The Tarkwa Nsueam Municipality, in the Western Region, has held a special town hall meeting to offer citizens the opportunity to interact with office holders to promote participatory governance.

The forum, held at the Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines Junior Staff club house, brought together institutions from different parts of the municipality.

The meeting, which was organized by the Tarkwa Nsueam Municipal Assembly, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, addressed issues on small-scale mining, education, agriculture, infrastructure development and communication.

It was on the theme "Participatory governance, a key to sustainable development".

In his welcoming address, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Tarkwa Nsueam, Mr Gilbert Kennedy Asmah explained that the meeting was to inform all stakeholders on the various government policies and intervention as well as showcase programmes from development partners at the local level.

He said all ongoing projects have been completed and efforts were being made to commence work on abandoned projects.

Touching on achievements of the government's flagship programmes, the MCE said on education, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social protection has expanded the Ghana School feeding programme by 30 per cent, and that, 27 public basic schools were benefiting in the municipality.

On Small Scale Mining, Mr Asmah said to ensure effective mining, hundreds of small and medium scale miners have been trained by the Inter Ministerial Committee against illegal mining and the University of Mines and Technology to enable them to practice safe mining when the ban on small scale mining is lifted.

He said steps have been taken to revamp the underground mine by TASK Mining Limited, under the one district one factory project.

The MCE said proposals are been developed and that 10,000 Ghanaians are expected to gain employment.

On Agriculture, Mr Asmah pointed out that a total of 2,930 farmers were registered last year under the Planting for Food and Job's programme.

In addition, he said maize, rice, cabbage, lettuce and cucumber seeds would be given to farmers, while fertilizers would be distributed at a subsidized price.

He said the assembly was still registering interested farmers for the distribution of free cocoa, coconut and oil palm seedlings next year.

Touching on Infrastructure for Development, the MCE said under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), three mechanized borehole, fitted with solar power have been drilled for residents of Benso, Mahamo and Ayinase.

He said Essamang, Agona Wassa and Bonsa No. 2 communities have been selected to benefit from places of convenient fitted with mechanized boreholes.

In the area of Communication, the MCE mentioned Tarkwa Benso, Bonsawire, Amantin and Badukrom communities as having challenges of accessing telecommunication network.

He said the assembly has forwarded the names of the affected communities to the Ministry of Communication for extension of telephone coverage and was waiting for approval.

The Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsueam, Mr George Meriku Duker, stated that, in the midst of the challenges, government was doing its best to ensure that the economy of the country improves.