Assembly to place embargo on salaries of rent defaulters

Tepa (Ash), May 9, GNA - About 18 senior public and civil servants occupying rented accommodation belonging to the Ahafo-Ano North district assembly have been given up to May 15 to pay up their rent arrears totalling 6.7 million cedis or have their salaries embargoed. Mr Abubakari Yakubu Alhassan, District Co-ordinating Director, told the Ghana News Agency at Tepa on Monday that the decision followed the recalcitrance of defaulters who after being served with numerous letters have refused to honour their rent obligations.

He said defaulters were informed in a letter dated May 2, 2006 by the assembly.

The Co-ordinating Director explained that a special audit task force set up last year detected the anomaly and recommended that the rent arrears be recovered with the least delay.

Mr Alhassan said occupants of the assembly's bungalows were paying 20,000 cedis a month, irrespective of the type of accommodation that they were in, adding that the arrears are for periods ranging from 10 to 21 months.