Tema, March 16, GNA - Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, the Member of Parliament for Asokwa, has challenged the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to utilize its legitimate right of being the highest political authority in the Metropolis= .. Mr Jumah said Article 241 of the Local Government Law established the District Assemblies, including the TMA, as the highest political authority in a district.

He said Article 245 also made the District Assembly the planning authority..

Mr Jumah, who is also the Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, said this when the Committee paid a working visit to TMA.

The 20-member Committee chaired by Mr Dominic Azumah, MP for Garu-Tempane, interacted with Heads of Decentral ized Departments, Assembly Members and Departmental Heads of the TMA.

Mr Jumah explained that the issue of dual planning authority and permitting system between TMA and the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) came about due to the failure of TMA to recognize its legal right. He said, 93If TMA will assert itself and do the right thing, then TDC wil= l not take up its job". He said as TDC was established as a real estate institution and not as a governance institution, it needed to obtain building permits from the TMA t= o enable it embark on building constructions in the Metropolis. Mr Jumah added that just as TMA had the right to sue any resident who buil= t without permit, it also had the mandate to institute legal action against TDC should they fail to comply with its directives.

He, however, stated that the Committee was liaising with the ministries of Works and Housing, and Local Government and Rural Development to find a lasting solution to the conflicting roles of TDC and TMA.

Mr Azumah appealed to District Assemblies to lobby government institutions for their needs since failure to do so was presumed to mean that all was well with the various districts. He appealed to the staff and assembly members of the TMA to be committed t= o their work and responsibilities to enable the Assembly achieve its aim of improving the living conditions of residents.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the Assembly was undertaking some main development projects in the Metropolis.

He named some of the projects under construction as a block of three classrooms at Gontein as well as a six-unit classroom block at Baatsonaa. Others are the construction of an eight-seat water closet toilet at Redemption Valley, eight-seat institutional latrine for the Zenu Primary School as well as rehabilitation of maternity block at Tema Community One and a four-storey staff residential apartment complex at Community Seven among others.