The Sunyani Municipal Assembly has been selected to implement the Ghana Secondary Cities Support Programme (GSCSP), a development initiative of the government.
It is under the auspices of
the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to secure the assembly
GH¢250 million to pursue its development agenda in the next three years.
The GSCSP, a five-year programme being
implemented in 25 District and Municipal Assemblies in the country is expected
to end by 2023, and it is being financed by the World Bank loan facility of
US$100 million.
It is expected to be channeled into sanitation,
electricity, enhancement in revenue mobilisation, private sector development,
city roads and disaster management.
According to Ms Justina Banahene,
the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, the amount would require active private
sector participation to achieve desirable results in revenue mobilisation,
private sector development, sanitation, power service distribution, city roads
and disaster management to improve livelihoods.
Addressing the First Ordinary Meeting of the
Fourth Session of the Sixth Assembly in Sunyani, she entreated the staff of the
assembly to promote teamwork and put in their maximum efforts to enable it to
enjoy the opportunity and the huge investment support to push the development
of the municipality to the next level.
Touching on sanitation, Ms Banahene announced
the assembly had re-introduced the national sanitation day, which was a monthly
clean-up exercise on the first Saturday of every month, to keep the city clean
and ensure discipline.
“The sanitation day begins earnestly and I
appeal to the assembly members, youth groups, associations, fun clubs and
religious organisations to fully participate in the exercise since
environmental sanitation is a shared and collective responsibility, and residents
are warned against littering and indiscriminate dumping of waste in the
municipality,” she said.
Ms Banahene hinted that the assembly would soon inaugurate a 10-member committee to spearhead the process of ensuring that good sanitation practices are held high across all zonal councils and also formulate strategies that would enhance good water and sanitation practices among residents of the area.
“The assembly will strictly implement its sanitation by-laws and prosecute anyone who is caught flaunting the sanitation laws, ensuring good sanitation practices is an attitudinal change towards disposal of filth, and be agents of change within our communities,” she further warned. –GNA