ELLEMBELLE DISTRICT ASSEMBLY AND MEDIA FOUNDATION FOR WEST AFRICA HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING
A final public hearing on the draft Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) has been held at Aiyinase in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region. The meeting which brought together chiefs, shop owners, market women, youths, Assembly Members, Area Council Chairmen and other spectators was organized through the collaborative efforts of the Media Foundation for…
A final public hearing on the draft Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) has been held at Aiyinase in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The meeting which brought together chiefs, shop owners, market women, youths, Assembly Members, Area Council Chairmen and other spectators was organized through the collaborative efforts of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the Ellembelle District Assembly in a bid to ensure that the citizens participate actively in developments around them.
Addressing the citizens at the meeting, a team member from MFWA, Mr. Jerry Sam who presented on “grassroots open government – access to information using new digital tools” indicated that, citizens’ participation in development issues is crucial to achieve mutual understanding.
He said when citizens are involved in the dialogue process, they appreciate their inputs in making certain needs met through their deliberations as well as getting firsthand information from the right source.
Mr. Sam pointed out that the meeting was to enable the MFWA know the impact that access to information programme was faring in its operational Districts as well as see how the citizens take and respond to issues.
For his part, Mr. Michael Appiah – Acheampong, the District Planning Officer pointed out that the town hall meeting was the final one being organized.
According to him, the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) is designed for a period of four years where community concerns were taken through meetings held at the Seven Area Councils in the District.
He explained that the final meeting was crucial to ensure that the most priority needs of the citizenry is what is submitted to the National Development Planning Committee (NDPC) for approval.
During open forum, Hon. Lord Cudjoe, an Assembly Member for Nkroful appealed that in the drafting of the plan, the items in the previous plan that was not achieved should be carried onto the next development plan and as well made known to the public on what the challenges were that interfered in its completion.
He again suggested that in future plans, the oil companies as well as other big companies in the District must be invited so that they will know the plan of the Assembly in order not to also undertake same projects at communities which has already been earmarked for such projects.
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