Regional News of Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Source: GNA

Keta Assembly to take advantage of street naming project

The Keta Municipal Assembly says it will take advantage of the street naming exercise to speed up the development of the area.

In line with this, the Assembly has set up secretariat, installed equipment for data input and recruited 100 data collection agents to help in the exercise to address properties in the Municipality.

The Keta Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Sylvester Edah Tornyeavah, said this when he led newsmen and officials from the Assembly to Keta, Tegbi, Anloga and Srogboe to inspect development projects in the communities and to address challenges facing farmers in the municipality.

He said so far Keta, Tegbi and Anloga had named 55 streets and expressed the hope that by the end of next year all the streets and properties in the Municipality would be identified and labeled.

Mr Tonyeavah said he was optimistic that the completion of the exercise would help the Assembly in its revenue mobilization drive and assist in proper planning of development projects in the area.

He said in 2013/14, with support from the District Assembly’s Common Fund, GETFUND, District Development Fund and Urban Development Grant, the Assembly initiated 15 development projects and they are at various stages of completion.

He mentioned the Woe E.P Church Kindergarten Complex, the rehabilitation of Srogboe East Ridge Basic School and the paving of market stores at Abor as some of the projects initiated.

Mr Tornyeavah said work would soon start on a shopping mall to be built at Anloga old market.

When visited in his farm, a former Municipal Chief Executive for Keta, Mr Edward Kofi Ahiabor, an agriculturist, stressed the need for the government to take advantage of modern technologies to develop solar, wind and biogas sources of energy to support farmers to reduce the huge amounts they paid for utilities.

According to him, he was able to utilize solar, wind and biogas to operate his farm and was able to generate surplus energy for both domestic and commercial uses.

The Public Relations Officer of Keta Vegetable Farmers and Marketers Association, Mr Seth Jumpah, called on government to reintroduce subsides on fertilizers as well as standardize their crates to meet international standards since those in use now are not hygienic and could also not be washed.

He called for the building of Pack Houses where vegetables could be stored in order to avoid gluts during the harvest seasons.

Mr Jumpah appealed for the reduction in electricity tariffs since the current rate was too high and a disincentive to most farmers, establishment of mechanized centres where power tillers and tractors could be provided for hiring to reduce high cost of labour and provision of quality and hybrid seeds for farmers.