KEEA benefits from sister-city relationships

Cape Coast, Dec. 04, GNA - Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) District Assembly on Monday took delivery of vehicles and items worth 3.5 billion cedis donated by its sister-city partners in Gouda Municipality in the Netherlands and Ottawa in Canada. Ottawa with partnership in health and youth leadership training donated an ambulance, hospital beds, physiotherapy equipment, 17 sets of jerseys and footballs.

Gouda Municipality supporting the assembly in sanitation and waste management donated five trucks and an Urvan bus.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the assembly and KEEA District Health Directorate on the use of the ambulance for an efficient and effective health care delivery in the area.

Mr George Frank Asmah, KEEA District Chief Executive signed for the assembly while Dr Yaw Ofori-Yeboah KEEA District Director of Health Services signed for the directorate.

Mr Asmah announced that under the youth leadership training programme 100 youths, 25 from each of the four traditional areas in the district would be selected to benefit from the programme. He said District Sports Council would soon be established to develop sports and called on the youth to participate in its sporting activities.

Mr Asmah said a sanitation and waste management programme had been expanded with the provision of a waste management plant and improvement on its drainage system.

He said architectural designs on the plant estimated at about 350 million cedis would be undertaken with technical assistance from a company in the Netherlands.

Presenting keys of the ambulance to the directorate, Mr Asmah called on the beneficiaries to utilise it efficiently and effectively and maintain it well to prolong its life span. Dr Ofori-Yeboah receiving the keys commended the assembly for the gesture that would help solve some of the health problems in the district.

He expressed appreciation to the assembly for consulting the directorate on their needs before the items were presented. Dr Ofori-Yeboah noted that in some instances, items donated to institutions were not beneficial to them and gave the assurance that the ambulance would be well utilized.

Dr Charles Osafo Takyi, Deputy Central Regional Director of Health Services, commended the assembly for the items and urged the health workers to use them with care and work hard.

He suggested that free medical care programmes should be organized for rural dwellers adding "You should go to the rural areas to support them, otherwise they would continue to use herbal medicine since that is what they know and have."

The assembly later inaugurated 50 tricycles designed for waste collection in the district.