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Mr Ishmael Ashittey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, has charged the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to embark on proper desilting practices to avert the drainage system from choking.

He urged the Assembly to focus on densely populated areas, including the Central Business District, in ensuring good sanitation measures and provide the Regional Co-ordination Council with a road map with an action plan to completely decongest the city.

The Regional Minister said this in Accra when he led an entourage with his departmental heads to pay a familiarisation visit to the staff of the AMA and La Dade Kotopon Municipal Assembly to interact with them and chart the way forward for the city’s development.

He said the visit was critical to create the right conditions for further fruitful co-operation in the collective effort at mobilising the communities at the grassroots for full participation in the national development agenda.

“I am aware about the challenges confronting the Assembly including flooding choked drains sanitation and waste management and decongestion in the business district.

“I urged all to take the necessary steps to prevent any disaster as a result of these problems,” he said.

He said sanitation management must be a collective responsibility since government alone cannot address waste and sanitation problems but required the active support and participation of individual’s donor partners and the community-based organisations.

Mr Ashittey charged the Assemblies to refrain from dragging their feet in situations where people had the requisite documents and had satisfied all laid down regulations and needed their approval to commenced business.

“The usual ‘go and come’ attitude must cease forthwith, Never attempt to frustrate such people for them to grease your palm before doing the job for which you have been employed and paid for, should such reports get to my office I would not hesitate to apply the rules”.

He urged the staff to work as a team and be professional, transparent, client-focused accountable, efficient and effective to uphold the service delivery standards of the local government service.

The Minister tasked the Assemblies to monitor the financial and material resources and ensure effective and judicious use of all available resources for the achievement of planned programmes goals and targets.

He urged the Assemblies to put high on agenda the issue of revenue mobilisation to generate more revenue to ensure timely developments and device ways if blocking the numerous leakages in the financial administration if the system.

Mr Ashittey urged authorities at La Dadekotopon Assembly to conduct fire auditing in all gas filling stations and public places in the municipality to prevent any incidence of fire outbreaks.

“I urged you to take pragmatic steps to eradicate the incidence of open defecation and indiscriminate dumping of refuse especially into the lagoons and the seas at the beaches,” he added.

Mr Samuel Ayeh-Datey the Metropolitan coordinating Director of AMA commended the Minister for the visit and pledged their support to ensure the development of the assembly.

Mr Ayeh-Datey on behalf of the Assembly appeal to the Minister to help facilitate the appointment of a Metropolitan Chief Executives to enhance effective work delivery since the absence of a substantive position had affected smooth operations of the assembly.

He appealed to the Minister to help engineer the land fill site and enhance the capacity equipment of the assembly to prevent choked garbage.

Alhaji Haruna A. Salam, the Municipal Coordinating Director of La-Dadekotopon Assembly said the Assembly emerged the best performing assembly in the country after signing the performance contract in 2015.

He appealed to the Minister to help in the appointment of a Municipal Chief Executive for the Assembly to give them the political direction.