MP calls for support for unit committees

Bechem (B/A), Nov. 22, GNA - Mr Agyei Yeboah, Member of Parliament for Tano South in Brong Ahafo has called for the provision of the necessary logistics and the building of capacities of unit committees to enable them to perform their functions efficiently.

He noted that, even though, the idea behind the creation of the unit committees was laudable, lack of the requisite skills and logistics had hampered their performance in the communities.

Mr Yeboah, who is also the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Tano South, was answering a question at a public forum organised for the various parliamentary candidates in the Constituency at Bechem.

The forum, which was organised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) with support from the Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA) and the USAID, aimed at offering the candidates the opportunity to direct their campaign activities on issues that were of greater concern to the people in the Constituency.

It also aimed at enabling the electorate to assess the candidates and make informed choices on Election Day.

Mr Yeboah said unit committees were supposed to play a crucial role in the decentralisation process by organising the people in their local communities to discuss issues affecting their welfare.

On HIV/AIDS, Mr Yeboah said families and communities needed to be educated on how to care for AIDS victims in their communities. He said the disease was like any other one, which could affect anybody and urged the people to show compassion for AIDS victims. Mr Yeboah said he had initiated a number of programmes to improve education in the constituency. These included the construction and rehabilitation of blocks of classrooms and teachers' bungalows; provision of furniture and the institution of scholarships to assist needy children in the Constituency.

He advised the people to conduct themselves wisely in the upcoming elections to ensure peace in the area.

Mr Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman the National Democratic Congress Candidate said education would be one of his priorities when voted into office. He would also support apprenticeship training to enable the youth to acquire skills for their future.

He said he would initiate projects to organise farmers into groups to enable them to have access to micro-credit facilities to expand their businesses.

Mr Owusu Agyeman said when voted into office, he would work with his colleagues to ensure that farmers were provided with subsidies on their inputs.

Mr Fredrick Boateng of the People's National Convention PNC) said when voted as an MP, he would facilitate the establishment of a tomato factory to process the tomatoes produced in the area.

He would also initiate projects to construct silos to store vegetables and other crops produced in the area.

Mr Boateng advised the people, especially the youth to change their sexual behaviour in order not to contract the HIV/AIDS virus. He also advised parents to educate their children on sexual behaviour to enable them to make choices when they grew up.

A similar forum was organised at Kintampo for candidates in the Kintampo North constituency.