Regional News of Friday, 22 October 2010

Source: GNA

Mfantseman Assembly cut sod for commencement of work on schools

Waakrom (C/R), Oct 22, GNA - The Mfantseman Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Henry Kweku Hayfron and the Mfantseman West Member of Parliament, Mr Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, have jointly cut a sod for the start of work on six school projects in the municipality. The school blocks are being funded from GETFund under schools-under-trees programme.

The beneficiary communities of the projects are Eshirow, Abeadze Dominase, Kaakrom, Yamoransa, Waakrom and Biriwa. The contractors who would execute the projects were also introduced to the communities. Addressing a gathering at the project site at Waakrom Mr Hayfron said they had decided to depart from the formality where contractors were not known by the communities the projects were being undertaken in. He said that did not make the communities, who are the owners of the project, to have a say in their execution and this did not promote cooperation between the contractors and the beneficiary communities. Mr Hayfron advised the communities to own the projects and to support the contractors and cautioned them against confrontations with the contractors.

He said they should any defects on the projects they noticed to either the consultant or to the assembly's work superintendents. Mr Quansah said the projects emanated from the requests the communities made to him during his tours of the constituency. He urged the people to rally behind the government and advised the contractors to recruit some of the local people. The MP cautioned the contractors and the communities against doing politics with the projects.

Mr Quansah said doing politics with development projects was thwarting the government's "Better Ghana Agenda" programme and added that refusing to partake in projects or executing projects in a shoddy manner was not helping anyone.

Miss Faustina Koomson, Assemblywoman for the area, pledged support of the people to ensure early completion of the project and donated smocks on behalf of the community to the MP and the MCE. In a related development, the MCE and the MP inaugurated a four-unit classroom block for the Pomase Junior High School at Pomase near Anomabu.

Mr Hayfron urged the pupils to learn hard to justify the investment made in the project by the Community-Based Rural Development Project (CBRDP).

Mr Quansah condemned what he called "pull-him-down" spirit some Ghanaians had acquired to discourage people with good intentions. The MP announced plans to reconstruct the road linking the town with Anomabu.

Mr J. Kingsley Arhin, the Assemblyman for the area, commended the government for solving the pressing need of the people whose children had to travel to another district to have their Junior High School education.