Stakeholders at Public Hearing forums on the 2018-2021 Medium Term Development Plan, have appealed to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to review the procedures of procuring furniture for basic schools in the three regions of the north.

The stakeholders made up of Head of Departments , Teachers, Assembly members and Staff, Traditional and Religious Leaders, stated that the types of furniture procured by GETFund for the schools in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions do not stand the test of time.

The Stakeholders who complained that such furniture did not last up to a month before breaking down , entreated the management of GETfund to consider involving the beneficiary Municipal and District Assemblies and the Directors of Education to procure furniture that were suitable to the climatic and geographic condition of the area.

They said most of the school pupils were lying on their stomachs to learn and write as a result of the broken furniture.

The programme was organized by the Kassena-Nankana Municipal at Navrongo in the Upper East Region.

Among other key issues raised at the two- day forum which was aimed at validating the Medium Term Development Plan of the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Assembly and finalising it , included inadequate school infrastructure, teaching and learning materials , furniture , inadequate teacher and staff accommodation, inadequate library facilities, poor school supervision and management.

While dilapidated structures, lack of electricity, inadequate numbers of health personnel, means of transportation, maternal mortality were identified among others on the health front, lack of Agriculture Extension Agents, and siltation of dams among others were also identified on the agriculture sector as the major problems.

Most of the issues raised and deliberated on by the stakeholders bothered on the local economy, the road sector, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.

Reacting to the concerns of the Stakeholders, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Williams Aduum said plans had been made by his outfit to get in touch with the GETfund to see how the problem with the procurement of the furniture could be addressed.

He also assured the stakeholders that most of their concerns had been captured in the Assembly’s Medium Term Development Plan and the development gaps in the Municipality would be addressed by building and renovating more educational and health infrastructure and also open more roads to farms and marketing centres.

He appealed to the stakeholders not to hesitate to monitor the Assembly in its implementation of the blue print so as to help accelerate the development of the area, stressing, “The developed blue print does not belong to the Assembly alone but the entire District”

The Municipal Coordinating Director, Alhaji Abubakari Inusah, called on the stakeholders to support the Assembly to educate community members particularly traders to pay their taxes to enable the Assembly implement the aspirations of the people captured in the Medium Term Development Plan.

He said with the dwindling support from development partners coupled with the inadequate District Assembly Common Fund from the central government, it would be very difficult to implement projects and programmes if the communities refused to meet their tax obligations.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Regional Minister, Mr Rockson Ayine Bukari, lauded the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Chief Executive and his team for taking bold steps to initiate and complete validating the Medium Term Development Plan of the Assembly and finalising it and entreated the rest of the Assemblies in the region to speed up the process to beat the deadline.