THE DEPUTY Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Capt. Nkrabea Effah Darteh (rtd), has paid a one-day working visit to Nkawkaw and other towns in the Kwahu South District of the Eastern Region.

He inspected ongoing projects, government establishments and hotel facilities in the area which he said would be used during the all-DCEs conference scheduled for Nkawkaw in December, this year.

Accompanying the minister were the Kwahu South DCE, Mr. Raymond Osafo Djan, NPP executives in Kwahu, some heads of departments and staff of Kwahu South District Assembly.

He said the conference will attract over 600 people and urged the people in the area to prepare themselves well to host them for a successful conference.

He also urged contractors working on various contracts in the area, such as the new Nkawkaw lorry park, Nkawkaw streets, Nkawkaw-Atibie road and many others to do a superior job to benefit the people in particular and the country as a whole.

He also visited the abandoned Nkawkaw-Obomeng road and bemoaned the sad state of affairs.

He promised to submit his findings to the appropriate quarters for redress.

Later in an interview with the Chronicle, he praised the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkawkaw, Hon. Kwabena Okerchiri Adusah, for his hard work and dedication to duty in Parliament.

He described the Nkawkaw MP as one of the hardworking MPs in the NPP family who has helped to run the affairs of the House satisfactorily.

He said Okerchiri has been able to combine successfully his two very demanding positions in Parliament, i.e. Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and also serving as the Deputy Majority Chief Whip.

He, therefore, called on the people in the constituency to support him at all times to enable him continue his good work.

He revealed that the Nkawkaw MP was in constant consultation with the Local Government Ministry for the creation of a separate district for Nkawkaw.

He assured that the request was being considered at the appropriate quarters.

He revealed that 72 applications for new districts have been received from various parts of the country and that a committee would soon be set up to scrutinise all the applications and give their recommendation to government.

The minister said the government will need over ?10 billion to create the districts.

According to him, an area requesting the status as a district must fulfil certain criteria, including the provision of office and residential accommodation, put in place mechanisms for revenue generation and must have at least a 100,000 population.

He stated that the NPP government is in the process of creating the needed environment for more jobs to solve the unemployment problem in the country and called on Ghanaians to exercise patience.