UPPER MANYA KICKS AGAINST COMMON FUND DEDUCTIONS (PAGE 14, APRIL 30, 2010)

The Upper Manya District Assembly has kicked against deductions from their share of the Common Fund which, according to the assembly members, had impacted negatively on the district.
At the sitting of the Assembly at Asesewa last week, the assembly members expressed disgust at the deduction of GH¢15,000 per quarterly allocation which, they said, was being used to render services outside the district.
The members who could not, however, indicate the specific services the deduction was being used for, called on the Administrator of the fund to stop the deduction to enable the district to have more funds for its development.
The assembly arrived at the consensus after the Presiding Member told the House that GH¢15,000 was being deducted from the district’s share of the Common Fund every quarter.
He said although the assembly had no problem with the deduction, whatever amount was deducted must be used in the interest of the people in the communities within the district.
The District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Tetteh Angmor, who later addressed the Assembly, said a number of projects currently under construction would soon be completed.
These included a GH¢42,465.83 slaughter house at Asesewa, a GH¢15,394.50 six-unit classroom block equipped with an office, store, library and urinal, an x-ray for the Asesewa Government Hospital at a cost of GH¢44,886.60, drilling of eight boreholes at Sekesua, Anyaboni and Mensa Dawa costing GH¢56,000.00, a GH¢33,574.00 clinic at Ternguanya as well as the Asesewa lorry park.
He also told the Assembly that Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, would be constructing 10 boreholes for 10 deprived communities in the area, namely Akatebuor, Oditsanse, Apimsu, Asuomanya, Korlieteh, Terkorase, Brepaw Kpiti, Mensah Dawa, Batorkope and Akateng.
With regard to roads, Mr Angmor said the construction of the Asesewa-Adwensu and Asesewa-Akrusu road had been completed while work on the Bisa Junction-Akrusu Road was in progress, adding that the Konkoney-Akumersu-Sekesua Road and the Sekesua-Osonson, Nsutapong-Ternguany roads would soon be tackled.
Dwelling on the Youth Employment Programme in the district, he said new modules such as dressmaking, mobile phone repair, police, fire and prison services as well as agriculture had been added to the scheme to enable more people to generate income for their livelihood in line with the government initiative.
The DCE ,who elaborated on other aspects of the district’s development programme, called on the assembly members for support.