A Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development Hon Osei Bonsu Amoah, has inaugurated a five-member committee to probe the fire that gutted the Kejetia Market in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

The Deputy Minister conducted the inauguration on behalf of the Sector Minister, Hon. Daniel Botwe tasked the Committee to be fair and objective in its inquiry and submit its findings and recommendations within three weeks.

As part of its terms of reference, the Committee was to ascertain the cause of the fire outbreak at the Market, which happened on the 15th of March 2023; inquire into the efficient operation, maintenance, and management of the Market; give reasons for its findings and make recommendations on prevention towards the occurrence of disasters and ensure efficient operation and management of the Market, among others.

The Committee was also to submit its report within three weeks of its establishment to the Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development.

The membership of the Committee comprises Professor Theophilus Adjei-Kumi from the Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as the chairman, Mr. Francis Koffie, a Private legal Practitioner, Managing Director of M/S Koffie & Partners, Law Conclave, member of the Committee; Mr. Kofi Ampong a Valuer/Property Manager of Real Estate Consultant, a member; Mr. Daniel Kwaku Denteh, the Deputy Director General of the National Disaster Management Organisation in charge of finance and administration, a member and Mrs. Emelia Ayebeng Botchway, the Chief Director at the Ashanti  Regional Coordinating Council, Sectary to the Committee.

The Honourable Minister for Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Hon. Daniel Botwe has tasked the media to hold local authorities responsible for their actions and inefficiencies that results in the perennial flooding in some parts of the country whenever the rains come. The Hon. Minister emphasised that duty bearers, the local authorities are responsible for implementing interventions that will mitigate and ameliorate the impact of flooding within their local areas.

The Hon. Minister in his submission, indicated that by performance standards, MMDAs are required to to utilise 20 percent of their Internal Generated Fund (IGF) to support improvement in sanitation and waste management and drainage maintenance within their localities. He, therefore, emphasised that it is important for citizens to know how their revenues are utilised.

According to the Minister, it is the responsibility of every local Assembly to identify flooding hotspots within its catchment area and develop plans to minimise and mitigate the impact of flooding in their jurisdictions.

The Hon. Minister made these remarks at a meeting with Chief Executives and their Coordinating Directors of beneficiary Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies of the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID) Project at the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development on Friday 24^th March, 2023. Under the Project, the beneficiary Assemblies are given grants to support improvement and maintenance of drainage infrastructure through a performance-based grant system. The grants  disbursed to the 17 Assemblies among others was to be used to desilt and dredge priority drainage infrastructure and also procure equipment needed to facilitate the execution of these activities.

He indicated that this year a total amount of GHC7, 150,500.00 will be disbursed as grants to the 17 GARID Assemblies and each of the beneficiary Assemblies will receive GHC420,971.00.

The GARID Project is an inter-ministerial project implemented by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD), Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR)and led by the Ministry of Works and Housing (MWH).

The Project Development Objective is to improve drainage, solid waste management and provision of services and infrastructure in priority flood-prone informal settlements within the Odaw Basin.

A three-day training Workshop on the Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project ( GUMAP) aimed to build the capacities of stakeholders and beneficiary Metropolitan and Municipal Assemblies (MMAs) within the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area ( GAMA) on traffic planning and management has taken place.

The training served as a tool to collect data and information, afford the opportunity to assess where technical assistance will be needed on the project and invest in pilot projects.

The Ghana Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project is a six Million USD financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) being implemented by the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development (MLGDRD).

The Project's overall objective is to improve accessibility and mobility in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). GUMAP is focused on capacity building, institutional strengthening and limited investment measures.

The beneficiaries under the Project include the Greater Accra Passenger Transport Executives (GAPTE), six MMAs (Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Ga West Municipal Assembly, Ga Central Municipal Assembly, Ga East Municipal Assembly and La-Nkwantanang Madina Assembly), Head Office of the Department of Urban Roads (DUR) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The implementation of GUMAP started in 2016 and is expected to end by December 2023.

Source:                PUBLIC RELATIONS (MLGDRD)