MINISTER TAKES SWIPE AT MANYA KROBO ASSEMBLY (PAGE 14)

THE Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has taken a swipe at the Manya Krobo District Assembly for failing to implement development projects that will raise the living standards of the people.
That failure, he said, had also contributed to the refusal of qualified persons to accept posting to the district, partly accounting for the area’s slow pace of development over the years.
Addressing a durbar of the chiefs and people of the area on Wednesday, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said, “As the highest political entity in the district, you have failed to put up modern infrastructure for your district to keep pace with development.”
The durbar, which was also attended by the various heads of departments in the district, also afforded the minister to learn at first-hand the problems facing the development of the district.
Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said in spite of the huge common fund that had been made available to the assembly over the years, the district’s development status had almost remained the same.
That, he pointed out, had become a major disincentive to attract qualified persons to the area to contribute their quota to its socio-economic progress.
“I feel extremely saddened that ever since I became the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister in 1999, during which I also assumed the role of a DCE here, the infrastructure situation has been the same,” he stated.
He, therefore, urged the assembly to ensure that the huge resources made available to it were prudently utilised to put up infrastructure that would raise the standard of living of the people and also help the district to develop.
“Besides our collective resolve to quicken the pace of development of our district, we must also ensure that transparency prevails in all our operations to win the goodwill of the people,” he advised the assembly.
On behalf of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Ofosu-Ampofo thanked the people for the massive support they gave to the party during the last elections and reiterated the party’s commitment to help raise the people’s standard of living.
The regional minister also commended the traditional authorities for their commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the area, noting that their efforts had contributed to the reduction of the pandemic in the area and the region in general.
He, however, called on them to help do away with discrimination and stigmatisation associated with the disease to encourage the people to go for voluntary counselling and testing as part of measures to curb the spread of the disease in the area.