Lawra, March 2, GNA - The Social Investment Fund has approved eight projects for the Lawra District six of which have already been completed at a total cost of 2.1 billion cedis in line with its mission of channelling resources directly to poor communities.

The projects comprised school blocks, CHPS and nutrition centers located at Bu, Gbieri, Kunyuuku, Gengenkpe, Tome, and Lissa. Sites for the construction of a school block at Eremon and CHPS compound at Kokoligu have been handed over to the contractors to begin work.

Mr Kwame Obeng Nti, Zonal Officer of SIF in charge of the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in an interview, said SIF had spent 8.3 billion cedis in executing 46 projects in the region.

These are made up of 17 classroom blocks, 10 rural clinics and nutrition centers, three boreholes, two KVIP toilets and 11 agricultural ventures.

Since the establishment of the Fund, which is a collaborative venture between the Government of Ghana, the African Development Bank (ADB) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), its interventions had benefited 1.2 million people in 108 districts through out the country with 57 per cent of beneficiaries being women. On the micro-credits component of the Fund, Mr Nti said rural banks in the three northern regions were not showing interest in managing the scheme for the benefit of the poor as they have accessed only four per cent of the 20 billion cedis set aside for that purpose.

The reason being that as a result of a drastic fall in the returns on Treasury Bills, most of these banks had adequate funds at their disposal to loan to the general public and did not want to take up additional responsibilities of disbursing funds belonging to other credit schemes. 02 March 07