The Greater Accra Regional Minister Designate Ishmael Ashitey has promised to clean the capital Accra and give it a fresh breathe when pass by Parliament as substantive Minister of the region.
The Greater Accra Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) told Bright Kwesi Asempa, host of Onua Fm Morning show ‘Yen Nsem Pa’ that his immediate priority will be to ensure that within shortest possible time after taking office, Accra will be clean.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday released list of 10 regional ministerial nominees for the 10 administrative regions of the country, pending Parliamentary approval. Among the 10 names is the former Member of Parliament for Tema East and Minister of Fisheries in during the Kufuor administration Ishmael Ashietey.
In an interview with Onua Fm, Ishmael Ashitey said his immediate task after taking office is to get rid of filth from the capital city as well as the entire region. “You know Accra is dirty and sanitation is one of the challenging problems in the region, so I intend to concentrate on cleaning Accra first before moving to other areas” he said.
He observed that since money happens to be one of the bottlenecks in ensuring cleaner Accra, he will find the money to make Accra clean, adding that he cannot promise to totally eradicate filth from the region within four years but will make sure that the capital city is clean. “Accra is the first place that anyone visiting the country comes so it is important to ensure that it is clean. If there is no money, we will find it and if it be the personnel, we will. I cannot promise I will do all but sanitation is a continuous process” JOBS AND SECURITY
He also said job creation will be high on his agenda, making sure that youth unemployment is reduced to the lowest minimum. Ask how he will do that, the Greater Accra Regional Minister designate said jobs will be created when he embarks on cleaning the region.
Noting that youth unemployment has become a headache not for him alone but to many people and it is against this that he is determine to see a success of the NPP policy of one district one factory. He noted that if people are gainfully employed, crime will go down.
“It is said that Devil finds job for idle hands, so I will make sure youth unemployment is reduced.”
Mr Ashitey has also pledged to collaborate with the Police to reduce crime and also deal with phenomenon of land guard in the region.