As part of plans to halt environmental degradation within the northern belt of the country, Government through the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) last Friday rolled out a new project called the ACI Afforestation project aimed at encouraging tree planting.

The project is a collaborative effort between ACI Construction Company, a subsidiary of the AGAMS Group of Companies and SADA and will be operated under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) over a 5 year period.

Vice President, John Daramani Mahama, who launched the project at the Via Dam in the Bongo district of the Upper East region said "Foresting the Northern Savannah" is a SADA initiative that seeks to plant an initial Five(5) million seedlings of assorted trees within the 50 districts of the SADA Zone (that is three Northern regions, Northern Brong Ahafo and Northern Volta Region), and will cost 32 million cedis for the first phase.

Mr. Mahama described the exercise as one of the flagship projects under SADA and urged schools in the selected areas to join hands in making the exercise a success. He said the project will not only help solve the deforestation issues but will also create employment for some 5000 thousand youth who will be resourced and trained in the planting and nurturing of the trees.

He charged heads of institutions and the people in the area to dedicate a day to observe "the tree growing exercise," aside the afforestation project, and hinted that prizes will be awarded to hardworking and deserving families.

The ceremony was attended by top government officials, Municipal and District chief executives, traditional rulers, school children and inhabitants in and around the Bolgatanga Township.

Earlier, the vice President and his entourage, which included the Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo, the Northern Region Minister, Moses Magbenba, top management and board members of SADA and ACI, toured a number of on-going projects run by ACI construction including the guinea fowl farm.

Mr. Mahama who was impressed with the production level said the Guinea fowl project will soon be replicated in all the districts under the SADA zone to boost poultry production.

SADA was established by an Act of Parliament to implement what is largely considered a major development blue-print geared towards the socio-economic development of the three Northern Regions, bringing them at par with southern Ghana. ACI Construction on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the AGAMS Group of Companies with expertise in environmental restoration and re-engineering. It has executed a number of flagship projects and is currently rolling out the coastal sanitation project covering Greater Accra and Volta Regions.