August 8, 2011

The Parliamentary Select Committee has visited the Asasetre community in the Ellembelle District as part of its community outreach programme to sensitize members on government policies.

It is under the African Parliamentary Strengthening Programme (APSP) which covers seven African countries and seeks to equip their various parliaments with tools to assist them to develop mechanisms to engage citizens and interest groups on their needs through direct participation in the budget process.

Addressing community members at Asasetre, the MP for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah urged the people to participate fully since their views would be incorporated into the budget.

He said the committee had earlier met with service providers such as the NHIS, the District Health Directorate and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency to afford them the opportunity to find ways of improving service delivery .

The MP for Evaloe-Gwira, Ms Catherine Afeku led the community in groups of three to find solutions to problems confronting them.

It came out from their reports that to save people from paying double for the NHIS, there was the need for the District to get its own NHIS office, and that in the absence of such an office there should be a desk officer to man affairs of the District until the office was established.

It was also agreed that the Town and Country Planning must abide by strict rules of having a place of convenience in every building in the District.

The outreach programme which lasted from July 23 to July 30, 2011, also took the MPs to Brawire-Akeyenim in Evaloe-Gwira and Ekpu in the Jomoro District.

Source: GNA