By Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNA
Ngmetsokope, Oct. 29, GNA – The Ningo-Prampram District Assembly has outlined key development priorities for 2027 while identifying staffing shortages, inadequate office accommodation and the absence of a final waste-disposal site among challenges confronting its operations.Â
The issues were highlighted during a town hall meeting organised for the Dawa Area Council at the Divine Healers Church at Ngmetsokope, where the assembly presented its development activities, discussed planned interventions and engaged residents on local governance and service delivery.
The meeting brought together residents, traditional authorities, opinion leaders, assembly members, unit committee members and other stakeholders from the electoral areas under the Dawa Area Council.
Mr Rafael Uriel Nartey, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said the engagement formed part of efforts to promote participatory governance, transparency and social accountability by providing residents with information on the assembly’s activities and an opportunity to raise concerns.
Mr Nartey urged residents and businesses to pay their taxes and statutory charges promptly, stating that internally generated revenue was important for financing infrastructure and public services and supporting the district’s development priorities.
Presenting the district’s development context, Mr Godwin Kotoku, Assistant District Development Planner, said the district’s transition from a predominantly rural area to an increasingly urban one had implications for development planning, infrastructure provision and public service delivery.
He said the changing circumstances required coordinated planning to address the district’s economic, environmental, social and institutional needs.
The assembly’s development priorities include improving access to quality healthcare, increasing school enrolment, expanding properly planned settlements, strengthening development control, improving sanitation and increasing crop and livestock production.
The NiPDA officials used photographic evidence to highlight projects and interventions undertaken by the assembly, including the construction of a Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound at Someh, Phase One of a police compound at the District Headquarters and the renovation of the Ningo and Dawa Area Council facilities.
Other interventions included the installation of solar-powered streetlights, improvements to roads and drainage infrastructure, support for traditional authorities and the extension of water supply infrastructure to the assembly and surrounding communities.
They referred to the sod-cutting ceremony for roads at Tsopoli and road-grading works in Mataheko, Afienya and Miotso. Dredging works had also been undertaken along the Terrazzo streams in Dawhenya.
On sanitation and environmental management, the assembly had supplied tools and skip containers to support waste collection and disposal, while clean-up exercises were organised in Prampram township and along the beaches.
Other activities included fumigation exercises in Ningo, health screening for food vendors, support initiatives for young people and persons with disabilities, the distribution of fertiliser to farmers, an anti-rabies campaign and tree-planting activities.
For 2027, the assembly stated it was considering interventions to support a 24-hour district economy through market-related development, improve educational infrastructure and sanitation facilities, upgrade health facilities, provide medical equipment, conduct reproductive-health campaigns in schools, construct boreholes and develop a slaughterhouse.
The assembly, however, identified inadequate office accommodation, shortages of personnel within the Health Directorate and Agriculture Department, insufficient staff accommodation and the absence of a final waste-disposal site as operational challenges.
The officials also expressed concern about the reluctance of some taxpayers to fulfil their obligations,
Mr Charles Kissi Amakye, Head of Works at NiPDA, urged residents to consult the Works Department before preparing building plans or commencing construction.
He said early consultation would help ensure that proposed developments complied with the relevant requirements and considered safety, financial considerations and the suitability of buildings for their intended purposes.
A budget presentation was also made to inform participants about the financial framework supporting the assembly’s activities.
The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session during which residents raised concerns and sought clarification on issues affecting their communities.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo, GNAÂ
[email protected]Â