The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) says it was seriously involved in Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Exports and Rural Development (PERD) projects in the Western Region, which has contributed not only to food security in the region but also other parts of the country.
It mentioned special poultry, maize, pepper and cassava as projects the assembly had chosen to undertake to create jobs for the youth.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), Mr Anthony K. K. Sam, disclosed these here on Tuesday, at the assembly’s maiden meet the press series to explain government policies and projects undertaken for the past three years.
It was organised on the theme “Deepening democracy at the local level; the role of the media”.
According to Mr Sam, under the special poultry project, 85 poultry farmers were selected on pilot basis to go into poultry farming to reduce the importation of frozen chicken adding that the farmers were being given day-old chicks, vaccines and feeds.
He said for PERD, the assembly had gone into coconut plantation cultivation with some selected institutions like the Ghana Prisons and some schools.
The MCE urged the media who had the knowledge and capacity to explain government policies to the understanding of Ghanaians across the country.
On education, he said the enrolment for 2018 was 10,179 compared to 6,542 in 2017, adding that, without the double-track system, about 3,637 pupils would not have had access to second circle education as this represented 35.7 per cent of those who had the chance to enter secondary schools.
Mr Sam said the teachers and nurses trainees’ allowances which were scrapped had been restored.
He disclosed that a total of 1,329 teachers from the public sector and 966 from the private sector had been trained in the new curricula and were to go back to their various circuits and train others.
The STMA Chief Executive disclosed that the capitation grant and base grant for the 2017 and 2018 academic year had been paid in full, adding, “only the third tranche of the capitation grant for 2018/2019 academic year is outstanding”.
He said the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) had been implemented in 33 communities with 491 house-holds benefiting in the metropolis.
Mr Sam said the assembly was doing all within its capacity to fix all deplorable roads in the metropolis and appealed to the people to bear with the on-going projects as all traffic lights were being fixed to allow order in the flow of traffic in the city.
He said 74 People with Disabilities (PwD) benefitted from the Disability Fund with GH¢132,399.51 disbursed to them.
He said the PWDs were given fridges, water tanks, fufu pounding machines, ice chests, laptops, hairdryers, wheel-chairs, pushing carts according to the request of the person.
The Metro Coordinating Director, Mr John Nana Owu, said the meeting was to show case what the assembly had been doing for the past three years.
He said there would be pictorial evidence to prove that the assembly was bringing development projects to the people.
FROM PETER GBAMBILA, TAKORADI
