Mr. Victor Samuel Mesu, Amenfi West District Chief Executive (DCE), has urged Ghanaians to preserve the prevailing peace in the country, to enable development to go on without any interruption.

He said the country could make a headway in development, when peace prevailed under good leadership.

Mr. Mesu made the call at the commissioning of the first phase of a 1.3 million-Ghana-Cedi new building for the Asankragwa branch of the Amenfiman Rural Bank Limited at Asankragwa.

He asked the people to save with rural banks, in order to sustain them.

The MCE urged the bank to team up with private investors to put up houses for workers.

Dr. Toni Aubynn, Chairman of the Amenfiman Rural Bank Limited, renewed calls to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, to permit rural banks to handle statutory funds for District Assemblies.

He said it is regrettable that statutory funds, including the District Assembly Common Fund, are channelled through the commercial banks, instead of rural banks, which are closer to the District Assemblies.

The Bank of Ghana can categorize rural banks that can handle statutory funds when it is necessary, Dr. Aubynn said.

He said the building has state-of-the-art banking facilities comparable to facilities of banks in any part of the world, and added that the second phase of the project will consist of a one-storey 30-room shopping mall.

Dr. Aubynn said the bank lent out about 36.6 million Ghana cedis last year, and warned that it would take drastic measures to recover the loans from defaulters.

He said the bank intended to apply penalty interest on overdue loans, and publish the names of defaulters and engage professional debt collectors to recover the loans.

Dr. Aubynn disclosed that the bank would soon introduce an assurance product and a leaders club for businessmen and women.

Mr. George Annor, Ashanti Regional Manager of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) Apex Bank, who represented the Managing Director of the Bank, advised rural banks to improve their customer relation in order to attract more customers.

He said staff of rural banks who excel in customer relations must be rewarded, to ginger others, and urged rural banks to modernize their banking halls and introduce new products to enable them withstand competition in the banking industry.

Later, the Amenfiman Rural Bank Limited presented various awards to 41 business customers, 12 corporate bodies and 10 members of staff at the annual staff dinner.

The awards included flat screen televisions sets, table top refrigerators and refrigerators.