By Emmanuel Gamson/ Desmond Amponsah
Sekondi (W/R), June 03, GNA – Mr Frederick Faustinaus Faidoo, the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), says the Assembly will act against herders who allow their cattle to loiter the streets of Sekondi-Takoradi.
He said stray cattle, in particular and other animals on the streets and communities, had become a nuisance, and that the city authorities would clamp down on these issues to keep the Metropolis clean.
He said: “While acknowledging past efforts at curbing the menace, the Assembly will no longer countenance irresponsibility on the part of herders who allow their cattle to loiter about on our streets and in our communities.”
The MCE said this when he opened the First Ordinary Meeting of the Second Session of the Ninth Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly at Sekondi.
The meeting provided a platform for the members of the Assembly to discuss activities and projects for the first quarter of the year, and review programmes, and interventions for the next period.
Mr Faidoo stated that the Assembly had asked cattle owners in the Metropolis to comply with the necessary regulations or face sanctions prescribed by the law.
He noted that a team from the Environmental Health Unit of the Assembly would soon commence an operation to arrest stray animals on the streets and in the communities to help maintain good hygiene and sanitation in the Metropolis.
Touching on security issues, the MCE stated that except for isolated incidence of miscreant excesses, the city remained one of the most peaceful in Ghana.
“Pursuant to the sustenance of this enviable record, the Metropolitan Security Council, under my Chairmanship, has adopted the strategy of promptly responding to concerns of security once they arise, while keeping our platform active for information sharing on matters with the potential to compromise our peace as a Metropolis,” Mr Faidoo noted.
On revenue and expenditure, he said the Assembly’s 2025 Revenue Budget performance as at the end of the first quarter was 85.70 per cent, while expenditure performance was 79.70 per cent against the first quarter expenditure ceiling.
According to the MCE, the Assembly would continue to diversify its development financing approach, under the Metropolitan Budget Support Programme to inject some significant investment into the local economy in the 2025/2026 period.
On health, he said the doctor to patient ratio for Sekondi-Takoradi stood at 1:3178, and that for a nurse to patient was 1:273.
Mr Faidoo again stated that Maternal Mortality Ratio was 384 deaths per 100,000 live births, which was way above the national average of 310 deaths per 100,000 live births.
“Indeed, as of 2020, the global average stood at 223 per 100,000 live births, and this underscores the need for increased investment in maternal health services, as a Metropolis and as a country, in spite of progress made over the years,” he added.
For education, the MCE said the Assembly would continue to support the provision of furniture for various schools that were in need of them to create a more comfortable learning environment to enhance the overall quality of education in the Metropolis.
On waste management, he said with the onset of the rains, coupled with the cholera outbreak, the Assembly, through the Waste Management Department, was currently preparing communal container sites across the Metropolis to help evacuate old refuse dumps.
Mr Faidoo gave updates on other projects and interventions and called on members to support the Assembly to work hard to bring in the needed development to benefit the people.
GNA
Edited By Justina Paaga/Christian Akorlie