DCE satisfied with development of District

Agona (Ash), Feb. 26, GNA - Mr. Ben Abankwah, Afigya Sekyere District Chief Executive (DCE) has expressed satisfaction with the rate of socio-economic development of the district. He said the Assembly had used most its funds to provide facilities like schools, water, electricity, telephone services and roads. Mr. Abankwah, who was addressing the first ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the Assembly at Agona in the Ashanti Region, explained that the facilities were provided to stem the urban- rural drift of the youth and expressed concern about their continuous migration to the cities, which he said was an obstacle to rural development.

To further reverse the trend, Mr. Abankwah challenged agricultural officers to collaborate with soil scientists to help farmers to increase their yield to encourage the youth to take farming as a worthwhile vocation. The DCE express satisfaction with the district's education compared to the previous years and announced that the teachers in the rural areas would be motivated to sustain and improve the level.

Mr. Abankwah said that the Assembly received 1.2 billion cedis as its share of the Common Fund, which was used for various sectors of the District's development. He said reported cases of HIV/AIDS cases in the district had drastically due to an aggressive campaign against the disease. Mr. Abankwah commended the District Police Commander and the security agencies for stemming the tides of threats in the area but expressed concern about the activities of illegal chainsaw operators and urged the people to co-operate to deal with the issue. He stressed the need to expand improve the traditional revenue base for the development of the District instead of the over reliance on the Common Fund.

Mr. David Henric Yeboah, MP for Afigya Sekyere East briefed assembly members on developments in Parliament with emphasise on the President's State of the Nation Address. He pledged to use the greater part of the MP's share of the Common Fund to promote teaching and learning in the district.