Part of Ghana's $547 million compact under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) is to be used to provide potable water for some parts of the Northern Region. Under the Tamale Water Extension Project, potable water supply will be extended to the Tolon-Kumbungu and Savelugu-Nanton districts and the Tamale metropolis by the last quarter of the year at the cost of $5 million. The Director of Community and Public Outreach of the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Maj Albert Don-Chebe (retd), made this known at a media interaction in Accra. The targetted areas are guinea worm endemic for which reason he said, it was critical to provide potable water for the people in those communities, as it would have an ultimate effect on health and “free” people to concentrate on their farming activities. A sod-cutting ceremony would be performed on February 23, 2011 for the project to begin. Maj Don-Chebe also announced that preparations were currently underway to produce a new proposal for the second compact of the MCA. He said the United States government was yet to decide the quantum of the second compact and added that that would depend on what Ghana intended to use the second tranche for. He said the programme, which is limited to 30 districts across three intervention zones, sought to raise farmer incomes through private sector-led development and transformation of agribusiness. He said it would increase the production and productivity of high value cash and food staple crops and enhance the competitiveness of Ghana’s agricultural produce on regional and the global markets. According to Maj Don-Chebe, within the Millennium Challenge Corporation in the US, Ghana’s programme was the most complex, having, in 2005, focused on increasing farmer incomes through modernising the country’s agricultural sector, together with investments in transportation infrastructure and building the capacity of rural institutions. Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana