By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Tema, Sept. 26, GNA — The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has engaged state-owned enterprises, assembly departments and government agencies, to strengthen inter-sectoral collaboration and improve coordinated development, service delivery and sustainable growth across the metropolis.
The engagement brought together organisations with shared responsibilities for Tema to discuss the assembly’s development vision, current challenges, available resources and areas requiring stronger partnerships to improve service delivery and address gaps in the metropolis.
The event provided stakeholders with an opportunity to present their respective mandates, ongoing projects, key challenges, and potential areas for collaboration to enhance coordination and service delivery.
Ms Ebi Bright, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) said the TMA had a responsibility to protect residents, government assets and public institutions while ensuring that infrastructure and services support economic activity and the long-term development of Tema.
Ms Bright, in a presentation on “TMA’s Current Development Priorities and Areas Requiring Stakeholder Engagement,” outlined five key priorities and three flagship programmes aimed at improving the assembly’s operations and service delivery.
The five priorities were: revenue enhancement, digitisation and process improvement, service delivery, human capital and culture change, and infrastructure and public space management, while the three flagship programmes are revenue enhancement, sanitation first, and the Tema Facelift.
Under Sanitation First, she said the assembly had provided skip containers at designated collection points, stocked sewer pipes to facilitate prompt repairs, and commenced dredging of the Chemu Lagoon and Ozoko Stream, adding that it planned to introduce zone-based street sweeping, regulate informal waste collectors, and explore a waste-to-energy pilot with private-sector partners.
The MCE said the initiative was intended to reduce waste in drains and dumpsites and minimise flooding and health risks while creating opportunities for energy generation, jobs and revenue, adding that the assembly was also reviewing its permitting processes to reduce physical visits, clarify requirements and establish clear timelines.
She said the mobile registration units were being used to register businesses and provide a one-stop service for permits and related enquiries, adding that the Tema Facelift Campaign focused on improving public spaces and protecting public infrastructure.
She added that the assembly intended to prevent the placement of kiosks and containers on road shoulders, roundabouts and reservations, while restoring cleared areas for public use, emphasising that the facelift campaign goes beyond aesthetics to protect government assets, public infrastructure and the public purse.
The MCE mentioned that the assembly was undertaking a digitisation programme to improve revenue collection, accountability and service delivery, saying this included creating a digital record of properties and businesses in Tema to ensure accurate billing, while identifying unpaid obligations and ensuring that residents and businesses contribute fairly to city development.
She added that the assembly also planned to introduce a single payment point for all its services, with payments made through a bank teller or digital channels and transferred directly into the assembly accounts and also create one-stop service to allow residents and businesses to submit, track and receive permits more efficiently.
She mentioned that the TMA had identified human capital and culture change as a key priority, aimed at building a more responsive and accountable assembly that improves service delivery and strengthens its engagement with residents.
Ms Bright said another priority was infrastructure and public space management, focusing on the development and maintenance of roads and drains, as well as the provision of orderly, safe and well-managed public spaces.
She said the priorities were being advanced through three flagship programmes, which were already delivering interventions to address key development needs within the city and appealed to the organisations and institutions to do their Corporate Social Responsibilities in the metropolis.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/ Christabel Addo
Reporter: Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Email: [email protected]