Decentralized departments must integrate policy initiatives into planning

Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, the Central Regional Minister has asked all decentralized Departments and Agencies under Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to fully fuse government's special development initiatives into their planning and programmes.

The Departments and Agencies should not work in isolation, but take keen interest in ensuring government's policies and programmes were executed for the betterment of every citizen regardless of political affiliation or ethnicity, for sustainable development.

She also announced plans to set up a Regional Committee to fully implement a Regional Development Plan, which would become a blueprint to guide all allied state institutions, Departments, Agencies and MMDAs to spearhead development in the region.

Mrs Assan was speaking at her maiden meeting with the heads of decentralized departments in the region that afforded the Minister the opportunity to sell her vision and also officially introduce herself to the heads of Departments and Agencies in the region to rake in their support.

"Departments cannot work in isolation. We need to work together by seeing ourselves as agents of development to spearhead President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's vision of development and prosperity for all."

She refuted the notion that the implementation of major policies such as free education, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), One District, One Factory (1D1F) among others were the preserve of some specialized institutions.

She urged the MMDAs to make judicious use of resources to enhance the well-being of their people adding that; "We need to change the poverty narrative by working hard to turn the economic resources of the region into productive ventures to spark growth and development."

Outlining her vision for the region, Mrs Assan identified the deterioration of basic education, untapped tourism potentials, sanitation, environmental degradation and unemployment as major challenges.

In that regard, she re-affirmed her resolve to ensure things were improved for the better and called for concerted efforts by all interest groups to remedy the situation.

"It is unacceptable that despite the presence of many first-class second cycle institutions and other opportunities, they had not been fully harnessed to provide opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth to better their lives," she said and pledged to change that narrative.

Mrs Assan also mentioned roads as a critical area that special attention would be given, to open up the region to development as many of the roads to remote communities were in a deplorable state.

Mr Kingsley Agyei Boahen, the Regional Coordinating Director congratulated the Minister for her new portfolio and rallied the support of all to enable her succeed.