Funsi (UWR), April 29, GNA - The Wa East District Assembly hopes to exceed its estimated revenue target of GHC98, 973.50 for this year, if the current trend of its revenue mobilisation process continues, Mr Ameen Salifu, Wa East District Chief Executive (DCE) has said. He said the Assembly has by the end of March this year collected GHC73, 608.00, representing 74.3 percent of its total estimated revenue target for the year 2010.

Mr Salifu said this on Tuesday, at the first ordinary meeting of the Wa East Assembly at Funsi, in the Upper West Region. He commended the District Revenue Task Force for a good job done so far and urged them to maintain the same spirit of hard work and commitment to enable them to generate enough revenue, to help address some of the developmental challenges confronting the district. On the development of Agriculture, the DCE noted that, under the "Block Farming" programme, a total of 1,312 acres of land would be made available to about 720 farmers in the district. He said the Assembly also procured 1,500 dual desks to be distributed among some schools in the district to address the problem of school children sitting on the floor to write.

Touching on infrastructural development, Mr Salifu pointed out that the Assembly had been able to construct 15 classrooms and also rehabilitated 27 dilapidated ones.

He said the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) was helping to boost school enrolment in the district and stated that the Assembly was liaising with the GSFP Secretariat to expand the number of beneficiary schools from eight to about twenty this year.

On the provision of portable water, the DCE said the Funsi small water project had been completed and would soon be handed over to the Funsi Water Board to manage its operations and commended ProNet North for supporting them in drilling of boreholes in the remote communities.

Mr Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister commended the Assembly for achieving 74.3 percent of its revenue target for the year and urged them to continue generating more revenue to develop the district. He cautioned that government would not hesitate to sanction any Municipal or District Assembly that would be found wanting in the discharge of its duties.

Mr Khalid said government would soon construct steel bridges on the Kulun and Ambalaara Rivers to address the perennial cutting off of the district from the regional capital during the rainy seasons. He advised the National Health Insurance Scheme Managers to block all leakages to enable government to implement the one time premium policy and urged the people not to shy away from the indigenes registration. Mr Khalid called on the chiefs and opinion leaders to monitor the activities of alien Fulani herdsmen in the district, adding that, their activities if not monitored could hamper the progress of the "Block Farming" and the Greening Ghana programmes.

Mr Khalid also expressed his sympathy to the recent flood victims and promised to liaise with NADMO to support the victims with relieve items. 29 April 10