Yefri (Brong Ahafo) - Hayford Francis Amoako, Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkoranza, has said small-scale irrigation dams to be constructed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the area was not a ploy by the government to take over their farmland.

He said the dams were designed to provide water all year-round to boost agriculture. Amoako was speaking to opinion leaders and a cross-section of residents of Yefri in the Nkoranza District of Brong Ahafo as part of a one-day working visit to some towns and villages in the constituency.

''There is the need for the construction of small-scale dams to supplement rain water,'' he said and appealed to people to discard fears of losing their farmlands to the government.

''Co-operate with the District Agricultural Development Officers and their teams for a smooth take off of the project.'' The dams are being built in communities in the three northern regions and some parts of Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions.

Amoako gave the community three packets of roofing sheets, purchased from his share of the Common Fund to re-roof the local Post Office. Amoako visited the Busunya Agriculture Secondary School where work has started on the construction of a female dormitory block.

He said the project, estimated at ?150m, would be financed from his share of the Common Fund and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and that work would start in September. The MP later met the chiefs and people and commended them for purchasing low-tension wooden poles for the extension of electricity to the town.

Amoako again donated ?4m from his share of the Common Fund to the District Office of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) at Nkoranza to build a garage to house fire tenders.