KROBO CHIEFS PARTNER ASSEMBLY IN DEV (PAGE 20)

THE Manya Krobo Traditional Council and the Lower Manya Krobo District Assembly have decided to jointly pool human and material resources for the development of the district.
In that direction, the two bodies have started organising annual mini conferences involving the chiefs and the technocrats in the assembly, as well as the heads of departments in the district, to brainstorm on issues that will improve the living standard of the people.
The maiden conference, which took place at Odumase Krobo at the weekend, was attended by a number of chiefs, such as Nene Sasraku IV, the acting President of the Manya Krobo Traditional Council; Nene Dome Siako of the Suisi Division; Nene Agbau Narh of the Djebiam Division; Manye Natekie, the Assistant Queen of the Manya Krobo State; Asafoatse Aseda Ahor, the Chief of Akuse, and Asafoatse Tettey Eti of Akwenor Mampong.
Also present were the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr David Sackitey Asare, and representatives of the various departments, who answered questions from the chiefs and offered suggestions for the solution to the problems facing the people in the district.
In his welcome address, Nene Sasraku expressed regret at certain developments in the area, such as the limited number of students being offered scholarships by the Assembly, the irregular supply of water, poor sanitation and revenue mobilisation, and called on the Assembly to do its best to address them.
The traditional council, he said, was prepared to support the Assembly in diverse ways to solve the problems and urged the heads of departments to also support the initiative.
Some of the heads of departments who took turns to highlight their difficulties mentioned lack of office and residential accommodation as the main problems facing them and called for speedy action to enable them to offer their best in developing the district.
Earlier the DCE had briefed the gathering on a number of social amenities, such as school buildings, roads and other projects, that had been provided by the Assembly since he assumed office.
He stated that new projects like the rehabilitation of the Asite-Nuaso and Atua-Mt Mary roads and the extension of electricity to a number of communities would soon start.
Mr Asare further stated that KfW of Germany would support the Assembly to construct a new lorry park at Kpong to replace the old one, which, he said, would be converted to a modern transit point.
The Assembly, the DCE stated, had also offered scholarships to over 100 young men and women to study in youth training institutes in some parts of the region.
According to him, the Assembly was doing its best to address the problems facing the area but a number of factors, notably poor revenue mobilisation resulting from the unwillingness of the people, especially artisans, to pay taxes, were making it difficult to achieve its goals.
Mr Asare said the Assembly would continue to support the traditional council, especially in celebrating the annual Ngmayem Festival.
He called for closer collaboration between the two bodies for the development of the area.