STMA improves revenue collection
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) in the Western Region had collected a total of GH¢2,599,619.71 as internally generated fund (IGF) at the end of June, this year.
This represents 60.61 per cent of the estimated IGF.
The amount represents 32.68 per cent increase in IGF collection over the same period in 2013, which was GH¢1,750, 120.75, a performance the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, Capt Anthony Cudjoe (retd), described as encouraging.
Addressing the second ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the sixth assembly in Sekondi, the MCE explained that the satisfactory IGF performance, which covered rates, lands, rents, licences, fees and fines, was as a result of innovative methods the assembly adopted.
Capt Cudjoe said, ‘‘I have been urging this august house to assist in identifying strategies and innovative ways to boost our internally generated revenue and I must say that our efforts are yielding positive results.’’
He, therefore, commended the metropolitan finance and budget officers, as well as other members of the appraisal committee for doing a good work, adding: ‘‘We want to encourage them and all those directly responsible to take every measure to mop up all outstanding revenue.’’
Decongestion
The MCE also expressed his gratitude to the decongestion team for the excellent job the members undertook in the attempt by the assembly to send traders at the Takoradi Market Circle to the Apremdo Market.
‘We hope to sustain the decongestion exercise and move all those affected to Apremdo. We have involved the police and our metropolitan guards but we may not be able to keep them at post forever since it goes with a cost,’’ he maintained.
Capt Cudjoe stressed the need for the assembly to keep the momentum to get the traders to settle at the newly designated market without much effort of a force or daily presence of the security personnel, adding: ‘‘We all need to do our best in this regard to make the traders themselves get settled at Apremdo Market.’’
Street naming
The MCE indicated that the street naming and property addressing exercise was on course despite certain challenges, and that so far, 46,284 properties had been identified while 12,090 intersections had been marked in the exercise.
In all, he said, the metropolis had been divided into 14 zones, where the assembly would devise a mechanism at the physical planning department to rope in all newly developing properties in due course.
Development projects
Capt Cudjoe disclosed that since the beginning of the year, various development projects had been awarded on contract, which were at different stages of progress, including the construction of school blocks, health administration structure at Sekondi, a library complex in Takoradi, a slaughter house and allied facilities at Whimdo, among others, all amounting to several millions of Ghana cedis.
Ebola
The MCE told the house that the metropolitan health directorate had so far taken a number of steps to create awareness of the Ebola disease, including alert messages which had been sent to all health facilities in the metropolis, sensitisation of health staff to the disease, as well as identification and setting up of special units against any eventualities.
