From Samuel Agbewode
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The Ho Municipal Assembly is putting in place measures to transform the municipality into a modern city that would befit a regional capital.
This could be done by ensuring that socioeconomic activities are improved through the provision of the relevant infrastructure.
The Ho Municipal Chief Executive, Mrs. Fafa Adinyirah, who made this known to The Chronicle, pointed out that the development agenda for the Municipality was very comprehensive, and called on the people to cooperate effectively with the Assembly in implementing ongoing development projects.
The Ho Municipal Assembly has a comparative advantage than any other in the region, because Ho is the regional capital where all the decentralised departments are located, and has easy access to these departments to aid in the development process of the area.
According to the Ho MCE, projects such as the construction of a dual carriage road, establishment of an airport, and the reconstruction of the Ho sports stadium were national projects, which, she said, would add to the transformation process of the Municipality.
Mrs. Adinyirah disclosed that as the first female Chief Executive of the Municipality, she was very concerned about improved business activities with emphasis on women. In this regard she said the Assembly was working hard to ensure that the reconstruction of the Ho Central Market would start soon and be completed early.
She said all the Assembly demanded from the market women was to comply with the Assembly’s directives of relocating the Central Market temporarily to the R.T.C Park. Mrs. Adinyirah observed that the Ho Municipality was fast developing, and as part of the construction of the central market, the major road networks in the market area would be expanded.
She further stated that a one-way traffic system would be observed from the 14th of September 2014, to ensure that vehicles of the contractors working on the market project would freely operate without any hindrance.
The Assembly has a number of road maintenance works to be done, and that work on these roads had been awarded to contractors, but had been suspended as a result of poor weather. But the contractors had given the assurance that they would tackle the projects with seriousness after the rainy season was over.
The Ho MCE said the Assembly would also construct a modern abattoir at Sokode to ensure that the slaughtering and sale of meat meets the required standards, and that the Assembly had secured land at Akrofu for the dumping of refuse.
Mrs. Adinyirah announced that the Assembly was taking issues of sanitation more seriously, particularly, at the time cholera is killing people in Accra and other areas, as conscious efforts were being made to prevent such incidents in the Municipality.
She revealed that even though four cholera cases have been recorded in the Municipality, records indicate that these cases were imported into the region.
According to the MCE, the Assembly is on high alert to prevent cholera in the area, and announced that the Assembly had embarked on a fumigation exercise at the various public toilets, as well as cleaning open gutters.
She added that a monthly clean up exercise had been instituted to ensure that a massive general cleaning of the Municipality would be carried out to drum home the importance of keeping the environment clean at all times.
The Ho Municipal Assembly has also intensified its public education and awareness creation on local radio stations on the need for the people to prioritise their health needs by keeping their immediate surroundings neat at all times.
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Mrs. Adinyirah explained that the regular education on the local radio stations was a way of preparing the minds of the people to adhere to sound sanitation practices, because the Assembly would be enforcing its sanitation bye-laws, and that those found violating the laws would be dealt with.
The Ho Timber sellers Association, according to the MCE, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Assembly to establish a wood village as a way of sanitizing the activities of timber sellers in the Municipality.
She further said that the Assembly was in the process of establishing a light industrial area to regulate activities of fitters and other artisans in the area. Mrs. Adinyirah disclosed that the Assembly had formed a development task force to demolish all structures erected at unapproved places to decongest the Ho township.
She said one of her objectives was to motivate the staff of the Assembly to a level that would increase productivity and make the workers more committed to their respective duties. Even though the traditional authorities had supported the Assembly in diverse ways she said, the Assembly would continue to work closely with chiefs in the area for rapid development.
Mrs. Adinyirah stated that she had been holding regular meetings with the Ho Central Market women on the challenges confronting women in the area, noting that their major concern was to see the modern market promised them.
“The type of Municipal Assembly I would want to see is a vibrant one that is result oriented, and to become modern Assembly where all workers will be willing to work as a team to help deliver and transform the Assembly,” she stressed.
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Some of the market women who spoke to The Chronicle said they were hopeful that the market would be reconstructed, because the temporary place had been provided for them to relocate showed that the promises made by the MCE would come to fruition.
They commended the Ho Municipal Chief Executive and the Assembly staff for their hard work and determination to ensure that the market project start as planned and completed on time, promising that once they saw clear signs of activities that showed that work would soon commence on the project, they would cooperate with the Assembly to ensure the early completion of the project.