Okaikoi North Assembly urged to improve on development of municipality

Participants at a Town Hall meeting have urged the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly in Accra to endeavour to develop the municipality to improve the living standards of the people.

They encouraged the Assembly to spread its infrastructural development to cover the entire area.

The meeting was attended by traditional and opinion leaders, youth groups, women groups, transport and market associations, political party representatives, and a cross-section of the public.

Mr Boye Laryea, the Municipal Chief Executive, said local governance meant mobilising resources to provide services to the citizenry while involving them in decision-making.

"The local governance system is to encourage government's responsiveness to citizen participation and in the end ensure greater effectiveness, efficiency and accountability," he said.

He said it was the duty of the Assembly to sensitise the citizens on revenue mobilisation, its expenditure areas and the challenges it faced as against opportunities available.

Mr Laryea mentioned some of the sectors under which strides had been made to include roads, education, and provision of markets.

He appealed to residents to fulfill their financial obligations such as payment of rates and taxes to enable the Assembly to meet its developmental agenda.

Mr Fuseini Issah, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi North, said credit should be given to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo under whose watch the Assembly had made great strides in infrastructural development.

He said 200 million cedis had been allocated under the Greater Accra Resilient Integrated Development Project for the construction of storm drains in the Accra Metropolis.

Mr Issah said approval had also been granted for the construction of the N1 footbridge between Apenkwa and Lapaz while under the one million dollar per constituency fund, an Astroturf had been provided for the area as well as the refurbishment of the Achimota Hospital Kitchen.

He appealed to the resident to pay their property rates to enable the Assembly to undertake more projects.

In an open forum, Nii Mettle, the Stool Secretary to the Achimota Traditional Authority, urged the Assembly to maintain the cordial relations with the traditional authorities to ensure prompt allocation of lands for development.

Reverend McDaniels Quartey, the Minister in Charge of the Gethsemane Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Achimota, who chaired the meeting, advised squatters along the drains in the locality to vacate to avoid any disaster.