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The Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) has allocated an amount of GH₵ 280,000 for the renovation of the recreational facility at the Kwame Nkrumah Water Park in Accra.

The park, which was part of the €74million project commissioned by the former government in 2016, has not seen any renovation works, leading to some serious defects on the structure.

Mr Samuel Nii Adjei Tawiah,  the Municipal Chief Executive, KoKMA, who announced this at the first ordinary meeting of the third session of the second Assembly, said the renovation was intended to create some more offices and meeting places to ease congestion in the main office.

“It is expected that, the renovation will lead to the beautification of the park to reflect its status as marriage venue of the assembly,” he said.

Mr Tawiah said the Assembly in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Gardens (DPG) would also embark on greening and beautification of the place to attract more visitors and to raise revenue for the Assembly.

He indicated that the Assembly and the DPG were in the process of entering into a memorandum of understanding with some corporate organisations to ensure that all median, roundabouts, open spaces along the roads and triangle were all planted with flowers to beautify the city.

However, Mr Tawiah said one major challenge regarding the project was drought.

“In order to overcome this challenge, the District Assemblies Common Fund secretariat in conjunction with the Assembly will drill a number of boreholes at such strategic areas to cater for the greening especially in the dry season,” he added.

Mr Tawiah said the Assembly had already undertaken some projects to beautify the city, which included murals at some interchanges, light-up the city during Christmas season among others, adding that the office of the local government service had also assigned a landscape officer to assist the Assembly implement the beautification project.

“All these activities are made to improve local tourism. We intend to explore other areas to ensure that our city is beautiful at all times,” he said.

On revenue, Mr Tawiah said for the first quarter of this year the Assembly had raised a total revenue of GH₵ 5.1 million, which represented 20.13 per cent of the total revenue projected for the 2022 fiscal year.

He said GH₵ 3.1 million of the revenue generated for the first quarter was through Internally Generated Fund (IGF) while the remaining GH₵ 2 million came from grants and transfers from the government.

“This situation further calls for more effort at improving IGF mobilisation because that is where our strength lies,” he said.

Mr Tawiah said the total expenditure for the first quarter of the year was also GH₵ 3.9 million, out of which GHC917, 439.56 was spent on compensation, GHC₵ 2.3 million on goods and services while the remaining GH₵ 766,088.19 was spent on assets.

On infrastructure development, Mr Tawiah disclosed that the Assembly was taking steps to complete an abandoned 18-unit classroom block at the Liberty Cluster of School to improve teaching and learning in the Municipality.

He said the Assembly in the period under review procured vehicles, books and other learning materials for the Osu Library and constructed two zonal council offices.

He commended the Assembly members for their support in the successful election of the Presiding Member for the Assembly and expressed gratitude to the staff and traditional leaders in the Municipality for their hardwork and support.