Kumawu (Ash), Sept 4, GNA - The creation of new districts by the Government is an ongoing process and areas that have applied would be considered in due course.

Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama announced this at separate durbars organised for him by the chiefs and people of Kumawu, Effiduase and Asokore in the Sekyere East District on Friday as part of his four-day tour of the Ashanti Region.

He said the Government was determined to improve the living conditions of the people through the provision of infrastructure like schools, clinics, hospitals and roads.

Alhaji Mahama said poverty reduction was one of the priorities of the Government and asked the people to develop interest in the President's Special Initiatives (PSI) on the cultivation of cassava and oil palm to improve their livelihood.

The Vice President pointed out that it was the desire of the Government to bring governance to the doorstep of the people and urged district assemblies to set their priorities based on the needs of communities and to initiate more development projects to enhance the living conditions of the people.

Alhaji Mahama told them that the mass cocoa spraying exercise embarked upon by the Government three years ago had paid off, saying, it had led to the increased cocoa production from 350,000 metric tons to 700,000 metric tons this year and expressed the hope that the country would capture its former position as the leading cocoa producer. He stressed the importance of education and appealed to the people to ensure that they gave quality education to their children to enable them to play positive roles in the country's development in the future. The Vice President asked them to examine the political and socio-economic development achieved by the Government and to vote massively to return it to power in Election 2004.

Nana Amponsah Serwaah, Queen Mother of the Kumawu Traditional Area, said one of the major problems facing the people was perennial water shortage and appealed to the Government for assistance to solve it.

She asked the Government to create a new district for Kumawu to ensure efficient and effective administration.

Nana Susubribi Krobea Asante, Omanhene of Asokore, commended the Government for ensuring good governance, which had led to an improvement in the provision of development projects.

He appealed to the Government to provide more funds for the expansion of facilities at the local Ahmadiyya Secondary School and to absorb the Vocational Training Institute in the town into the public system.

Nana Konadu Yiadom, Queen Mother of Effiduase, urged Ghana Telecom to provide more telephone booths in the town to improve communication in the area.

She called for the speeding up of work on the construction of the Asankare-Effiduase road to facilitate the movement of people and foodstuffs to the marketing centres.

Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of Communications, Mr Abubakar Saddique, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City and Mr Akwasi Osei-Agyei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs were part of the Vice President's entourage.