MDAs to pay property rate in Korle Klottey Municipality – KOKMA MCE
Nii Adjei Tawiah, Municipal Chief Executive, Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KOKMA), has disclosed that Ministries, Departments and all government agencies within the Municipality will pay property rate from 2022.
Almost all Ministries, Departments and Agencies are headquartered in the Ministries Enclave which is located in the Municipality.
This, he, said would enable the Assembly deliver on its mandate by making sure the enclave was properly maintained, adding that those who failed to comply would be charged before court.
Nii Tawiah made the disclosure when he presented the composite budget of the Assembly at the 2022 regional budget hearing, in Accra.
“Everybody expects that the Assembly makes a lot of money from property rate, to be able to deliver on our mandate, so we have worked hard to ensure that institutions pay some amount of monies to the Assembly for us to be able to work effectively,” he said.
He said “we are working hard to ensure that the ministerial enclave is always appealing to investors, so we need a lot of resources. Since central government has now tasked us to budget for our rents, we will go after them.”
The MCE said in 2022, the Assembly would embark on some projects including renovation of three selected schools at Osu, resurfacing Of Osu Palace Street, provision and installation of road safety and traffic management devices and dredging of the Klottey Lagoon at Osu.
Others are desilting of earth and storm drain and U –Drains, construction of Zonal Council Office at Adjabeng and Osu, renovation of office complex at Kwame Nkrumah interchange, procurement of two pick-ups, computers and accessories, Construction of office complex for Municipal Health and Education Directorate at Tudu, and 18 unit classroom blocks at Liberty Avenue, Adabraka, among others.
He said some of the challenges of the Assembly included high rate of solid and liquid waste generation, high population growth, perennial flooding, poor state of education and health infrastructure, youth delinquency and closed down and relocation of businesses within the Municipality.
Nii Tawiah assured that the Assembly would accomplish its target, by embarking on all the projects.
“If we cannot afford it we will not include it in our budget, so in our estimation and our projections we should be able to get the funds to execute them,” he said.
Mr Ebo Amoah, Head of Fiscal Decentralization Unit, Ministry of Finance, commended the Assembly for the improvement in preparing and presenting their budgets. “They are following religiously the guidelines and the templates that we provide and making sure that all the issues are addressed.”
He expressed concern about the number of projects outlined to be implemented, saying, “if you go ahead to award all these projects and you are not able to pay, it falls in arrears and these are issues that are of much concern to the Ministry and government.”
He said when arrears built up, it “reduces the fiscal space” and that affects other things in the ensuing year.
Mr Amoah advised the Assemblies to be realistic and not overly ambitious by making sure that ongoing projects were completed and paid for to open up the fiscal space to do more.
“Essentially we should be seen completing projects than starting new projects and leaving them uncompleted,” he added.
Source: GNA