Kade, Dec. 28, GNA - The Kwaebibirem District Assembly has embarked on the cultivation of oil palm on a 40.5 hectare plantation at Abenaso and Amonom. So far eight hectares have been planted, Mr Yaw Yiadom-Boakye, Kwaebibirem District Chief Executive announced at the first ordinary meeting of the first session of the fifth assembly at Kade. He said the assembly exceeded its annual budget for this year by 19 per cent and called for improvement in 2007.

Mr Yiadom-Boakye appealed to members of the assembly to be actively involved in the revenue mobilisation in their respective electoral areas to generate more revenue to facilitate execution of the assembly's development projects. He said 14.5 million cedis had so far been disbursed from the disability fund of the assembly to 99 disabled persons to enable some of them acquire equipment/helping aids, pay school fees, capacity building and provision of financial assistance. Mr Yiadom-Boakye said the Kwaebibirem Mutual Health Insurance Scheme had registered 84,112 clients by the end of November, this year.

He said new registration had started and urged members of the assembly to encourage the electorate to register. Mr Yiadom-Boakye said 2,175 youth had registered for the National Youth Employment programme by the end of November this year. He announced that the assembly had been included in the European Union's Sixth Micro projects programme and eight towns in the district would benefit from the first batch of the programme from January, 2007. Projects to be executed under the programme include school blocks, clinic, teachers' quarters, places of convenience, nurses' quarters and a warehouse.

Mr Yiadom-Boakye explained that the assembly and the beneficiary communities were to contribute 25 per cent of the component of the projects through communal labour, materials and cash. He therefore appealed to the beneficiary communities to honour their contribution otherwise the assembly would be deleted from the project for any delay and non-performance. The DCE said in pursuit of the government's policy on 91National Friday Wear' members of the assembly would be provided with the national wear. He explained that it was in line with a decision by the assembly to wear national costume at all functions organised by the assembly that members and workers of the assembly were being provided with the national wear as a welfare gesture.