ASHANTI RCC TO MONITOR USE OF COMMON FUND (PAGE 36)

THE Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) seems poised to get the development agenda of the region on track, with emphasis on the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs).
Two areas where the RCC is focusing serious attention on are the application of the District Assemblies Common Fund and revenue generation by the various assemblies.
Over the years, the common fund has been used to finance a number of development projects in the region, thus helping to improve the lives of the people.
However, it appears the assemblies’ over-concentration on the fund has resulted in poor internal revenue generation. Indeed, but for the common fund, none of the assemblies in the Ashanti Region could have achieved their revenue targets.
It is in this regard that the Regional Minister, Mr Kofi Opoku-Manu, expressed his disappointment at the way some of the assemblies have reduced the impact of their common fund allocation.
He told the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted RCC in Kumasi that by allocating the funds in minute shares to several projects and activities in many towns and villages, for instance, the it lost its focus.
It is evident that many of the assemblies have forgotten about what is expected of them in revenue generation. A number of them have failed to live up to expectation and continue to rely solely on the central government for the necessary funds to undertake development projects.
The regional minister epitomised the disappointment of the RCC with the situation when he stated that they could not continue to rely on the central government for funds to undertake development projects.
At the inauguration, he announced the establishment of a regional monitoring team to oversee the operations of the assemblies and other agencies in the region.
This is to ensure that the assemblies and agencies operate within regulatory arrangements.
In the Ashanti Region, a number of projects initiated years ago have not seen the expected execution because the monitoring process has been very weak.
In the road, educational, health, sanitation and many other areas of development, several projects have been stalled as a result of ineffective supervision.
Mr Opoku-Manu said his administration would give the monitoring team all the necessary support to enable it to deliver.
According to the regional minister, the reports of the monitoring team would be communicated to the assemblies so that they would know where they were falling short and see how to turn things round.
The Ashanti Region has a huge potential to attract the necessary investment but this has not been fully utilised. Over the years, the assemblies have failed to devise strategies that will enable the region to take full advantage of the emerging favourable investment opportunities in the country.
It is in this regard that the regional minister stressed the need for the various assemblies to engage in more meaningful dialogue and information sharing with the private sector, all geared towards investment drive.
Mr Opoku-Manu further called for action against environmental degradation, saying lip service had been paid to that area for far too long.
“We need to sensitise the people to the need to keep the environment clean. The spirit of communalism and voluntarism which is gradually dying off must be rekindled and the people encouraged to undertake regular clean-up exercises to help improve our health status,” the regional minister stressed.