The Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Assembly (KKMA) on Thursday held its first ordinary meeting of the third season of the third Assembly with a major focus on road rehabilitation in the municipality.
Addressing Assembly members, Chiefs, Heads of Departments and other stakeholders at the Assembly’s Hall, Chief Executive of KKMA, Samuel Okoe Amanquah, stated that a total of 243 kilometres of road out of the entire 534 kilometres of road network in the municipality has been identified as documented.
Mr Okoe Amanquah said he had scheduled to meet the Roads Minister on implementation of the document, stressing his commitment to ensuring that the road network in the municipality was given a facelift to enhance free and rapid movement of people, goods and services to increase productivity in the industrial municipality.
He told the gathering that the deplorable state of roads in the municipality had been a matter of major concern to him since he assumed office and had, therefore, made it a focus area and a top priority.
He said he issued directive to the Department of Urban Roads to collaborate with Assembly members to identify and quantify areas of urgent attention, following which the 243 kilometres of road had been earmarked.
To partly achieve this feat, he said the Ministry of National Security had given approval to his request to help provide a new Grader to replace the obsolete one at the Assembly.
In pursuant of his vision, Mr Amanquah further stated that he had engaged the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority to extend the dual carriage road from the newly constructed Kpone Unity Terminal into the Kpone Town.
He, however, said the GPHA was considering the cost factor and the effect the huge garbage being dumped on the old decommissioned landfill site opposite the Unity Terminal would have on their operations before they make the final decision.
On acute water shortages in the municipality, the KKMA boss said a ‘50/50 Acceleration Agenda‘ innovative strategy had been devised by the Assembly to share the cost associated with the distribution of water with residents in new settlement areas since they (the residents) could not bear the cost alone.
Additionally, a 2000 cubic metre overhead tank with a storage capacity of 440,000 gallons of water would be constructed at a cost of $500,000 in the Kpone Town for the residents. He disclosed that Asogli Power Plant had expressed interest in financing the project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.
On revenue, he stated that as at 31st Dec 2021, Gh₵22,274,142.92, representing 74.20 per cent of the annual budgeted revenue of Gh₵30,020,097.84, was generated while expenditure for the same period under review amounted to Gh₵21,731,493.12, representing 72.39 per cent of the budgeted figure.
In his remarks, Presiding Member, Joseph Gbeze, implored the Assembly members to continue to work hard in their respective electoral areas to sensitise the people on revenue mobilisation and sanitation with emphasis on the Operation Clean Your Frontage campaign.
FROM KEN AFEDZI, KPONE
