New Juaben Assembly to prosecute defaulters

The New Juaben Municipal Assembly is to embark on a number of measures including prosecution to retrieve all monies owed to it in order to initiate more developments.

The move has become necessary following the assembly's failure to meet its targeted revenues from its clients.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Nana Kwasi Adjei Boateng, who made this known at the third ordinary meeting of the assembly in Koforidua, said the assembly's performance in revenue generation needed attention from members.

He said of the targeted revenue of GH¢1,061,073 for the year, only GH¢577, 146 representing 54 percent was collected as at September 30th.

According to the MCE, out of the expected external inflow of GH¢3,345,396 including HIPC funds for the local assemblies and Member of Parliaments (MP) Fund, constituency labour funds and others, only GH¢1,447,386 had been received.

He said despite the low inflows, especially internally generated funds, the assembly had spent GH¢10,332 on ration and fuel for joint military/police patrol teams to improve security and reduced incidence of armed robbery in the area.

The MCE called on stakeholders, especially in the Muslim Community to take steps to resolve misunderstanding between Ulamau and members of the Council of Muslim Chiefs to avoid any security threat that could have a negative impact on the assembly's finances.

Nana Adjei Boateng told the assembly that under the Urban Poverty Reduction Project, 21 construction projects including childhood development centres with dining and kitchen at the satellites areas in the municipality, kitchen and dining for schools benefiting from the school feeding programme, a modern polyclinic for children and staff quarters for nurses were under construction.

He said the assembly spent an amount of GH¢32,247 on repairs of the sanitation trucks alone and GH¢82,564 on fuel within the year and urged the assembly to outsource the sanitation work.