Ketu-South to get two factories

The Ketu-South Municipal Assembly will soon have two major factories for the processing of coconut and cassava at Akame, a town in the municipality.

The factories, scheduled to be completed this year, are at advanced stages of completion, according to the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ketu South, Mr Elliott Edem Agbenorwu.

He said the factories, which were a result of government's One district One factory (1D1F) policy, would create employment for the youth and farmers in the area.

Town Hall meeting

Mr Agbenorwu made that known during a Town Hall meeting held with support from GIZ, a German Development Agency at Denu.

He stated that the assembly had acquired large tracts of land for the establishment of the cassava factory to produce gari and starch and the coconut processing factory for the brewery industry.

Mr Agbenorwu added that the municipality had far benefited from government’s flagship programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), Free SHS, One Constituency One Million Dollar (1C1MD) and the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO).

He mentioned that 5,000 coconut seedlings had been allocated to the Klikor, Aflao and Somey Traditional areas, all in the municipality, to be planted to generate income and to help boost PERD.

Grassroots participation

Mr Agbenorwu indicated that because the assembly had placed an importance to grassroot participation in sustainable development, it had committed resources to strengthen the sub-structures to perform efficiently and effectively.

That, he said, was because the assembly was implementing for sustainable development through a broader and effective consensus building with the public.

According to him, 3,325 people have benefited from the LEAP programme compared to last year’s number of 850 people.

He said, 5,000 farmers who had registered for the Planting for Food and Jobs programme were benefiting from subsidised fertiliser, about 150 women have benefited from the MASLOC funds to assist them enhance their livelihood while over 3,000 women had been recruited to work under the school feeding programme.

Business centre

The assembly, he added, would set up a business incubation centre where the youth would be encouraged to develop ideas and they would be assisted and trained in various field of vocational work.

Mr Agbenorwu called on stakeholders to rally behind the assembly to make use of the available resources to drive the municipality towards its vision to be an enviable decentralised assembly.

He disclosed that government had released GH¢5 billion to be distributed to the constituencies under the One Constituency One Million Dollar policy.

Building on watercourses

The Makorsor of Somey Traditional Area, Togbe Adama III, expressed concern on the building on the watercourses in the community, which he stressed were affecting free flow of water.

He called on the assembly to ensure strict compliance with laws restricting buildings on watercourses and also to deal with the incessant indiscipline of motorbike users in the municipality.