The Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, Abubakar Saddique Boniface, has said the government is committed to making Zongo communities across the country more resilient and habitable for the citizenry.
He said the 219.5 million cedis allocated to the Ministry by the Akuffo-Addo administration would go a long way to resource inhabitants of Zongos to work and build good secular schools for the overall advancement of that faction of society.
Mr. Boniface was speaking to journalists at the ‘Eighth stakeholders’ consultation on the Zongo Development Fund Bill’ at Appollo in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan area of the Western Region.
The consultative meeting with more than 24 different Muslim groupings was to seek their inputs on areas of pertinent concerns, and what benefits the setting up of the Fund could bring to such communities to enhance infrastructure and sanitation as well as control crime.
The Minister said the Fund Bill, when approved by Parliament, would be used to provide sanitary facilities, security and crime control, lighting systems, drains and roads and other critical infrastructure.
Mr. Boniface said development over the years had been dis-integrative with focus on urban centres to the neglect of areas such as the Zongos and slums.
“It is time to shift the focus of development to these areas where poverty continues to breed lots of criminals and as we are all aware, poverty and crime are bed fellows.”
The Zongo Development Fund Bill, according to the Minister, would be put before Parliament by next week to solicit their support in legitimizing the Fund to enable the Ministry kick start projects by September.
Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, Western Region Minister, said the region is prepared to support the Minister and the Ministry to achieve the objectives it had set out to realize.
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Source: GNA