though the region is experiencing some intermittent rainfall.

The contractor, Nana Adjei Boateng of A.B Ziko Company Limited, in an interview with the media, said so far the rains have not affected his work, adding that the work is going according to schedule.

The company’s Engineer, Douglas Twum, said the project is far beyond dug-out and has the capacity to hold enough water to serve other communities around the dam.

In his view, the dam at Anyorpia and others under construction would also provide water for livestock.

President Akufo-Addo was impressed with the work done so far and urged the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Bongo District, Peter Ayinbisa to support the contractor to work faster to get the dams ready before the rains intensify, so that they can store enough water to serve the surrounding communities in the dry season.

The President cut a sod also for the reconstruction of a bridge and the construction of the Bongo-Balungu-Namoo Road.

The road links the Upper East Region to the Republic of Burkina-Faso through Namoo and Yelwongo communities.

The assembly member for Balungu, Dominic Akologo, said the bridge on the Balungu-Namoo Road is very important to the people of the area because it links them to the district capital, Bongo.

He said several appeals for the reconstruction of the bridge have not yielded any positive results in the past and hoped the sod cutting would lead to the construction of the bridge.

According to him, in 2015, six people lost their lives while trying to cross the river when the state of the bridge worsened.

Earlier some students of the Bolgatanga Senior High School came out to meet the president on his arrival at Wonkongo, with placards; some of which read, “Thank you for the Free SHS”, “We are grateful, Mr. President”, “Free SHS has come to save our parents from paying school fees”, “Thanks for free uniforms and text books under free SHS.”

The President, later, addressed a durbar of chiefs and people at Bongo.