Gomoa Manso (C/R), Sept. 27, GNA - Managing Director of ECOBANK Limited, Mr Albert Essien has urged well to-do Ghanaians living outside the country to help their family members residents at home to pay the 72,000 cedis premium of the District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme. He said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) sought to provide quality health care service, but the poor at the grassroots and urban areas were finding it difficult to pay the premium. Mr Essien said this when he addressed the Chiefs and the People of Gomoa Manso to climax their Annual Akwambo festival at Manso in the Central Region.

The Managing Director said there were well-to-do people living in the cities and towns that could provide financial assistance to their relatives to pay to enable them to register with the Scheme. Mr Essien stated that Ghanaians should not allow this golden opportunity to slip through their fingers since the NHIS could effectively replace the Cash and Carry System.

He expressed concern about the low level of education in the area and urged citizens resident outside to help to provide educational infrastructure and other facilities to promote quality education. The Managing Director said Gomoa Manso had high profile personalities that were currently managing various sectors of the economy and appealed to them to help to reverse the negative trend in the area.

Mr Essien advised the tomatoes and other food crop farmers in the area to form co-operatives to enable them to access loans from financial institutions to expand their farms to reduce poverty. He said there was the need to reduce post-harvest losses, adding that large quantities of tomatoes produced at Manso went to waste for lack of market and processing facilities adding that the problem could be solved if they came together to form groups.