Manso-Nkwanta (Ash), May 18, GNA - Cocoa production in the Amansie West District of Ashanti rose from 6,417.08 tons (102,680 bags) in 1995 to 6,609.1 tons (105,758 bags) in the 2002-2003 season.

Mr Ben Kwakye-Adeefe, Amansie West District Chief Executive, who announced this, said so far the District had already produced about 140,000 bags even though the 2003-2004 season was not yet over. Addressing the Amansie West District Assembly at its meeting at Manso-Nkwanta, he attributed the success to the introduction of the hi-tech and mass spraying exercise embarked upon by the Government. He said the District had taken delivery of 18,000 bags of hi-tech fertiliser in view of its success while cocoa farmers had also embraced the mass spraying exercise enthusiastically and that the communities were scrambling for the spraying gangs.

Mr Kwakye-Adeefe announced that the Assembly collected 812,568 million cedis and thereby exceeded its revenue target of 807.055 million cedis for last year and commended the revenue staff and the taskforce for working tirelessly.

The DCE said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Fund as well as part of the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) were channelled into the construction of classroom blocks and teachers' quarters.

The Assembly, he said, was also building a Buruli Ulcer Block at the Saint Martin's Catholic Hospital at Agroyesum at a cost of 450 million cedis and a nurses' quarters at Essuowin under the HIPC fund and a Maternity Home at Adomposo Number Two.

Mr Newman Nixon Nkansah, the Presiding Member, commended the Doctors and Workers of the Saint Martin's Catholic Hospital at Agroyesum for winning the Best District Hospital Award in Ashanti and for being adjudged one of the three best hospitals in the country. He urged the people to embrace the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and pay their premium when registration takes off in the District.