Kumasi, Nov.17, GNA - Madam Patricia Appiagyei, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has advocated for a Contingency Development Plan to address the deteriorating scenic beauty of the Metropolis. The Metropolis, she said, was initially planned and built to cater for 250,000 people and that it now had a population of over two million, saying however that it was unfortunate that there had not been any systematic, consistent and comprehensive plan to cater for the growing population over the years.
She said this had resulted in the mass congestion and over-stretching of social amenities as well as facilities with their attendant consequences on the socio-economic development of the Metropolis.
Madam Appiagyei was speaking at the Second National Delegates Congress of the Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus Society of the Roman Catholic Church in Kumasi on Saturday.
It was held on the theme, "Creating the Culture of Peace at Home, Workplace and in the World".
The MCE warned residents of the Metropolis to abide by the by-laws of the KMA to ensure that the city was always kept clean devoid of communicable diseases, which were caused by filth. She further urged landlords and ladies to endeavour to paint their houses ahead of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) tournament to give the city a face-lift and to retain its image.
Madam Appiagyei reminded women groups of the crucial roles they played in the nation's development and said it was time they shunned unhealthy practices and become committed to instituting programmes that would improve upon the living conditions of women and their children. The Most Reverend Peter Akwasi Sarpong, Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Kumasi, took a swipe at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports as well as the Ghana Education Service for striking out Religious and Moral Education studies in the syllabus at the basic level of education.
He indicated that this was a recipe for disaster in view of the important role such education played in national development. Most Reverend Sarpong entreated religious bodies to wage a serious campaign against this policy since religious and moral education had the potential to inculcate into the youth the need for them to lead morally and upright lifestyles for the benefit of the nation. Madam Veronica Nancy Amevinyah, President of the National Council of the Society, admonished the members to lead exemplary lives worthy of emulation by the younger generation.