The Akyemansa district in the Eastern Region has taken to oil palm plantation as a means of generating alternative source of revenue for the district.
The move will serve as a long-term sustainable revenue source and will reduce the overdependence on the central government for resources to run the affairs of the district.
The District Chief Executive of the Akyemansa who made these revelations stressed that issues relating to the delays in the release of funds and stalling of various projects due to inconsistent funding motivated him to think outside the box for a sustainable long-term solution.
Paul Asamoah also emphasised that the district lacked sustainable means of generating internal revenue as it didn’t have well-established sources to obtain such funds.
“I realised raising money from IGF is very difficult because our sources are very limited. We don’t have markets so we can get tolls from the market and because we don’t have information about our buildings, we don’t have data about them so property rate collection is very difficult. I decided to go into a programme that will get us income as far as IGF is concerned so in the long term I decided to go into oil palm plantation because it is a cash crop that is booming in this district” he stated
The DCE was optimistic that it will serve as a source of employment for the youth in the district and also help boost the local economy.
He was confident that just as individuals have taken advantage of the oil palm farming in the district, he would also be able to lead his people into venturing into a very ambitious yet achievable endeavour to help generate funds for the district
“Last year, as soon as I came into office, the assembly agreed and so we went into agreement with some communities and now we have secured 70 acres of land and we planted 18 acres last year and we have 60 seedlings on every acre of land so you can imagine the amount of oil palm on 18 acres of land. We are aiming to get at least 100 acres of land for oil pam for the assembly so that it will serve as a constant source of income for the district”
Paul Asamoah also bemoaned the poor health delivery system that he took overstating that it was unacceptable that a population of 100, 000 people would not have district hospital or even a doctor to cater for their health needs.
He disclosed that the existing health centres were in bad shape and needed urgent attention to ensure that they continue to serve the people within the district.
It was for this reason he has teamed up with MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to develop a health plan that will be executed in three phases with focus on improving infrastructure, provision of critical logistics and provision of critical personnel.
“We are trying to upgrade all the clinics and then maybe select one/two of them and then raise it to a status of a polyclinic then from there we will lobby for a district hospital because we cannot just get up and lobby for a district hospital. We are hoping that by the end of our term we will get a district hospital, that will help the district a lot. We are over 120, 000 people and we don’t have a single medical doctor” he retorted
He was expectant that the setting up of the Middle-belt Development Authority will facilitate that provision of an ambulance and also assist the district in other sectors such as water and infrastructure.
The DCE made these revelations on the sidelines of a ceremony held to witness the donation of medical items by the MP, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to 8 health centres in the constituency.
The medical equipment worth over GHC200, 000 included, wheelchairs, bandages, operation kits, gloves, drips, beds, patient lifts, lab test equipment among others.
In his address during the presentation of the items, Oppong Nkrumah stated, “Our health situation is very deplorable, the statistics are very heart-breaking and there are three main interventions that we have put in place.
One is to provide the necessary infrastructure, provide the critical logistics and three ensure we have the critical health personnel here. For the healthcare infrastructure that’s why we are investing so much so that by the middle of 2018 we would have refurbished our 8 health centres, we would have provided a lot more critical logistics and the exercise to bring in critical staff would have reached its pinnacle by that time and it is to ensure that the very very dire situation we met when we assumed office is attended to as soon as possible”
The beneficiary health centres were medical facilities within Ayirebi, Brenasi and Otwereso, Akokoaso, Gyaha, Anyinase, Abenase and Ofoase communities.
The donated items were a support from a donor partner, Nana’s project, a US-based NGO with attention on health care and forms part of the strategic plan of providing critical logistics to the health centres to be able to meet the demands of the people.
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