A blueprint to transform the Atiwa West  District in the Eastern Region to one of the best in the region, is being implemented.

The initiative was unveiled by  the District Chief Executive, Seth Asante.

It cuts across the area of agriculture, health, education, tourism, access to legal aid and assistance to the less privileged in the district including persons with disability (PWDs).

Under the initiative, a number of facilities such as good classroom blocks, roads, and a  new magistrate /district court had been completed and are in use while construction work on other social amenities such as markets were at various stages of completion.

Addressing the assembly at Kwabeng, the district capital last Tuesday, Mr Asante, named the ongoing projects and programmes as a two-storey office accommodation for the District Fire Station and the District Health Insurance Secretariat.

Others, he said were a 40-bed district hospital at Kwabeng, which is 75 per cent  complete, and another 60-bed capacity Agenda 111 hospital also about 65 per cent complete at Abomosu.

Such health facilities, according to Mr Asante, when operationalised, would greatly enhance the health of the people in the political entity.

The entity is composed of few towns  such as Kwabeng, Abomosu, Pameng with numerous villages and hamlets, with most of the people engaged in subsistence  farming.

Agriculture

On agriculture, which engages 60 per cent of the population cultivating mainly cocoa, maize, cassava and oil palm, Mr Asante said the farmers were being provided with extension services of which 972 homes and 10,649 farms had been visited by extension officers to guide the farmers on best agronomic practices.

That, he indicated, would enable the farmers operating at the subsistence level to expand their farms.

Mr Asante who said more 1,822 sheep, 1,538 goats and 17,000 poultry birds had also been vaccinated against diseases, was hopeful that such assistance to the farmers would enhance production and consequently incomes to improve their livelihood and that of dependants.

With regard to financial support to the less privileged, especially persons with disability, Mr Asante told the House that a lot of them for the past three years had received cash and that currently 361 households in 18 communities were being covered.

The DCE  said the assembly had paid GH¢8,000 medical bills ( surgery ) for one of the PWDs, and indicated that so far, GH¢72,280 had been spent on them.

According to him, the assembly was able to undertake its projects and programmes through the Common Fund, government, development partners and Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of which GH¢610,310.12  out of a projected GH¢1,200.000 for this year had been received as of May 31.

Challenges

Despite its achievements, Mr Asante said illegal mining (galamsey) had been a major challenge which the assembly with support from government was tackling and was hopeful that it would be addressed.

The Presiding Member of the Assembly, Paddy Amponsah Douglas, thanked the assembly members for their contribution for the development of their respective communities.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline