ENSURE GOOD FOUNDATION FOR NEW DISTRICTS — JUMAH (PAGE 49)

Story: Kwame Asiedu Marfo, Shama

The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah has urged members of the newly created District Assemblies to take strategic decisions that will provide strong foundation for the districts to facilitate the socio-economic development of their communities.
He noted that most of the districts have the required infrastructure and facilities needed for the establishment of the new districts.
However, he said what was needed was the employment of people who were dedicated and were also prepared to work hard to enable the new districts to stand on their feet.
Mr Jumah was addressing a durbar of chiefs and people of the Shama Traditional Area in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolis to herald the inauguration of the newly created Shama District Assembly.
According to the deputy minister, the old site of the Shama Senior High School would temporary be used as the offices of the Shama District Assembly.
He stressed that recently the siting of district capitals as well as the appointment of district chief executives had created some problems in the districts.
This, he noted, did not auger well for the newly created districts.
Mr Jumah explained that the creation of the districts was to facilitate the socio-economic development of the communities in the districts which would culminate in the total development of the entire country.
He said the metropolitan, municipal and the district assemblies could now enter into ventures to generate income to supplement the funding of their development projects.
This, he said was unlike some years back when the assemblies were not permitted to venture into any profitable enterprise.
“There is now hope for the future of the people in this country,” he said.
Mr Jumah noted that town planning was a big problem in the districts, which he said  did not auger well for the rapid development of the districts.
He therefore called on the members of the assemblies to take immediate decisions which would ensure the efficient planning of towns in the districts.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports and Member of Parliament for Shama, Mrs Angelina Baiden Amissah said people from the district who qualified should be employed to enable them to stay home and contribute to the development of the district.
She said most of the youth in the district had been employed under the National Youth Employment Programme and were contributing to the development of the areas and also taking good care of their families.
The Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah said heads of the decentralised departments of the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) were working around the clock for the establishment of such departments for the new Shama District Assembly.
He said the government would provide funds through the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) HIPC Fund, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) among others, for the implementation of the various development projects.
“It is our collective responsibility to collect the internally generated funds to supplement funds which the government will allocate to the districts”, he stressed.
The Paramount Chief of the Shama Traditional Area, Nana Kofi Binnah III commended the government for creating a new district for the people in the area.
He called on the people in the area to avoid petty squabbles and unite to ensure the rapid development of the district.