Odomase (B/A), Jan. 04, GNA – Sunyani West District Assembly collected an amount of GHC235,573.28 out of budgeted GHC214,558.00 as internally generated revenue for last year.

The collected amount was 10 percent more than the target as at November 30, 2011.

Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, who is the acting District Chief Executive, announced this at the third ordinary meeting of the first session of the Assembly at Odomase, the district capital.

The Assembly reviewed its performance during the period under review at the meeting.

He indicated that though the target was achieved, the Assembly would need to revise its strategies to improve the internally generated fund substantially to be able to undertake more development projects this year.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo said the strategies to increase the fund could be in the form of the establishment of a special sub-committee that would research into the sources of taxable activities in the area to add up to traditional sources.

“Such a committee will equally review the methods of collection and lodgments to introduce efficiency and effectiveness into the system”, he added.

On capital expenditure, the Regional Minister said the Assembly budgeted for GHC1, 280,000.00 as its share of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) for the year under review but by November 30 it had received GHC1, 134,647.16 out of the amount.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said in conformity with the Better Ghana Agenda, the Assembly undertook a number of projects and provided services that contributed to the well-being of people in the district.

With additional funds sourced from non-governmental organizations, the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and others, the Assembly was able to fund 27 projects in the area, he disclosed.

The Regional Minister explained that the projects ranged from education, health, human resource capacity building and social services, adding that, there were other central government assisted interventions that added to the improvement of the standard of living of the people.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo said notable among such interventions was the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), which, he said, “is at the heart of the government as an avenue to mitigate the youth unemployment situation it inherited.

“Under the NYEP, a great number of the youth have acquired jobs in the District Assembly ranging from health extension, community education, waste and sanitation, mosquito control gang, sanitation guards, information communication technology (ICT) and mobile phone repairs and assemblage, dressmaking and many more”, he enumerated.

The Regional Minister noted that, the school feeding programme was expanded from 26 schools in 2010 to 37 in 2011 in the district, an increased beneficiary pupil population from 11,749 in 2010 to 16,031 in 2011, or 87.56 percent pupil coverage.

He said the Assembly also offered jobs to 45 additional matrons/caterers, who would in turn employ assistants in the cooking process, thus adding to the overall employment opportunities created by the Assembly.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo said the Assembly supported the district health directorate to carry out programmes, including the national immunization, cholera campaign, malaria control, disease surveillance and tuberculosis/Buruli ulcer.

Through the instrumentality of the Assembly, four new CHPS Compounds were established at Dumasua, Kwabenakuma and Adoe by Heart Foundation of Children, an NGO, to help promote clinical services in the district, he stated.

He announced that, the Foundation had planned to establish a similar CHPS compound at Boreso this year and expressed the Assembly’s immense gratitude to the NGO and appealed to other bodies to emulate the Foundation.

The Regional Minister said despite the challenges, the environmental health department, in collaboration with Zoomlion, continued to support the health needs of the Assembly by way of fumigation of toilets, cleaning of streets and pavements daily, desilting of drains, waste disposal and others.

He urged the Assembly Members to assist Zoomlion to sustain its good work by stepping up public education on environmental cleanliness in their localities.

The social interventions and activities by the Assembly were made possible because of the sound economic and political policies put in place by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government, he declared.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo however expressed regret that “in the face of all these sound policies and achievements of Government, the atmosphere is becoming unsavoury, owing to the pressures of partisan politics towards the 2012 elections”.

He urged the Assembly Members to be ambassadors of peace, before, during and after the 2012 elections and that they could do the assignment better by letting their voices be heard in the communities, religious congregations, and social gatherings, and reminded all political actors that “Ghana is the only home we have”.

Mr. Kwame Agyenim Boateng, Presiding Member, formally informed the House that the substantive DCE, Mr. Osei Assibey, had been relieved of his appointment by President Mills and re-assigned to the Ghana Education Service.

“Our Regional Minister has been assigned with temporary oversight responsibility for the district pending the appointment of a new DCE”, he said.

On behalf of the Assembly the Presiding Member officially welcomed the regional minister as acting DCE and assured him of the Assembly’s “unalloyed cooperation and unflinching support”.

Mr Boateng reminded the Assembly Members that, the meeting was the “aggregate” of their sittings in 2011 and urged them to continue working with the spirit of oneness of purpose and unity in the midst of political diversity to achieve the goals of the Assembly and the nation in general.

“To me this will be the best service we render to the people who gave us their mandate to articulate their concerns, social welfare and collective development.

“As we go about our political campaigns, what we need to remind ourselves is that we shall individually and collectively be judged by the level of development we are able to impact on the lives of the citizenry and not by the level of political rivalry and needless politicking we engage in here”, the Presiding Member emphasized.