Ejisu-Juaben assembly values all properties in the district

Ejisu (Ash), Dec 16, GNA- The Ejisu-Juaben District Assembly has completed the valuation of all rateable properties in the district to determine their values for the payment of property rate.

Mr Yaw Ahenkora Afrifa, the District Chief Executive, said the valuation that was done by the Lands Valuation Board, was expected to fetch the assembly 700 million cedis a year.

Addressing the assembly at its meeting at Ejisu, he said hitherto, the number of properties in the district was not known so the rate was arbitrarily fixed.

The annual revenue from the property rate never exceeded 25 million cedis and this affected the development of the district.

Mr Afrifa said subvented organisations, factories and corporate bodies which previously were outside the tax net had now been captured and are expected to contribute 64 million cedis while individual properties would fetch 60 million cedis.

He said the assembly received 5.206 billion cedis as its share of the Common Fund for 2003, out of which the assembly is spending 306 million cedis to improve local revenue mobilisation, energy and tourism. In the area of education, he said, 866.1 million cedis was being spent on the construction, completion and renovation of education infrastructure at Essienimpong, Bomfa, Abenase, Ejisu, Akronwi and Sape.

Mr Afrifa said 497.3 million cedis had been earmarked for the completion of on-going health facilities at Bonwire, Juaben, Bomfa, Ejisu, Onwe, Kwaso and Apromase, while an abandoned doctor's bungalow had been renovated at the cost of 70 million cedis.

On the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the DCE said it now covers 1,300 teachers and educational workers and over 40,000 others and that contributors pay 50,000 cedis as premium and covers the contributor and all his or her children less than 18 years.

Mr Afrifa announced that the scheme since January this year, had made payments to beneficiaries amounting to 70 million cedis and said benefits paid during the third quarter stands at 33 million cedis. The DCE said the highest payment to a beneficiary was 3.5 million cedis and that the scheme had a fixed deposit of 300 million cedis with an operational account of 52 million cedis.

Mr Afrifa said the district had made significant achievement in the area of water and sanitation under the Community Water and Sanitation programme and that 25 boreholes had been completed in 11 communities at the cost of 1.170 billion cedis.

Some 37 boreholes, he said, are being sunk in 23 communities at a cost of 1.757 billion cedis.