The Effutu Municipal Assembly in the Central Region has put in place measures to attain Open Defecation Free status by March 2019.
Mr. John B. Ninson, Effutu Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) made this known when he addressed the second ordinary meeting of the Assembly at Winneba, during which the House approved its 2018 budget, including procurement and action plan.
The MCE said the Assembly would construct a 23-seater biogas toilet with ancillary facilities in the Municipality as part of efforts to end open defecation in the Municipality. The Assembly would also construct toilet facilities along the coast and other areas in the Municipality.
These projects, Mr. Ninson noted, would help the Assembly to beat the June, 2019 target deadline set by the Central Regional Coordinating Council (CRCC) for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to attain Open Defecation Free status in the Region.
He said the construction of public places of convenience along the beaches would discourage the citizens from practising open defection, and would also serve as basis for prosecution of people who broke the law.
The MCE said the CRCC had designed a criterion to check issues of sanitation, and therefore, urged the citizenry in to change their behaviour towards the environment and make their surroundings clean.
Mr Ninson announced that as at 31st September, 2017 the Assembly had mobilized GH¢644,110.85 representing 75.96 per cent out of the estimated Internally Generated Funds (IGF) of GH¢848,000.00 for the year ending 31st December 2017.
He disclosed that the Assembly received a total of GH¢769.471.91 as its share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the first and the second quarter of the year.
“A total net amount received for the first quarter was GH¢355,846.31 and GH¢413,625.60 for the second quarter respectively after statutory deductions,†he stated.
On Physical development projects the Assembly is executing using the Common Fund, the MCE mentioned, the construction of a 16-seater Aqua Privy Toilet and the Office Complex Block, which he said were at various stages of completion.
Under the Urban Development Grant projects, he said the Assembly was grading and opening up a 3.9km by-pass and U- Drains, which were about 45 percent completed.
The construction of five two-bedroom self-contained apartments which were about 55 percent completed and Nurses and Teachers Quarters with ancillary facilities were part of such projects.
Mr Ninson said under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, which was one of the flagship programmes of the government, the Assembly registered 150 maize farmers with 509.4 hectares as total acreage cropped area and 45 vegetable farmers with a cropped area of 111.8 hectares.
He said under the programme, the Assembly received 2,545 fertilizer made up of 1,430 bags of NPK and 1,115 bags of Urea which were distributed to the farmers.
He added that the Assembly had also identified Cashew and Coconut as models to embark on, under the government’s Planting for Jobs and Investment programme.