JOMORO DISTRICT COLLECTS GH¢127,000 IN REVENUE (Pg 21...Published Mon Dec 17, 2007)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo. Half Assini

THE Jomoro District Assembly in the Western Region has bagged GH¢127,000 (¢1.27 billion) as revenue, as of October this year, out of the targeted revenue of over GH¢160,000 (¢1.6 billion) for the year.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Martin Yamikeh Ackah, announced this at the 3rd ordinary meeting of the first session of the assembly at Half Assini.
He said the assembly had the potential to generate more revenue, if members accepted the challenge of educating their communities on the importance of paying tax for the development of the district.
Mr Ackah reminded members of the assembly that educating their communities on taxation would ease pressure on revenue collectors and would also encourage the people to honour their tax obligations.
The DCE commended the assembly’s revenue collectors for their excellent performance and presented them with new uniforms worth ¢8.5 million.
Mr Ackah said as part of measures to strengthen the capacities of assembly members, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment had organised a training programme for all assembly members, and was also optimistic that the training would empower them to push the assembly ahead in its development agenda.
Touching on the activities of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) in the district, Mr Ackah said the programme had chalked up an enviable success in its bid to secure employment for the youth to make the Jomoro District a better place to live.
The programme, he said, had so far employed 423 youth in the various modules.
He said 240 had been employed as community teaching assistants, while 60 were being employed as health extension workers, with 23 taken on at the community protection unit.
He said 41 of the youth had been employed at the sanitation and waste management unit, while 31 and 28 had been employed at the paid-internship and agriculture business units respectively.
He expressed the hope that gradually other modules would be enrolled to offer more avenues to employ more youth in the district.
On water and sanitation, the DCE said the assembly was eager to ensure easy access to potable water for all communities.
He said constituency services on the small town water supply system under the district assembly was ongoing for the supply of pipe-borne water to Beyin.
In a similar vein, he said Nuba, Ezinlobo, Boyere,Tikobo Number 1 and Allowulley were to benefit from the small town water supply system under the auspices of the European Union, adding that consultancy services were ongoing.
Touching on the road network, Mr Ackah announced that contract works had been awarded to KINGSPOK for the bitumen surfacing of Ezinlibo Junction to Ezinlibo township and Half Assini town roads.
He said improvement of the 8.8 kilometres Etweako-Samenye feeder road had also been awarded to M/S Ashlaw Investment and M/S Benk Group Limited.
On electricity, the DCE told the assembly that Anobre Number 2, Ehoaka, Agyza, Ngelekazo and Azuleti communities had been included in the SHEP IV programme and that the contract had been awarded to Kwansah Enterprise with some of the electrical equipment already available at the site.
In his opening remarks, the Presiding Member, Mr Andrews Jos Ehwie, explained that the assembly existed to effectively mobilise and utilise all human and material resources for the improvement of the living conditions of the people with the support and collaboration of stakeholders.
He, therefore, urged the assembly members to discharge their duties with unity of purpose, determination, dedication and perseverance so that they would overcome the challenges facing the assembly and win fame for the district.