The Government through the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry, has released a total amount of GH¢8,000,000 to the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) towards the settlement of their waste management bills. Mr Samuel Ofou-Ampofo, the sector Minister, who announced this on Friday, said it was to help to improve sanitation, particularly in the cities and urban centres. He was opening a two-day orientation workshop for the over 150 members of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA). Organized jointly by the sector Ministry and the Institute of Local Government Studies, the workshop provided the platform for them to get familiar with and deepen their understanding of the local government system. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo described the situation where the assemblies were unable to pay for their waste management as not only worrying but completely unacceptable. He said the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development would no longer countenance that and urged them to adopt appropriate strategies to generate more revenue. The Minister said results of the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT), showed that many of the assemblies were lagging behind in terms of performance and asked that they worked harder to enable them to access the District Development Facility to support their development programmes. He reminded the assembly members of their responsibility to bring progress to their communities and said they needed to be more innovative in the area of revenue generation. He also advised them to be transparent and accountable. Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, Ashanti Regional Minster, underscored the importance of the assemblies as a tool for development and appealed to the participants to bring their skills and expertise to bear on the performance of the KMA. Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), called on the assembly members to educate the people about government policies and progammes. Oheneba Adusei-Poku, the Akyempimhene, advised the assembly members to work together to make things better for the people in the metropolis. Some of the topics discussed included the “Local Government and District Assembly System”; and “Standing Orders and Revenue Mobilization”. Source: GNA