The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Kofi Adusei, has launched an appeal for funds to sustain the Social Investment Fund (SIF).

Mr Adusei called on the development partners, corporate bodies and donor agencies to come to the aid of the Fund so as "to alleviate the plight of our people, who are trapped in poverty and deprivation".

He said SIF since its establishment has assisted 1,021 communities within 101 districts and completed 871 sub-projects including 445 classroom blocks; 46 teachers’ quarters; 161 boreholes; 79 rural clinics and nurses’ quarters and 37 early childhood development centres.

Mr Adusei said SIF had also provided a total sum of 2.2 million dollars to 32 micro-finance institutions from 2003 to date as micro-loan funds for on lending to 14,000 individuals and organisations of which 80 per cent were poor females involved in income generating activities.

He said in spite of all these achievements, the Fund has a tall list for demand driven projects from about 120 communities that were crying for provision of school blocks, health facilities and micro-financing projects.

He referred to the demands of the people saying: "Interested partners, who may want to sponsor some of these communities, could contact SIF for detailed information kit on those sub-projects."

Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, commending SIF for its remarkable achievement and the judicious use of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Funds; Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund and African Development Bank, said the Fund needed new partnerships, top leverage extra resources to enable it to continue to provide the basic socio-economic infrastructure needs of the impoverished.

Mrs Effie Simpson Ekuban, SIF Board Chairperson, said five school projects selected by SIF needed immediate attention because their pupils were attending school under trees

These schools are Kangoogo Primary School in Telensi Namdam District; Sensa-Biu Primary School in Kassena Nankana District; Yidania Primary School in Kassena Nankana District all in the Upper East Region; Wantram D/A Primary School in Wassa Amenfi East District in the Western Rregion and Gyinakoma Catholic JSS in the Mfansteman District in the Central Region.

Ms Ama Serwaa Dapaah, Executive Director of SIF, said the significant increase in the enrolment at the basic school level had put more pressure on the already inadequate classroom blocks.

She said the gloomy situation in some of the schools would make people cry for such children whose future remained bleak if assistance did not come to them.