Wa, Dec. 8, GNA - The government has since January 2009 awarded a to= tal of 257 projects, covering all developmental sector of the Upper West Regi= on, on contract at an estimated cost of GH¢55,239,600.51. The nine Municipal and district Assemblies has also undertaken a tot= al of 173 projects within the period. Alhaji Issahaku Salia, the Regional Minister, announced this when th= e region took its turn of the Ministry of Information's Regional "Meet the Press" series at Wa, on Tuesday.

He said the 257 projects received direct funding from Central Government while the 173 undertaken by the MDAs also got funding from the=

GETFUND, the District Wide Assistance Project (DWAP) and the District Development Fund (DDF).

During the two years under the Mills Administration, the Education sector received the highest number of 122 projects, Feeder Roads 74, Road= s and Highways 40, Water and Sanitation 15. Local Government and Health received two each while Communication and Youth and Sports also got one each. In the Education Sector, the Regional Minister said approval was giv= en to construct 12 classroom blocks in 12 Senior High Schools at the cost of=

GH¢3.36 million, out of which six had been completed and handed over to= the school authorities.

In line with the government's programme to eliminate Schools under Trees, 60 classroom blocks have been constructed under the GETFUND sponsorship package. Alhaji Salia said currently, an auditorium and an ICT Complex were under construction at the Nusrat Jahan College of Education while the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies would soon be benefiting=

from the a modern multi-purpose library complex.

The Regional Minister said the region received 32,834 already sewn an= d pre-cut uniforms and 949,483 free exercise books from government while a total of 59 basic schools were benefiting from the School Feeding Program= me. On security, Alhaji Salia pointed out that the region was one of the most peaceful in the country with the lowest crime rate and commended the=

Regional and District Security Councils and the Police for their hard wor= k. Mr John Tia Akologu, Minister for Information, who facilitated the Press Conference, commended the region for maintaining a very peaceful environment. The Information Minister appealed to the media to galvanize support for the government to deliver.