The Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mohammed-Muniru, has tasked municipal and district Assemblies (MDAs) in the region not to embark on new infrastructure projects but rather be creative and devise strategies to complete uncompleted projects dotted all over the various communities.
Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru, who was speaking in Navrongo during the composite budget hearing for the Kassena-Nankana East Municipal Assembly, the Kassena-Nankana West, Builsa South and Builsa North districts, said it was disheartening to see that in the face of limited resources, assemblies were still planting new projects when existing ones initiated over the past five to 10 years were yet to be completed and put to good use.
He cited as an example the construction of a three-storey assembly complex for the Kassena-Nankana East Municipal Assembly which started over 10 years ago and was still uncompleted and said year in year out, budgetary allocations were made for it.
He said in the face of inadequate resources, assemblies must focus on uncompleted projects and ensure their completion before executing new ones.
He, therefore, entreated the MDAs to evolve innovative means to increase local revenue generation to support those projects and reduce their over-dependence on the central government.
The composite budget hearing sessions are to afford the MDAs in the region the opportunity to present their composite budgets, comprising their projects and expected revenues, for the next financial year.
A team from the Ministry of Finance and the Local Government Service Secretariat was present to scrutinise the budgets of the various MDAs to ensure that they conformed to the guidelines approved by the ministry.
Alhaji Mohammed-Muniru stressed the need for assemblies to conduct broad consultations with all stakeholders at the local level to seek the input of the people into their budgets.
He also called for the judicious use of resources in the management of contracts to ensure value for money.
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