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Edwin Nii Lamptey Vanderpuje, Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, has advised local government workers to cultivate good human relations to enable the assemblies generate more revenue.

According to him, the inability of most assemblies to meet their revenue target is due to the poor human relation and crude utterances from the revenue collectors, most of whom have continued to show disrespect to the taxpayer.

Mr Vanderpuje said, “As a local government worker, do not see yourself as demi-god. You are working with humans and so you need to accord them every respect when you go to them to collect revenue.”

He Vanderpuje said this in Tema, where he broke ground for the construction of a four-storey office complex by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

Over 60% of the departments of the assembly are located outside the main TMA block, and the construction of the new complex is intended to provide offices for all those departments.

It shall also have banking halls and security surveillance unit where all the operations of the 20 police posts to be built in the metropolis shall be monitored by the Tema Regional Police Command.

The ultra-modern office complex, which shall have solar panels as a back-up energy supply, is to be constructed by IT Consult at a cost of GH¢6.7 million. It is to be completed in 10 months.

The Deputy Minister explained that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) need more revenues to enable them cut their dependency on the central government for some developmental projects.

He said the assemblies need office complexes not only for their departments but for rental too, to raise more internally generated funds (IGFs) for developmental projects.

“It’s for the generation and collection of more revenues for the development of the assemblies that I entreat local government workers to eschew harsh utterances and ‘killer’ words to the trader and market woman whose tax we need to develop and pay them,” Mr Vanderpuje said.

Increase in revenue, he said, comes with good service and good rapport, and, therefore, warned that the ministry would not condone indiscipline, disrespect and poor service delivery from any local government worker.

Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr James Vanderpuje, for his part, commended the TMA for the bold initiative in channelling its revenue into a project that will have offices for rentals.

He charged the staff and assembly to be proud of their achievements and stay focused on their job.

Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), reminded the staff to be challenged by the new facility to meet their performance appraisals.

He concluded that there would be effective monitoring when all the departments are housed in one building.