Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, on Thursday asked Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives in the Region not to award contracts to friends and relatives who did not have the capacity to execute them. Addressing the first Regional Coordination Council Meeting in Sekondi, he said contracts should be awarded to competent contractors who have the financial muscle to execute them promptly. According to him, many road projects awarded as far back as 2009 to certain contractors had not been executed due to lack of capacity thereby retarding the development efforts of the Region. Mr. Aidoo also expressed dismay over award of road contracts to contractors outside the Region who did not know the terrain and failed to set foot at the site. He admonished the MMCEs not to meddle in chieftaincy issues in their areas since that could spell their doom but collaborate with the traditional authorities to ensure development. The Regional Minister revealed that the GETFund Administrator had approved 16,000 beds, 40,000 chairs, 20,000 tables and 400 student mattresses, which would be presented to the various schools in the Region. He appealed to the MMCEs to work collectively to strengthen the Regional Coordinating Council to function effectively and efficiently towards the overall objective of ensuring the Region’s accelerated socio-economic development.