Mr Abdul Mumin-Issah, the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has commended the outgoing Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) Members for their unwavering support in ensuring the development of the Metropolis. He expressed appreciation and gratitude to them for their maximum support and cooperation in executing programmes and activities across the key sectors of the Assembly's governance structure. He gave the commendation when he delivered the sessional address at the opening of the third ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the eighth Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly in Sekondi. Giving an overview of some of the key interventions implemented within the last four years, Mr Mumin-Issah said the STMA with the support from Assembly Members and other stakeholders had ensured that the Metropolis remained calm and peaceful devoid of violence and robbery. He, however, said there had been some reported incidents of petty thefts within the Metropolis, and urged residents to b e vigilant and not hesitate to report suspicious characters or acts in their communities to the security agencies for swift response, especially as the yuletide season approached. On sanitation, he indicated that as a step towards the realization of the Assembly's vision of becoming the cleanest Metropolis in Ghana and beyond, management introduced a new clean-up model which focused primarily on Electoral Areas as a supplement to the National Sanitation Day Policy. 'This initiative, which has already taken off is focused on electoral areas within the Metropolis, the intention is to make cleaning of our communities an integral part of our day-to-day activities and a culture to ensure cleaner surroundings,' the MCE said. Mr Mumin-Issah added that the STMA and its partners had also launched the 'Operation Clean Your Surroundings' campaign which sought to enforce the Assembly's environmental sanitation by-laws, raise awareness of cleanliness, hygiene, waste management, and environmental preservation through me dia coverage and the deployment of a task force. On health, he noted that the Assembly had always prioritized health issues as a major concern and, as such the National Diabetes Awareness month was observed where the Metro Health Directorate organized health screening exercises and programmes aimed at creating awareness about the disease. Touching on revenue mobilization, he said: 'it is gratifying to note that Government had reverted property rate collection for 2023 back to the MMDAs and the Metro Coordinating Director has put together a three-member team comprising the Metropolitan Finance Officer, Internal Auditor and Budget Analyst to work at preparing and distributing bills for 2023. 'It is our fervent hope that we rake in revenue as much as we can before the Christmas break.' On some of the STMA's public-private partnerships, the MCE stated that the Assembly in collaboration with the Palermo Municipality in Italy and other partners implemented a three-year pound 3 million Twin-Cities in Sustainabl e Partnership Project (TCSPP), an initiative funded by the European Union. He said as part of the TCSPP's implementation, a six-member delegation from Palermo visited Sekondi-Takoradi where a series of engagements were held including, plans to formalize the local economy at European Town near Sekondi to position it as a tourist hub in the Metropolis. Mr Mumin-Issah said: 'It is worth mentioning that after a successful signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA), the Assembly, with support from the CoM SSA Programme has initiated steps to prepare a five-year Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP) for the Assembly and an Urban Sustainable Energy Use Plan (USEUP)'. To this effect, he indicated that a nine-member team had been inaugurated to steer the implementation of the plan to a successful end, saying 'We are hopeful, that once the plan is prepared, CoM SSA will lead the Assembly to access various funding sources for impleme ntation of the plan.' On the upcoming District Level Elections (DLEs), he expressed worry over the low level of women's participation in the exercise and called on stakeholders to take concrete steps to whip up women's interest in taking up decision-making positions in their various communities for sustainable growth. Mr John Buckman, the Presiding Member (PM) of the STMA, also expressed gratitude to the Assembly Members for their support in ensuring a smooth administration of the eighth Assembly. He acknowledged the support from partners saying, 'Let me tie in the positive activities of the Private Partnership Project (PPP) Team, TCSPP Team and the Public Investment Unit (PIU) for their gargantuan contributions towards ensuring that this Assembly gets financial and technical support for projects.' He gave the assurance that leadership of the Assembly would continue to work tirelessly to secure more partnerships to undertake development projects within the Metropolis to help benefit the people. Mr Buckma n urged Assembly Members seeking re-election to undertake their campaigns devoid of attacks and insults on their opponents to help maintain peace and unity in their communities. Source: Ghana News Agency