Cooperate with DCEs to Enhance Development- Minister

Zabzugu, (N/R), Feb 12, GNA- Alhaji Abu-Bakar Saddique Boniface Northern Regional Minister has urged civil servants to give of their best and constantly interact with their District Chief Executives (DCEs) to share ideas and experiences that would help enhance the development of the districts.

He said under the decentralised local government system an integrated budget would soon be prepared for all the districts under which each department's budget would be a component of the District Assemblies budget.

Alhaji Boniface said this when he addressed heads of departments in the Zabzugu/Tatale District as part of his working visit to the district to inspect some development projects and to also interact with the people to explain government policies to them and also learn at first hand their problems at Zabzugu on Friday.

He said, it was therefore necessary for the heads of departments to establish cordial working relationships with their chief executives to let them know what they where doing in their various departments to enable them to work together as a team to bring development to their districts.

He commended the civil servants for sacrifices and good work they were doing and said it was in appreciation of this that the government was restructuring the civil service to improve upon their working conditions.

Alhaji Boniface said as part of the restructuring exercise government was acquiring land in all the regions to put up decent accommodation for civil servants, adding that those who wanted to buy the houses would be given the opportunity to do so.

Alhaji Yakubu Bukari, the Zabzugu/Tatale DCE who earlier on briefed the Regional Minister on developments in the district said with the introduction of the capitation grant there had been a tremendous improvement in pupil's enrolment into school.

He said the district had so far received about 800 million cedis as its share of the capitation grant.

He said for instance in 2004 the total enrolment in the basic schools was 12,849 but this had shot up to 17,621 in 2005. On the District Health Insurance Scheme he said about 3,923 people had so far registered and the amount realised from the registration was 36 million cedis.

Alhaji Bukari said the Assembly had provided a six-room block and furnished it to serve as offices for the scheme and in addition provided 25 million cedis for picture taking and preparations of photo ID cards. Alhaji Boniface later inspected the on-going construction of nurse's quarters, the completed offices of the District Directorate of Health, construction of a three-classroom block and a girls hostel at the cost of 670 million cedis for the Zabzugu Senior Secondary School (SSS).

The Regional Minister also joined Muslims for the Friday prayers and used the opportunity to appeal to the religious leaders to educate the youth on the need for peace which he said was a prerequisite for development.

He told them that without peace all the development they were yearning for would not materialise, as the money meant for development would instead be used maintain peace.

Alhaji Boniface also visited Tatale where he assured the people that the road from Yendi to Tatale would be tarred not only to make it motorable for them but more importantly because it was an international road and as such according to ECOWAS convention it must be tarred.

Alhaji Boniface said the government was also embarking on a massive irrigation programme throughout the country to ensure that the people were able to farm all year round to produce enough to feed themselves and provide employment for the youth.

He warned the people of the area against child trafficking, which has been reported to be on the increase in the area and said any parent caught engaged in such an act, would be prosecuted.

Nakpale Bore Gariba Yankosor, paramount chief of the Tatale Traditional Area appealed to the Regional Minister to convert the Tatale Senior Secondary School into a boarding one to allow more students from the district to get admission into the school.

He also appealed for the rehabilitation of the only dam in the area and the provision of potable water for the people.

Alhaji Boniface paid similar visits to the Sabare, Nahuyili and Kpalbutabu communities where he explained government policies to them and advised them to embrace the National Health Insurance Scheme. He also warned them against HIV/AIDS and bushfires and said those who set bushfires to destroy others farms would be prosecuted when caught. Feb. 12 06