Koforidua, Nov. 2, GNA- The New Juaben Municipal Assembly was able to generate a total of 2.85 billion cedis from local sources, representing 68 per cent of the projected 4.10 billion cedis as at the end of October, this year.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Nana Adjei Boateng announced this at the Third Ordinary Meeting of the Second Session of the Fourth New Juaben Municipal Assembly held on Tuesday.

He said the Assembly had put in place measures to step up local mobilization of revenue which included vigorous operation of the revenue taskforce to collect all outstanding revenue, strengthening supervision of revenue collection and widening the tax net to include billboards, artisans engaged by contractors and others.

Nana Adjei-Boateng said over the same period, the Assembly had received a total of 11.36 billion cedis from Central Government Sources. He said there had been an instance where the property rate imposed on some institutions in the Municipality were considered too high and had to be reviewed downwards

Nana Adjei Boateng noted the slow pace in the application of cocoa fertilizer in the area, saying as at the end of October, only 647 out of the total of 6,000 bags of fertilizer had been applied with 107 out of the targeted 760 farmers in the Municipality patronising the exercise. He attributed the slow pace in the application of the cocoa fertilizer to problems associated with repayment of credit facilities granted the farmers in the use of the previous cocoa fertilizers. Nana Adjei Boateng explained that, as at now, only 31.2 million cedis had been paid by the farmers out of the total of 1.14 billion cedis input-credit granted them in 2003.