More than ?670 billion has been saved from the proceeds of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPIC) Initiative for this year.

The amount will be distributed to the various District Assemblies in the country to embark on development projects which would reduce the poverty levels of the people.

The President, Mr. J. A. Kufuor, announced this yesterday at the beginning of his week- long tour of the Ashanti Region. He said the development projects, when fully completed, would prove skeptics wrong about the wisdom in the HIPIC initiative.

The President said government was committed to enhancing cocoa production in the country and to improve on the lives of farmers in the country.

That, he said, was the rationale behind the provision of fertilizers, spraying machines and other farming inputs. In his welcome address, Obogumanhene, Nana Owusu Asiamah, called on the government to ensure the full completion of the Juaso-Obogu road.

He said the people of Obogu were happy that the government had embarked on the road project which many government had failed to do.