Chairman of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), Dr Steve Manteaw has encouraged mining communities to establish Mining Community Development Schemes (MDCS).

This, he noted would enable them to apply the formulae to receive their 10 per cent share from the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) and the 20 per cent share from the Minerals Development Fund(MDF).

He pointed out that the composition of the Scheme must include the DCE and a representative from the District Assembly, traditional rulers, a representative from the Minerals Commission, a representative of each community in the District as well as representatives from the women and youth groups.

Dr Manteaw charged the local management committee to develop a policy plan on how to utilise revenue that accrued into the mining development Scheme.

Dr.Manteaw who is also a policy analyst with ISODEC was speaking at the closing session of a-two day capacity building workshop for District Assembly planning units at Daboase in the Wassa-East District.

The workshop was organised by World University Service of Canada (WUSC) with funding from Global Affairs, Canada and CECI, an NGO under the West African Governance and Economic Sustainability (WAGES) project.

Speaking on how District Assemblies can raise revenue from the Mineral Development Fund and Opportunities for Local Development Financing, Dr Manteaw asked the scheme to notify the sector Minister and the Bank Manager in the locality so as to obtain prior information on what the Assembly would get from the MDF.

He asked the Assembly to harmonise the two sources of revenue from the MDF secretariat and Office of Administration of Stool Lands(OASL), adding that the Transparency International local chapter, the Ghana Integrity Initiative had developed guidelines to fast track revenue of mineral resources.

Dr Manteaw urged all mining Districts in Ghana to develop database on all the industrial parties in the Districts and said though the IGF was a more reliable source of revenue, it was not enough and asked Assemblies to look at areas of revenue generation such as property rate.

A Local Governance Specialist for the WAGES project, Mr Akwasi Owusu-Bi told the GNA in an interview that many stakeholders in the Districts were bereft of the development plan and would liaise with the Assembly to create the awareness through community radio and Television discussions.

A Research Consultant, Mr Adamtey who spoke on the Formulation of District Assembly objectives and activities to fit into the national development plan, reiterated that most Assemblies lacked the relevant data to serve as baseline for strategic planning.