Minister to fight against insanitary conditions

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, has stated that fighting against insanitary conditions and pollution of the environment will be one of his priority areas.

He explained that maintaining a clean environment engenders a healthy populace and saves the nation huge sums of money that would have been used to treat the sick, increases productivity while saving the forest and river bodies to sustain human life.

The minister made this known during an interaction with a section of the media in Kumasi when he shared his vision for the region.

Indiscipline

Explaining further, the minister stated that the appalling attitude of people  deliberately and indiscriminately disposing of rubbish would be made a thing of the past.

He said for a start, bins would be made available and after some education, people who throw rubbish around would be arrested and dealt with according to law and urged corporate bodies to take advantage of the move by providing their branded bins to sell their brand while helping a great cause.

With regard to illegal mining, the minister made it clear that all small-scale miners would be requested to submit their documentations for vetting as the first step to dealing with all those destroying the environment.

Security

The minister did not mince words when he touched on the issue of security, which he said would be treated with all the attention it deserved to ensure that the people in the region could go about their normal duties without any hindrance from criminal elements.

Projects

Mr Osei-Mensah said the NPP administration considered ongoing projects not as something belonging to a political party but something that belonged to the people and that the regional coordinating council would continue all such projects to ensure that the people in the region benefited from such projects.

He mentioned the 43-year-old uncompleted 1,000-bed Maternity and Paediatric block at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), and stated that the project must be completed to bring relief to both patients and health workers.

Investments

Mr Osei-Mensah said the RCC in collaboration with other stakeholders organised an annual Investment Forum in the region to attract investment to other untapped areas where the region had the potential for job creation, raising revenue for the state and development of the region.

He said the forum would also be dovetailed into the festive occasion as well as expose people to the rich cultures and traditions of the Ashanti Kingdom as well as expose the people to its flora and fauna.