Assemblyman not happy with distribution of projects

Mr Emmanuel Osei-Adu, assemblyman for Ahenema-Kokoben in the Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma District, has expressed dissatisfaction with the mode of distribution of projects in the district.

He said the Bosomtwe area of the district was receiving more development projects to the disadvantage of the Atwima and Kwanwoma areas.

In a memorandum to the assembly on the issue, Mr Osei-Adu said for instance that the assembly exceeded its revenue target for 2002 by 52 percent but regretted that the communities which performed creditably in the revenue collection were not being recognised in relation to the distribution of funds for development projects.

He has therefore suggested the preparation of a performance chart of all the electoral areas in the district showing areas that generated more revenue to be pasted in all the electoral areas to serve as a guide for the distribution of projects.

Mr Osei-Adu said it was unacceptable that even though the Jachie-Pramso Saint Micheal's Catholic Hospital was better equipped to serve the Bosomtwe areas, the Ahenema-Kokoben and Twedie clinics which needed to be upgraded were being sidelined in favour of spending 200 million cedis to upgrade the Kuntanase clinic which was not far from Jachie-Pramso into a full hospital.

The assemblyman therefore called for what he termed the "responsive factor" in determining the distribution of development projects, adding that the government was using this factor and should be possible for the district to use it too.

Mr Osei-Adu attributed the unbalanced development in the district to the fact that since its creation, all the District Chief Executives had come from the Bosomtwe area to the disadvantage of the other two areas and therefore, had the tendency to tilt developments in favour of their areas.

He urged the assembly to construct markets and stores at the peri-urban towns like Esreso and Ahenema-Kokoben to enable the assembly raise more revenue instead of constructing markets and stores at just any place, which would not benefit the assembly but to satisfy political and self-interests.