Sawla, April 27, GNA - The Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district Assembly has held its first ordinary sitting with a reminder to members on their core role of ensuring the overall development of the District.

The District Chief Executive for Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district, Mr. James Kipo Sunyazi, who said this in his sessional address, stressed that the thrust of the policy of decentralization was mainly to promote popular participation by devolving power, functions, resources, and means from the centre to the community levels.

He was hopeful that they were now conversant with the objectives of decentralization, such as empowerment, popular participation, accountability, effectiveness and efficient use of resources, responsiveness, decongestion, and ensuring good governance. The DCE made this observation after an orientation workshop organized by the Ministry of Local Government on salient tenants of the decentralization.

Mr. Sunyazi stressed that, the task ahead was enormous and entreated all to remain focus, and resolute in the discharge of their statutory duties, and responsibilities, as the diverse nature of the District calls for consensus building, and understanding of issues as they unfolded.

He commended some development partners such as the Northern Regional Poverty Reduction Programme, (NORPREP) and the community Based Rural Development Programme (CBRDP) for their support to get the Senyeri and Gindabo Area councils well equipped to enable them to function effectively, and appealed to other partners to also assist the remaining Area councils in the District to make them functional.

The DCE noted that, with support from the Assembly Common Fund, the community Based Rural Development Programme, HIPC, and others, a number of development projects initiated were completed to improve on the lifestyle of the people as well as encouraged workers posted to the area to stay to work in the newly created district.

According to him, under the common Fund, some projects including, construction of the Assembly hall and Office, police Stations and bungalows in Sawla and Tuna, to house the police, construction of street light and, slabs to improve on sanitation, and construction of (3) Unit Chalets at Jang were all completed.

He said under the District Wide Assistance Programme, (DWAP), other projects, including the construction of three Unit Classroom block and auxiliary facilities at Sawla, construction of some detached staff Bungalow at Sawla, and procurement of 500 dual desk to be distributed to various schools, were also completed.

The DCE said under the Community Based Rural Development Programme, three (3) units teaches bungalow at Kong, (3) unit classroom block and auxiliary facilities at Baborayiri, (3) unit classroom block at Yerkoi and the construction of CHPS compounds were completed and valued millions of cedis.

Six other teachers quarters were each constructed at Yipala and Jenltepe, and a computer laboratory for the Tuna Secondary Technical and that Agence Francais Development (AFD) a French NGO, was jointly supporting the Sawla Tuna KALBA District Assembly to provide 86 VIP latrines to offer the people proper places of convenience.

Mr. Kipo Sunyazi noted that, 150 youths engaged last year had prepared 300 acres to start maize farming and that 200 others were also engaged under the Youth Employment Programme in the district, and posted to various schools as volunteer teachers, whilst 25 others were also engaged in sanitation with A287.5 million paid to the Zoom Lion for the cost of 25 tricycles and accessories, and other sanitation activities. Seventy other youth selected after interview had started their training in the Health Assistance Programme.

He added that, to improve upon maternal and child health services, in the district, the CHPPS model had been instituted as well as safe motherhood and other approaches which focus largely on sub-districts and high impact sections in the communities.

Cost effective interventions that also addressed major causes of childhood illnesses and deaths, use of community development to extend services delivery rapidly to the populations were also being pursued. He remarked also that, the goal of the accelerated approach was to reduce mortality and malnutrition among children through intensive implementation of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, (EPI) prevention and management of main diseases responsible for child morbidity and mortality, and ante-natal care, all through vaccination against survival diseases, grow monitoring and nutritional counseling, school health, services, anti-natal care, health promotions, de-worming, vitamin supplementation, births registration, food demonstration and role play.

The Presiding member, Dr. Charles Jebuni, earlier in his address urged members to focus on the ultimate objective, which is the development of the district, as guiding principle in addressing the agenda, and not their political affiliation or ambition or political associations.