The Bongo District Assembly is saddled with the problem of smuggling of petroleum products and fertilisers to neighbouring Burkina Faso, the District Chief Executive, Mr Clement Akugre Atia, has said. He said some people were taking undue advantage of the government’s subsidies on petroleum products and fertilisers, which were aimed at making life bearable for the ordinary people, to smuggle those items across the country's borders. As part of measures to curb the menace, he said, the assembly had formed a committee to work with the District Security Committee (DISEC) to smoke out those involved in the nefarious activity. He said the task force could only operate effectively if people volunteered useful information that could lead to some arrests and appealed to assembly members, chiefs and the public at large who had information to contact the security forces. Mr Atia was speaking during the first ordinary meeting of the third session of the fifth assembly held at Bongo in the Upper East Region. He appealed to all to assist in the fight against the smuggling of fertilisers which had been heavily subsidised by the government to enable farmers to produce more for the nation. He said the Balungu, Gorigo and Apaatanga dams which were damaged some time ago were being rehabilitated to boost dry season farming and livestock production. He said another big challenge which was making people shy away from farming was how to get market for their produce. To address that challenge, he said, local farmers were going to benefit from the school feeding programme, since new arrangements sought to create a market for local farmers. He said the government also intended to boost agriculture through the importation of tractors for sale to farmers at subsidised prices. Mr Atia said a number of factors continued to threaten the progress of educational delivery in the district, among which were inadequate school infrastructure, teacher deployment, indiscipline and motivation. He said the assembly would do its best to address those concerns, adding that education would continue to be one of its priorities and that the assembly would continue to provide the needed infrastructure, sponsorship for teacher trainees and other forms of support that would enhance educational development in the district. Source: Daily Graphic