Takpo (U/W), March 30, GNA - The chief and people of Takpo in the Nadowli District have expressed their gratitude to the government for the fairness it has so far exhibited in the distribution of the nation's resources since it assumed office.

In a speech to climax their "Wilaa" festival of the town on Saturday, Naa Widana Banbeu 11 mentioned new well furnished school buildings, access roads, capitation grant, the National Youth Employment Programme and efforts being made to connect Takpo to the national grid as laudable examples of the government's good work.

The three-day festival, which was celebrated under the theme; "our farming modernize or perish; SOS" offered an opportunity for residents and citizens living outside the town to fraternize and thank God for the blessings of the immediate past year while they prayed for the new year.

Naa Widana Banbeu said as a result of capitation grant and

the good learning facilities that had been provided, enrolment

figures in the area had increased enormously and on quality

side. He said 70 per cent of their pupils who took part in Basic

Education Certificate Examination were successful in 2007 as

against 30 per cent success in 2006. Aside of these positive developments in his community, he

appealed to the government to take a second look at farming

where outmoded methods together with the erratic rainfall

were still making things difficult for farmers to achieve their

targets. He said provision of irrigation facilities would bring a new

dawn for farmers to increase production and their incomes. Mrs. Winifred Dy-yaka, Upper West Regional Deputy Minister,

said hard work, honesty, transparency and accountability that

were cultural heritage of most people in the country were

gradually being lost to the youth in particular. She appealed to chiefs and elders to take a front line role in

ensuring that Ghanaians' dignity and pride as a people were

restored through the eradication of greed and other self-centred

interests that had taken a better part of many people. Mrs Dy-yaka advised citizens of the town to design concrete

action plans for the implementation of the themes of the

festival and to also monitor their progress so that they could

keep track of their achievements and challenges. Wing Commander Eric Dakurah (RTD), Nadowli District Chief

Executive, assured the people that their community would be

connected to the national grid before the end of the year.