85 COMMUNITIES IN WR TO GET ELECTRICITY (PAGE 23)

EIGHTY-FIVE rural communities in the Western Region are to be connected to the national grid.
The programme starts this year and will benefit five communities each in the 17 metropolises, municipalities and districts in the region.
The Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah, announced this at the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) meeting in Sekondi.
He said with the oil find in the region, the various communities in the region would get more infrastructural development.
Mr Amoah stated that one greatest blessing God had bestowed on the country and the Western Region in particular was the oil find.
He said information released by Kosmos Energy indicated that “the oil field is the largest discovery in deep water in West Africa and potentially the largest single field in the region”.
Mr Amoah urged members of the council to educate the public to ensure that chiefs and other landowners were circumspect in the release of lands.
“They should resist the temptation of giving out land without due diligence. More so, when such sales deprive posterity of land for other development activities,” he stressed.
Mr Amoah said some parts of the region witnessed series of security threats emanating from chieftaincy disputes and activities of illegal gold operators.
He, however, stated that as a result of the vigilance of the security agencies and the District Security Committees (DISEC) of the affected areas, those volatile situations were brought under control.
He expressed profound appreciation to members of the RCC for assisting the council to carry out its programmes in a peaceful manner.
Mr Amoah told the newly appointed District Chief Executives (DCEs) to be conscious of the sensitive positions in which they found themselves.
“Much as you represent the President in the districts, you are also accountable to the local people, and on no account must you take them for granted,” he emphasised.
Mr Amoah appealed to them to serve the people with humility .
“Co-operate with the District Co-ordinating Directors and win their confidence so that you can work as a team,” he further advised them.
The regional minister urged the Presiding Members of the various district assemblies to see the DCEs as partners in development.
In another development three newly appointed DCEs in the Western Region have been sworn in as members of the RCC, while their respective Presiding Members have also been sworn in.
The DCEs, who were sworn in by the Supervising High Court Judge for the region, Mr Justice Robin Batu, were Mr Yaw Atta-Boamah, Sefwi Wiawso; and the Presiding Member, Mr Godfred Kwabena Adjei.
The rest were the DCE for Ellembelle, Mr Saeed Abdul Rahman Yankey, and the Presiding Member, Mr Edward Arthur; and the DCE for Shama, Mr Joseph Amoah, and the Presiding Member, Mr Joseph Anokwafo Arthur.