General News of Wednesday, 17 December 2003

Source: GNA

Artificial limb-fitting centre is to be set up

Sekondi, Dec 17, GNA- The City of Plymouth in Great Britain is to establish an artificial limb-fitting centre at Supomu Dunkwa Health Centre near Sekondi within the next 12 months.

Mr. Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, Shama-Ahanta East Chief Executive, said this at the fourth meeting of the second session of the Metropolitan Assembly at Sekondi on Wednesday.

He said the establishment of the centre is the result of the Sister City relations between Sekondi-Takoradi Twin-City and Plymouth. Mr. Nkrumah said two more Sub-Metropolitan District Councils for Essikadu/Ketan and Effia/Kwesimintsim have been created to make the administration of the Metropolis easier and to deepen the on-going decentralization process in the area.

He said the creation of the new councils bring to five the number of Sub-Metropolitan District Councils in the area and urged the assembly to come out with a decision on how to provide structures to house them. Mr. Nkrumah said all unit committees in the metropolis have been inaugurated and urged assembly members to ensure that unit committees in their electoral areas are active and functional.

Mr Nkrumah said the assembly has been able to mobilize a little over 14.5 billion cedis out of its annual revenue estimate of 18 billion cedis as at the end of November.

He said the assembly has been able to make some strides in its operations in the areas of revenue mobilization, environmental sanitation, and roads sector and infrastructure development. Mr Nkrumah said the assembly has set up Welfare, Distress and Medicare funds to assist members of staff who are in financial predicament and has paid initial deposit of 10 million cedis into the accounts of Distress and Medicare funds.

He said the funds are revolving ones and the beneficiaries are expected to pay back with very little interest in instalments on monthly basis.