By: Akosua Frema Frempong
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah has inspected some ongoing projects in the region. The inspection tour of the Minister is in line with the mandate of the office of the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council to co-ordinate and evaluate activities, programmes and plans of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and Government departments and agencies.
The Ashanti Regional Minister’s inspection tour took him to the Obuasi Municipality, Obuasi East District, Akrofuom District and Adansi Asokwa District, where he inspected projects which are at various levels of completion. His first point of call was the Obuasi Municipality, which was experiencing its first major infrastructure development since the 1980s. Mr. Osei-Mensah inspected ongoing construction works of a 100-bed Trauma Hospital for the Obuasi Municipality.
The project is being facilitated by a 55 million Euro facility acquired by the Government, which will also be used to remodel and construct three projects, namely Atiwa East Hospital and Anyinam, rehabilitation of the existing Obuasi Government Hospital and re-modelling of the Enyiresi Hospital. The Project Manager of Universal Health Group, contractor undertaking the project, Mr. Frank Acquah said the 30-month project is about 45 per cent complete.
The Minister also inspected work on a six-unit classroom block for the Methodist Primary School being constructed by the Obuasi Municipal Assembly at Antobuasi. The project is being financed from the District Assembly Common Fund. He also inspected a clinic project being financed from the Municipal’s share of the Mineral Royalties. In the Obuasi East District, the Regional Minister inspected a completed police station, the Administration block for the District Assembly and a community centre.
In the Akrofuom District, ongoing construction work on a 40-unit lockable stalls market under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme, a 18-unit classroom block at the Akrofuom Senior High School and a hospital project under Government’s Agenda 111 were inspected by Mr. Osei-Mensah. The District Assembly has also established a coconut nursery centre to help increase coconut production. This is in line with the government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development initiative aimed at creating a sustainable raw material base for industries in the country. At Adansi Asokwa, the Regional Minister inspected another hospital project under construction under the Government’s Agenda 111, a partially completed Administration block for the District Assembly and a Court building.
“So far so good I think it is not too bad. All that we have seen. The District Assembly Block for Adanse Asokwa which to me, the contractor maximum should be able to complete within six months even three months should be okay but let’s play the devil’s advocate and extend to six months, within six months they should be able to use them, you know those ones are important to me because now the IGF is becoming a problem because of difficult economic situation in which we find ourselves. So mobilizing revenue internally is also a challenge.
And if they have to use the little that they have to mobilize in the payment of rent then it becomes a problem. It means that development projects are suffering. The rent is being paid at the expense of development project, I think the earlier we complete this the better so that what they will pay in rent can also go into the development of other facilities within the district he noted”
