Madam Agnes Kusi, the Sunyani West District Chief Executive, has urged members of Unit Committees in the district to rekindle the spirit of voluntary service among the citizenry.

She expressed regret that the spirit of volunteerism had waned among the people and had affected development in the communities.

Madam Kusi said this when addressing the opening session of a three-day training workshop for 30 Unit Committee Members in the district on the Registration of Births and Deaths organized by the assembly with financial support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

She said voluntary work was key to the sustained development of the communities and advised the participants to re-awaken that spirit, adding “Government has decentralized development and governance to the grassroots, there is therefore, the need for all and sundry to take advantage of it”.

Mrs Rhodaline Adwoa Conduah, the Sunyani West District Coordinating Director, said organizing communal labour and voluntary work would help keep the communities clean and prevent the outbreak of diseases.

On monitoring and implementation of projects, she said this would help inform both the community and the assembly on the appropriate projects to be undertaken.

She said in the absence of the unit committee performing its function effectively, the assembly might undertake projects that would not be in the interest of people in the community.

Mrs Conduah said statistics from the 2010 Population and Housing Census, underscored the need for the participants to educate the people on the importance of education especially girls.

It said 44.9 percent of girls enrolled in Senior High Schools but reduced to 7.5 percent when they reached the tertiary level.