A Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Augustine Collins Ntim, has advised Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to demonstrate passion for the government’s development projects and programmes in their areas.
They should also not relax in the implementation of those projects and programmes to help achieve the desired impact.
Speaking at a sensitisation workshop in Kumasi for some selected key stakeholders in the local governance system, he said effective monitoring and supervision were needed in all government programmes to ensure value for money.
The workshop was attended by participants from the Ashanti, Western and Western North regions, and was aimed at creating awareness of the Ghana Productive Safety Net Project (GPSNP), which seeks to contribute towards the government’s objective of improving the living standards of poor household communities.
Harnessing investments
That is being done by harnessing investments in the social protection sector to support those households.
Mr Ntim, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Offinso-North, indicated that implementation of the GPSNP was consistent with the government’s commitment to strengthen social protection systems to unearth the productive potential of poor households.
The ministry, he noted, was enthused to be implementing the project for poverty reduction and job creation to enhance the living conditions of the people.
The GPSNP is a successor to the Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP), intended to strengthen safety net systems to improve the productivity of the poor in 80 selected districts across the country.
Mr Ntim hinted that the beneficiaries were selected in line with the Sixth Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) compiled by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which ranks all districts based on poverty..
Beneficiaries
The GPSNP will directly benefit 25,000 individuals through a productive inclusion programme, while 30,000 beneficiaries are also to profit from the labour intensive public works.
Additionally, 350,000 households will also benefit from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash transfer programme.
The minister admonished MMDCEs to ensure that work plans and budgets in connection with the projects were prepared and submitted to the ministry on time to facilitate implementation.
As a ministry, we have assigned ourselves a tight schedule to complete all physical projects under this programme by November 2020. Therefore, the ministry is urging all MMDCEs to exhibit a high sense of leadership and to cooperate accordingly,” Mr Ntim noted. – GNA
