Participants at the Akatsi-South District Town Hall Meeting have commended government for reviving the programme which forms part of measures by the Ministry of Information to sustain regular policy interactions with the citizenry.
They described the Town Hall Meeting as an excellent platform for the people to be closer to government.
The Akatsi-South Town Hall Meeting is the first in series of such meetings scheduled to be held in six other districts in the Volta Region and 152 Districts across the country.
The meeting attracted over 200 participants made up of Traditional rulers, Assembly members, opinion leaders, Heads of Department and other members of the public.
In her remarks, Madam Patricia Dovi Sampson, Director of Policy Planning and Monitoring at the Ministry of Information, said the Town Hall Meetings created a platform for members of the community to raise any concerns and discuss challenges about developmental issues in their communities.
Madam Sampson added that it also offered an opportunity for government officials and stakeholders to explain government policies and programmes to the citizens.
She commended participants for the massive turn out and expressed the hope that they had been well informed to contribute their quota to the development of the country.
The District Chief Executive (CEO), Mr Leo Nelson Adzidogah, said the District was poised for an upgrade into a Municipal status and he was, therefore, leaving no stone unturned to meet the criteria.
Mr Adzidogah said the Assembly attached greater importance to grass root participation in its processes as the hall mark for sustainable development and for which reason he had embarked on community tours to interact and obtain information on their needs and expectations to address them.
He said the construction of an ultra- modern office complex, the modernization of the Akatsi market and the increase in the Assembly's revenue base were some of the efforts the Assembly was making to this effect.
Mr Adzidogah said since the privatization of its revenue collection, the Assembly had seen a massive increase in its revenue performance, having collected GH₵54, 227.20 by the middle of June 2018 as against GH₵16,573.00 collected in June 2017.
The DCE disclosed that the Assembly had adopted a people-centered approach to reducing the high level of poverty in the District.
He said the Assembly was working hard to ensure the early completion of renovation works at the District Hospital to reach the standard of a fully-fledged hospital while six paneled borehole systems were under construction at Tsigbene, Akeve-Gii, Adukpokofe, Avenopeme, Agorve and Lokokofe.
Touching on education, the DCE said the Assembly would soon begin the construction of a four-classroom block with pre-school facilities and two CHPS compounds in the District.
Mr Adzidogah admitted that though there had been an improvement in the District's performance on the National League Table, moving from the 208 position to 168, the District needed to put in more efforts.
Earlier, the Volta Regional Information Officer, Mr Stephen Adjah, sensitized participants on some of government's flagship policies and programes aimed at ensuring the welfare of Ghanaians.
These included the Free Senior High School Policy, Planting for Food and Jobs, One District One Factory Programme, the Nation Builders Corps and the restoration of the Nurses' and Teachers' allowances, among others.
Mr Adjah indicated that never in the history of the country had a government done so much to improve the lives of the citizenry.
He, therefore, urged the citizenry particularly to enjoy the benefits of government's initiatives.
The Town Hall Meeting is being organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Information in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The other Districts that will take their turn in the first phase of the programme in the Volta Region are Agortime-Ziope, Adaklu, North-Dayi, South Tongu, Ketu North and Krachi.
Source: ISD (Yvonne Elikplim Harlley- Kanyi)
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