The Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) has said it is instituting measures to charge property rate on structures of government agencies in the municipality, next year.
The Municipal Chief Executive Officer (MCE) for KoKMA, Nii Adjei Tawiah, who gave the hint yesterday, said the non-inclusion of government agencies and departments in the collection of the property rate was unfair and could not be allowed to continue.
Mr Tawiah, who announced the plan at Greater Accra Regional Budget Hearing, in Accra,on Tuesday, said the non-inclusion was affecting the revenue base of the Assembly.
The Budget Hearing was organised as part of the 2022-2025 Composite Budget Preparation, to afford the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) the opportunity to scrutinise and guide the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies ( MMDAs).
This is to ensure that budget allocations reflected objectives and strategies of governmental policies and programmes as contained in the 2022–2025 Budget Guidelines, set by the Ministry of Finance.
Mr Tawiah cautioned that any institution which would fail to pay property rate next year would be prosecuted, adding “It’s something we are working on and next year we will ensure all organisations within our jurisdiction pay property rates.”
According to him, the assembly needed more revenue to implement it’s programmes and projects and it was important government departments and agencies were charged property rate.
Mr Tawiah said the main challenge of the assembly was sanitation, adding that “we are working assiduously to address the challenge.”
He said “We have engaged private companies to partner us to do the sanitation works in the markets and public places, so that we would do the monitoring. We are also trying to ensure that the whole municipality is lit up well during the night.
MrTawiah said “We also want to ensure that the drains are always clean. We are encouraging people to have refuse bins and registered with contractors to collect refuse and toilet.
He said the assembly would ensure all projects were completed on time.
The Head of Fiscal Decentralisation Unit, Ministry of Finance, Mr Ebo Amoah, expressed satisfaction about the meeting and advised the assemblies to limit the number of projects they outline every year,so that ongoing projects could be completed and paid for.
“Essentially, we should be seen completing projects rather than starting new projects and leaving them uncompleted,” he said.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR