From Samuel Agbewode
The Akatsi North District Assembly has embarked a number of development projects that would help in promoting the rapid development in the area.
These include the construction of a new assembly hall complex, which the Volta Regional Minister had cut the sod for work to start on, and inspected other ongoing projects in the area.
Other ongoing projects include six- unit semi-detached bungalows for junior staff of the Assembly, a shopping mall, construction of a number of classroom blocks for schools at the basic level, and a comprehensive programme that identified 350 physically challenged persons, out of which 200 had been provided with equipment to establish their own businesses.
Speaking at a ceremony to cut the sod for the assembly hall complex at Ave-Dakpa, the Volta Regional Minister, Madam Helen Adwoa Ntoso, commended the District Chief Executive; Mr. James Gunu, for the quality leadership being exhibited.
She averred that this had culminated in the execution of a number of development activities in the district.
Madam Ntoso, who was overwhelmed by the level of development in the Akatsi North District within the short period of time it was inaugurated, said it was carving a niche for itself as one of the fast developing districts in the region.
She attributed this to the hard work and dedication to duty by the leadership of the assembly and staff.
The Minister pointed out that development should be seen as a collective responsibility by all, therefore, chiefs and people in leadership positions in the districts should cooperate with the assemblies to ensure that the needed development was brought to them.
She also advised them to avoid relying on negative utterances from people she described as detractors who lived in Accra and have been dampening their spirits that the government was doing nothing in terms of development.
She said the Volta Region Coordinating Council (VRCC) had drawn up a programme that would enable her to visit and inspect how the assemblies were using government resources to the benefit of the governed.
Madam Ntoso said this would help expose development projects implemented within the specific period of President Mahama’s administration.
The Regional Minister lauded the efforts being made by the Chief of Ave-Atanve, Togbui Dunyo Hodzie, in providing school infrastructure for the basic school in the town, and urged other traditional leaders in the region to initiate development projects in their respective communities.
Madam Ntoso directed all the assemblies in the region to ensure that government initiated projects were completed for the benefit of the people.
She charged the Akatsi North District Assembly to ensure that the dam built by the government at Dakpa was put to more effective use, particularly, that the water be used for irrigation activities, where women could invest in vegetable cultivation all year to increase their income generation.
She assured the people that the government was very concerned about development activities in the region in such areas like the construction of roads, saying the Sogakope Mafi-Asiekpe-Adaklu-Ho portion would soon be completed.
She further added that the construction of the eastern corridor road, and building of permanent structures for the University of Health and Allied Sciences, were still under construction.
Mr. Gunu attributed the success story of rapid development in his district to effective collaboration between the Assembly, the Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Peter Nortsu Kotoe, as well as chiefs and opinion leaders.
He said this had made the implementation of such development activities unique, and called for further cooperation to ensure that development projects already begun and future projects were completed on time.
Mr. Gunu disclosed that so far, the Assembly had provided a number of infrastructure to needy schools in the area, as well as water to almost all the communities, except for a few communities.
He also revealed that currently, 80 boreholes were being provided to help address the water problems that had confronted the people over the years.
Touching on the Ghana Social Opportunity Project, the District Chief Executive said the district would benefit from US$200,000, which would be used for road construction among other prioritised projects.
He stressed: “We are occupying the district with relevant development projects that people would not believe, but that is what our core mandate is, and we would not stray from this responsibility.”
The DCE said it was important for citizens living outside the district to visit the area and contribute their quota to development activities, adding that a lot was going on in the area.
He revealed that there were more development activities lined up in the area, and that there was the need for consultations with the chiefs and opinion leaders before such projects would be implemented.
The MP for Akatsi North, Mr. Nortsu Kotoe, observed that the level of understanding and cooperation between the assembly and his office had culminated in the fast rate at which development projects were being carried out.
Mr. Nortsu Kotoe, however, appealed to the District Assembly to pass a bye-law that would prevent people from organising funerals or social activities on the first Saturday of every month, to ensure that the National Sanitation Day clean up exercise would be carried out fully.
He later inaugurated a nine-member District Sanitation Task Force to ensure that the monthly clean up exercise was carried out without any difficulty.
It would also help in educating the people about the importance of the exercise to ensure that they voluntarily participate in the clean up exercise, rather than being compelled to.
The Chief of Ave-Dakpa, Tobui Nyamekor Glakpe, gave the assurance that the chiefs and people in the District did not consider the Assembly as only a government institution, but rather a development company in which all the people were shareholders, and to which it would be possible for them to contribute meaningfully towards its growth.
Togbui Nyamekor Glakpe observed that communication was a vital tool that helped in promoting development.
Commending the media, he said that since the inception of the new assembly at Ave-Dakpa, it had lived up to expectation, adding that it was very important for the media to expose developmental activities being carried out in the District and the region.
The contractor working on the accommodation project for the junior staff of the Assembly, Mr. Ben Akorlatsey, who is as the Managing Director of the Senramark Company Limited, disclosed that work on the project started in 2013, and would be completed within the next six months.