Gwollu, (UWR), May 10, GNA - Mr. Mahmud Khalid, Upper West Regional Minister has asked district assemblies in the region to strengthen the Area Councils and Unit Committees to enhance community mobilisation for development.

He said Area Councils and Unit Committees were avenues that secured political participation, especially for the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalised as they bring government closer to the doorsteps of the people.

Mr. Khalid said this when he addressed the first ordinary meeting of the Sissala West District Assembly at Gwollu. He admitted that there were certain problems associated with the operations of the Unit Committees structure and said the recent review on the decentralisation process would provide the needed solutions to the handicaps that were affecting the smooth operations of the sub-local government structures.

Mr. Khalid used the occasion to pay tribute to the memory of Dr. Hilla Limann who hailed from Gwollu, saying that by dint of hard work, he rose to the high office as Head of State. "The memory of this great man should spur on the people of this district and the region as a whole to work harder to change the fortunes," he said.

Mr. Khalid said government would facilitate the establishment of a Senior High School in the district next academic year. He said already contracts have been awarded to a number of under the Ghana Education Trust Fund, for the construction of a two-storey girls' dormitory, two-storey boys dormitory, 12 unit classroom- block and a dinning hall and a kitchen for the project. Mr. Khalid appealed to the people to co-operate with the contractors in the execution of the facility. He expressed displeasure about the smuggling of petroleum products in the district to neighbouring Burkina Faso and appealed to members of the district assembly to help the security agencies to arrest and prosecute the smugglers. "The activities of smugglers are impacting negatively on the image of the people of the district in particular and the region as a whole," he said. Mr. Khalid later inaugurated a 11- member District Tourism Development Committee at Gwollu and challenged members to identify more tourist sites in the area for development.