C66.7bn disbursed to assemblies

A TOTAL of ?66.7 billion has been disbursed to all the 110 district assemblies as their share of the District Assemblies Common Fund for the third quarter of last year.

The highest amount of ? 1.9 billion went to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly while Akuapem North received the lowest amount of ?422 million.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, who disclosed this in an interview in Accra at the weekend, said ?3.7 billion of the total amount will go to MPs as their share of the fund.

He said the arrears were due to the failure of the previous government to pay half of the second and third quarters of 2000, when it was in power.

According to him, the problem created a situation for which the ministry had to find extra funds to defray half of the second and third quarters of the year 2000 before starting with the fourth quarter of last year.

He said the Ministry of Finance is currently working feverishly on the first quarter of this year as part of measures to ensure that the arrears are paid. Mr Baah-Wiredu disclosed that the government will soon place before Parliament a bill to include a new element in the disbursement of the fund.

He explained that, the new element will ensure that there is equity in the provision of potable water in the country, adding that those areas with less potable water supply will get more funding to address their problem.

According to him, the move, which is part of the government?s developmental programme will ensure that more people have access to good drinking water as a means of preventing the spread of water-borne diseases.

The minister charged district chief executives to improve their revenue mobilisation approaches which will also make them earn more of the common fund based on the counterpart funding approach.

He said that they should also identify and develop tourist destinations in their areas and market them to earn revenue as well as create employ ment for the people.