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Aged and orphans to receive monthly
allowance
Agona Swedru (C/R), Nov 18, Ghanadot/GNA - The government
will as from next month start giving allowances of 80,000
cedis or eight Ghana Cedis to the aged and orphans in the
Agona District as part of its poverty reduction efforts, Ms
Monica Siaw, District Director of the Department of Social
Welfare, has said.
She said the government had voted 20 billion cedis to be
managed by the Department under the Ministry of Manpower,
Youth and Employment nation-wide to start the project dubbed
"Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty" in the country, the
first in the Sub-Sahara Africa.
Ms Siaw, who announced this at the inauguration of the
11-Member Committee under the Chairmanship of the District
Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ben Mensah, said the Agona and
Assin North Districts and the Cape Coast Municipal
Assemblies in the Central Region had been selected for the
pilot project.
She said the Government; the Department for International
Development (DFID) and the United Nations Children and
Education Fund (UNICEF) were financing the project.
Ms Siaw said 120 households would be identified in the four
areas in the Agona District with 30 aged and orphans to
benefit from the project scheduled to commence in December,
adding that, it would be continued next year.
According to her, the beneficiaries would receive 80,000
cedis per month for a period of five years until every town
in the district was covered.
She noted that apart from the Committee, another
sub-committee would be formed at the community level to be
made up Assembly members and volunteers, adding that, four
areas had been identified in the district including Dwenho,
Yariwa and Duakwa Zongos and Kwansakrom.
The District Director noted that the project was aimed
eliminating begging for arms and street children.
Mr Eric Bediako Oppong, District Coordinating Director, who
inaugurated the committee, assured the Social Welfare
Officials that the District Assembly would give them the
necessary assistance to perform their functions to ensure
the success of the project.
Mr Timothy Osam Duodu, Presiding Member of the Agona
District Assembly, said the government had helped the people
of the district in the areas of poverty reduction, physical
infrastructure and the Social Investment FUND (SIF), adding
that, it would soon start giving credit facilities to people
at Agona Swedru.
Mr John Ankrah, Central Region Assistant Director of Social
Welfare, said the government would provide vehicles,
motorbikes and bicycles to the officers and volunteers to
ensure the effective operation and monitoring of the
project.
He appealed to Districts and Municipal Assemblies that would
be benefiting from the project to assist the Department to
help reduce poverty in the Region.
GNA
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