These items, he said, have been distributed to the beneficiary farmers to kick start the project within the region. He said five extension officers have also been recruited under the Youth Employment Agency to assist in the implementation of the programme

Mr Anthony K.K Sam said this when he addressed the 2nd Ordinary Meeting of the 2nd Session of the 8th Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly. The STMA, he said, was working hard to curb bad environmental practices particularly open defecation in certain parts of the Metropolis.

Mr Sam said a task force has been constituted to deal with the menace as well as the littering and indiscriminate dumping of refuse to ensure healthy environment.

The MCE said 29 culprits have been arrested for open defecation, out of which nine were prosecuted and fined GH¢280.00 each while others paid a spot fine of GH¢200.00 into the assembly’s coffers.

Mr Sam expressed concern about the excessive noise making in the Metropolis and urged churches and the citizenry to abide by the assembly’s bye laws of sound proofing their buildings. He said the street lighting system in the Metropolis was being improved upon and hopefully this would help control activities of miscreants.

The MCE said the assembly has engaged the services of some companies to help in revenue mobilization and that the assembly hoped to raise GH¢7,975,116.00 by December, with more than GH¢4,785,395.75 already collected by the end of July.

“For the next financial year a lot of attention will be focused on increasing revenues from the assembly’s stores and capture data on new ones. On the government’s free senior high school (SHS) policy, the Sekondi-Takoradi mayor told the assembly members that the NPP government would not tolerate any individual or group of persons who attempt to stand in the way of the implementation of its flagship policy.

The MCE told the assembly members that the Department of Urban Roads has been engaged in grading and reshaping of the Diabene-Agric; Mapees, Mt Zion area and Mampong –KNUST roads, since May, 2017. He said tenders for the grading, pothole patching and resealing of selected roads in the metropolis were received on August 2, 2017 and “the evaluation report has been completed and sent for approval and these projects will be awarded soon”.

On job creation, the MCE said “I am delighted to announce that in the next couple of months, we shall witness the resuscitation of West African Mills Limited (WAMCO) and this would create jobs for our teeming youth”. Mr John Davies, the Presiding Member, appealed to the management of the assembly to take the appropriate steps to increase the salaries of the labourers of the assembly to help improve their living conditions.

He also called for strict enforcement of the bye-laws on stray animals to ensure that a higher responsibility is placed on the part of owner of such animals.