Fanteakwa Assembly tops in internal revenue generation

The Fanteakwa District Assembly has been adjudged the best in the Eastern Region in terms of revenue generation from internal sources.

The Regional Co-ordinating Council made this known at a meeting with all the municipal and district assemblies in the region at Koforidua recently,  to assess the internally generated fund performance of assemblies in the region.

The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Abass Fuseini Sbaabe, also speaking at the assembly’s second ordinary meeting this year at Begoro, said as of September 2013, the assembly had collected GH¢335,935.25 out of the projected revenue of GH¢468,565, representing 72 per cent of the estimated revenue,  compared with the GH¢278,064.06 out of the projected revenue of GH¢450,850, representing 62 per cent of the total projection collected in 2012.

According to Mr Sbaabe, the encouraging performance in revenue mobilisation was the  result of prudent measures put in place by management.

The measures include the use of revenue task force from time to time, periodic reshuffle of revenue collectors, intensification of field supervision of revenue collectors, continuous updating of existing revenue data, strengthening the collection of building permits, intensification of tax education and prosecution of rate defaulters.

The DCE stated that the assembly had consecutively qualified for the Functional and Organisational Assessment Tool (FOAT) exercises since 2009 when he assumed office.

He craved the indulgence of the assembly members, especially the elected ones,  who were also members of the Urban/Town/Area Councils, to make functional their respective councils as demanded by the FOAT.

Mr Sbaabe said the assembly had allocated an office space to the Legal Aid Scheme,  to open a branch in the district upon a request by the Eastern Regional Director of the scheme to further enhance the justice system in the district.

He said on the advice of the District Security Committee (DISEC), the assembly had procured and allocated tricycles to communities where Fulani herdsmen and their cattle were located to monitor their activities and report to the police or the assembly for necessary action.

The DCE stated that the assembly had initiated discussions with the College of Engineering at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to assist in developing the tourist sites in the area.

He said the assembly was in the process of setting up a task force to monitor and track operators of illegal lumbering activities that had assumed alarming rate in the district and posed serious threats to the forests.

Mr Sbaabe said through the assembly’s efforts, the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) had written to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and expressed its dissatisfaction about the  poor electricity  situation at Begro and given an ultimatum to the ECG to address the situation since the problem had to do with the capacity of the current electricity power in the district.

He said the ECG was currently upgrading the power in the district from 11KV to 33KV to rectify the situation.

By Samuel Kyei-Boateng/Daily Graphic/Ghana