Manso-Nkwanta (Ash), March 17, GNA - Nana Bi-Kusi Appiah II, Omanhene of Manso-Nkwanta Traditional Area, has pledged the commitment of the Chiefs in the area to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The MDG was adopted by the United Nations (UN) five years ago as a blueprint for building a better world in the 21st century, ranging from reducing poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education by 2015.

Nana Appiah commended UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Government for their dedication to development, especially of people in rural and deprived areas.

The President of the Traditional Council stated this when the Amansie West District Chief Executive, Mr Ben Kwakye-Adeefe, staff of the District Assembly and officials of the Bonsaso Millennium Village Project briefed the Chiefs on the importance of the project. Nana Appiah pledged the full support of the Chiefs to the Project and expressed the hope that the people of the Bonsaso area would sustain the programme and rekindle their communal spirit. Mr Emmanuel Asiedu, Co-ordinator of the project, said it was aimed at improving the quality and increasing access of children especially girls in and around Bonsaso, to education under a pilot programme of the MDG.

Mr Asiedu also stressed the importance of fighting diseases such as malaria through the promotion and the use of insecticides treated anti-malaria bed nets, as well as improve access to infrastructure such as energy, reliable water supply and transportation. The DCE said the District was selected as Millennium Village based on certain factors, including the completion of government projects like Social Investment Fund (SIF), mass cocoa spraying exercise and the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on cassava.

Mr Kwakye-Adeefe said the Assembly had provided an office and accommodation for the Co-ordinators of the project at Manso-Nkwanta and appealed to Chiefs to help in ensuring the attainment of the goals.