Techiman Assembky Sets Up Committee On Poverty Alleviation

Techiman (Brong Ahafo Region), 1, Oct. The Techiman District Assembly has set up a seven-member credit approval committee to support poverty alleviation, rural housing and self-help development programmes. Mr Francis Yaw Gyarko, the District Chief Executive, announced this at a meeting of the Assembly at Techiman at the weekend. He said the committee, under the chairmanship of the presiding member, would allocate not less than 20 per cent of the assembly's fund to support productivity, employment and income generation. Mr Gyarko said such allocations are to be lodged with a bank as a revolving fund of credit on behalf of the Assembly. He said the Assembly is to set aside 10 per cent of the fund to support and sustain self-help development initiatives of communities and another five per cent for a special poverty reduction programme aimed at rural housing improvement. Mr Gyarko said the assembly is allowed to allocate some money for the construction of facilities for community and district tribunals which would be done over a three-year period. The Assembly, he said, has received a total of 240 million cedis as its first quarter allocation of the common fund. He said its total share of the common fund for the year is estimated at 1,016 billion cedis. Mr Samuel A. G. Nlary, the district co-ordinating director of the assembly who briefed the assembly on the guide-lines and utilization of the fund released, said contracts that could not be paid for out of the 1997 allocation should be terminated.