Make assemblies accessible to the people - Minister

Konongo (Ash), Nov 13, GNA - Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, the Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, has urged district assemblies to adopt an open door policy to enable people to have easy access to their services.

He said such a move would not only make people understand the district assembly concept better but also enhance the decentralisation process.

Mr Asamoah-Boateng said this when addressing a public forum to explain government policies and programmes at Konongo in the Asante-Akim North District last Friday.

He said the import of decentralisation process was to bring governance closer to the people hence denying them access to the assemblies would defeat the purpose for which it was introduced. The minister expressed concern about the bureaucratic nature of most assemblies that he said tended to frustrate people from patronising services being provided by such assemblies.

He noted that rendering service to the public required time as well as patience and charged staff of the various assemblies to render selfless service to the people in order to give true meaning to local governance.

"The time has come for district assemblies to be turned into viable centres for economic growth hence rendering quality services to the people can not be undermined."

He implored district assemblies to strive to be people-centred in their operations since their output would eventually serve as a yardstick to measure the performance of central government.