Accra, – Mr Samuel Nii Adjei Tawiah, the Korle Klottey Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has urged the Assembly members to adopt strategies that will promote team work, innovation, creativity and discipline to develop the area.
He said the Assembly, though strategically located, had so many challenges, but to live up to their motto of being an investor friendly destination, members needed to change their approach and attitudes towards handling issues.
Mr Tawiah said this when he delivered his sessional address at the First Ordinary Meeting of the Second Session of the Second Assembly in Accra.
“We need to plan to turn our challenges into opportunities to inure to the benefit of our people,” he said.
The address focused mainly on economic development and job creation, administrative reforms, finance, revenue, expenditure, education, health/sanitation, agriculture, and security.
On revenue, Mr Tawiah said the total revenue projected for the 2021 fiscal year was GH¢23,938, 171.75 representing 27 per cent increase of the 2020 figure of GH¢18,808,402.40.
Out of the figure GH¢11,901,00.00 representing 49.7 per cent was expected to be generated internally and 50.3 per cent from Central Government transfers.
He said at the end of March 2021, total revenue stood at GH¢4,053,289.21 representing 16.93 per cent of the total budget, and total Internally Generated Funds (IGF) was GH¢2,423,657.08 representing 20.37 per cent.
“That, notwithstanding, we intend to implement a number of interventions to shore up our revenue fortunes and meet the Annual IGF target including regular update of revenue data, completion of market profiling, linking service delivery to revenue payment in prime areas and reviewing revenue collectors agreements and strategies” he said.
Mr Tawiah noted that the total expenditure as at the close of the first quarter was GH¢4,216,186.46, representing 17.61 of the total expenditure budget.
Out of that, GH¢1,408,224.22 was spent on compensation, GH¢2,023,174.30 on goods and services while the remaining GH¢784,787.94 was spent on assets.
In the area of job creation and economic development, the Assembly had considered reconstructing the Odawna Market and the Tema Station with some investors expressing interest in the reconstruction.
He said the Assembly was also in the process of restructuring its taskforce into compliance enforcement, security, municipal guard units, and for development control.
Each of these units would have heads who would report directly to the MCE and Municipal Coordinating Director.
Mr Tawiah said the Assembly again intended to establish two zonal councils at Osu and Adabraka within the third quarter of the year and create electoral area development fund to empower members to deliver services at the local level and revive communal spirit.
On education, the MCE said the 18-unit classroom block at the Presbyterian Basic School had been handed over to the Assembly for use and would subsequently be occupied by the Osu Presbyterian Day Boys Primary and JHS, and the St Thomas Primary School and Kindergarten.
“The Municipal Education Oversight Committee has recommended the renovation of some schools including Calvary Methodist 1 and 2, and Gray Memorial Basic with the intention of reciprocating same in other schools in the Municipality in the coming years,” he said.
Mr Tawiah said the Assembly planned to establish day and night security at all the schools in the Municipality to protect lives and property.
The Osu library, which was the only library within the Municipality, was being reconstructed into a two-storey block, he said.
“The Assembly has also received two containers of educational and health materials from the Osu Citizens Social Club of the United States of America, which is yet to be distributed to the educational and health directorate for onward distribution,” Mr Tawiah said.
He said sanitation continued a major challenge, especially around the Central Business District, and in the markets and lorry stations.
“To overcome this, we have outlined a number of interventions including allocation of vehicles to the Environmental Health Unit, privatisation of refuse collection, use of sanitation taskforces at strategic locations, collection of sanitation levy, procurement of ‘borla’ taxis, and land acquisition for final disposal site, among others,” the MCE said.
He said the Assembly had benefited from the Landing Beach projects being constructed across the coastal areas of the country, and it was working to get an alternative land for the construction of the Osu Fish Market.
Source: Ghana News Agency