Koforidua, Feb. 22, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Yaw Barimah, has tasked District Assemblies to give incentives to retain certain categories of workers to attract and retain them for the development of the region.

The Assemblies, he said, should work out packages for willing candidates in the fields of physical planning, accountancy, teaching and nursing and bond them to work for the assemblies after completing their studies so that the local government authorities could shore-up their weak staffing situation.

Describing it as one of the "greatest problems" facing district assemblies in the region, Mr Barimah stated that "put the development of their human resources on their priority list to create a pool of quality staffers in sufficient numbers for their perusal."

Addressing the first session of the Eastern Regional Co-ordinating Council (ERCC) for the year at Koforidua on Tuesday, Mr Barimah noted the poor quality of staffs of almost all the assemblies was adversely hampering their effectiveness.

He took exception to the performance of some assemblies in issues such as non-compliance in the areas of submission of financial reports and the poor execution of jobs.

On the issue of environmental degradation, the Regional Minister listed a four-point action plan to arrest the situation, including the need for timber firms being encouraged to establish large tree plantations and the need for the assemblies to encourage communities to establish wood lots.

He also championed a public education programme to promote environmental awareness and urged assistance for individuals and groups willing to take economic tree planting as a venture.

The Council was also briefed on current national issues including a presentation on the region's preparedness for any likely outbreak of the Avian flu now ravaging some parts of the world and reported to have killed over 68 people worldwide.

The Eastern Regional Disease Control Officer, Miss Emelia Okine, told the Council that "excellent surveillance" and rapid reporting of suspected cases remain the best way of preventing the disease and asked the public not to panic since enough strategies were in place to ensure public safety.

Present at the meeting were the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Miss Suzzy Mensah, District Chief Executives, Service Commanders and Heads of decentralised departments.