Assembly directs NADMO to distribute Ghana @ 50 paraphernalia

Walewale (N/R), Dec. 14, GNA - The Executive Committee of the West Mamprusi District Assembly has directed the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to distribute all Ghana @ 50 paraphernalia still locked up in the assembly's store room to people.

Mr. Sulley Abudu Zakaria, the District Chief Executive, gave the directive in Walewale during the Third General Meeting of the assembly last Thursday and said there should be fair distribution of the items.

The items included 2,213 pieces of T-shirts, 1,071 pieces of base ball caps, 30 yards of anniversary cloth and 629 pieces of polo T-shirts left at the District Assembly's store room in Walewale.

On the 2009 floods that hit the district, Mr. Zakaria said steps were being put in place by the assembly for NADMO to resettle the affected persons and called on NGOs and other donor agencies to assist in resettling displaced persons.

He said statistics from the district NADMO office showed that some 5,314 households were affected in 88 communities with a total of 2,198 houses completely destroyed. Additionally, an estimated 43,824 people were displaced while 25,376 acres of farmlands were destroyed.

Five people lost their lives in the disaster and that though government had offered relief support it was not enough to support all the victims.

Mr. Zakaria said the Assembly was adopting a short to medium term strategy to integrate climate change concerns into its development planning. He said the Assembly was developing a proposal for possible funding by the UNDP in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) to create a buffer zone along the banks of the river where farming activities had resulted in siltation and contributed to the perennial flooding.

Mr Zakaria said under the proposal economic trees would be planted along the river as well as a dam to serve farmers in the catchments area so that they would desist from farming close to the river.

On the internally generated funds, he said the district collected GH¢87,088.56 at the end of October instead of the projected GH¢109,550.

Mr. Zakaria said assembly members, chiefs, area councils and traditional rulers would from 2010 be involved in revenue mobilization. He said as part of measures to widen the tax net, all donkey carts would be registered and taxed while fees would be collected on sheanut exports and money lending institutions in the district would also be taxed.

Mr Zakaria outlined the development agenda of the Assembly and stressed that infrastructure development in education and health institutions would be improved while roads linking farming communities would be up-grated.

He said evaluation of tenders were ongoing for the award of four road projects namely, the Kparigu/Shelinvoya 9.4-kilometer road, Walewale/Zangum 12-kilometer road, Kubori/Mankarigu 12- kilometer road and the Gbani-Kparigu nine-kilometer road.

Mr. Zakaria said some communities had been earmarked to benefit from Millennium Challenge Accounts protects while others would benefit from boreholes and the provision of small water schemes.