Kumasi MCE worried about residents' attitude towards tax payment

Kumasi, June 14, GNA - Madam Patricia Appiagyei, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, has expressed worry about the apathetic attitude of the residents in the metropolis towards the payment of taxes and other levies to the assembly.

She complained that, residents expected the assembly to provide efficient services and development projects in their communities, yet they were reluctant and unwilling to pay money that would enable the assembly to provide those services.

Madam Appiagyei has therefore, charged assembly members in the metropolis to initiate educational campaigns to sensitise members in their electoral areas on the need to appreciate and honour their civic responsibilities at all times.

She was speaking at an emergency meeting of the assembly to discuss and approve its share of the 2006 District Assemblies Common Fund budget in Kumasi on Wednesday.

Madam Appiagyei said the assembly members who were the frontline leaders had an onerous duty to inform and educate members in their communities on the activities and challenges facing the assembly, while at the same time encouraging them to honour their tax obligations to ensure that the assembly had enough resources to provide efficient services to them.

She urged residents to be more concerned about how resources could be mobilized to improve on their living conditions instead of always trying to fault the assembly.

The Chief Executive stressed the importance of periodic community meetings and said she would soon embark of such project to interact with all the 60 electoral areas in the metropolis to identify their problems and educate them to pay their taxes and keep their communities clean. Madam Appiagyei reiterated her promise to ensure greater transparency in her administration to promote peace and harmony in the metropolis and called on members to always contact her to clarify issues that might be agitating their minds.

Nana Kofi Senya, Presiding Member of the assembly called for strict discipline among members of staff of the assembly in the performance of their duties.

He charged the assembly members to take the lead in educating and sensitising members in their communities to contribute positively towards the development of the city.

The assembly later approved for the utilization, of 5.1 billion cedis from its share of the 2006 common fund to undertake a number of development projects and services in the metropolis.

Among the projects and programmes were the productivity improvement and employment generation, which had 1 billion cedis, human resource development, 3.132 billion cedis and good governance and civic responsibility, which was allocated 10.9 billion cedis.