The Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Isaac Kotobisah, who announced this said, “ this marvellous performance inspired the assembly to fix its 2011 estimated revenue at GHc848,730”.
Addressing the first meeting of the second session of the sixth assembly at Ho, Mr Kotobisah stressed that the ability for assemblies to generate revenue was relevant to the development of the people adding that steps would be taken to invigorate the revenue collection machinery in order to fund its action plans successfully.
He disclosed that the delay in the release of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) was affecting the smooth implementation of action plans of district assemblies and said consideration was to be given to district assemblies to negotiate with banks to withdraw their DACF in lieu of the official release of the fund.
The MCE said the assembly had awarded nine projects from the DACF with the Members of Parliament (MPs) common fund extended to 73 needy students, donations to communities and institutions and support to projects.
He further said 16 projects were being executed under the Urban Poverty Reduction Projects (UPRP) and Social Investment Fund (SIF) adding that 19 six -unit classroom blocks, stores and ancillary facilities and five teachers’ quarters had been constructed under the school under trees programme.
Mr Kotobisah also disclosed that 21 projects had been executed in senior high schools in the municipality under a senior high school improvement project and that part of the District (Municipal) Development Fund had been committed to seven projects to improve on social lives of the people.
He announced that the municipal assembly will benefit from a 40 million Euros fund from the Agence Francais de Development for an urban management plan, reconstruction of the Ho central market and its access roads, a land fill site and the construction of a modern abattoir.
He appealed to the assembly members to champion negotiations in the acquisition of land banks for future investments.
The issue on land banks however sparked some sentiments in the MP for Ho –Central constituency, Captain(rtd) George Nfojoh who questioned the status of 618 acres of land acquired during his tenure as the district chief executive.
He expressed indignation that all the acquired land for which C100 million (old cedis) was made as advanced payment had been left off leaving only 20 acres behind.
Capt. Nfojoh said he had linked up with the Ghana COCOBOD to raise seedlings for cocoa farmers in the constituency with the view to revamp the cocoa industry in the area to alleviate poverty, and declared that, “there is still value in cocoa”.
For his part, the MP for Ho-West constituency, Mr Emmanuel Bedzrah, said the onus of development rested on assemblymembers with a proposal that a bigger and better assembly hall structure be constructed to befit the status as a municipality.
In a welcome address, the presiding member of the municipal assembly, Mr M.M Astrim advised the assembly members to endeavour to improve on the achievements of their predecessors.
He said they should be committed to rebuilding and restructuring of sub zonal structures adding that they should implement all matters discussed at the floor of the assembly in accordance with the objectives of the decentralisation process.
Go here to see the original: