Afigya-Kwabre to benefit from SIF intervention

The Afigya-Kwabre District Assembly has been selected to benefit from a development assistance intervention by the Social Investment Fund (SIF).

Under the four-year package, the Fund would provide financial support towards the construction of schools and health infrastructure, markets, water and sanitation facilities.

Mr. Kwaku Oppong-Kyekyeku Kaakyire, the District Chief Executive (DCE), who broke the news to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the Assembly would be providing counterpart funding for those markets.

He did not give details of how much would be involved, except to hail the intervention as a huge relief.

This comes amid delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), on which the Assembly heavily depends for the implementation of development programmes.

Reporters of the nation’s wire service had visited the area under STAR-Ghana’s sponsored media auditing and tracking of development projects, an initiative launched to put a spotlight on how government’s resources were helping to transform the lives of the people, particularly those in rural communities.

The goal is to aid transparency, promote accountability and good local governance.

Mr. Oppong-Kyekyeku said they had already signed a memorandum of understanding with the SIF, and that the project was set to start before the close of the year.

He expressed optimism that it would give a significant push to the Assembly’s efforts at lifting the people from poverty and other deprivations.

He spoke of the determination to improve and expand their revenue sources, to help speed up the development of the district and make things better for the people.

Afigya-Kwabre created in 2008, has been struggling with office and residential accommodation, and has been spending greater proportion of its internally-generated revenue on rent.

This, the DCE said, they were doing everything to change, to free the resources for development projects.