Some Members of Parliament (MPs) have shown their displeasure about the way huge sums of funds from the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) were spent on sanitation by the various Metropolitan, municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) across the country.
They are therefore, calling on government through the Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to review the existing mode of disbursement in other to harmonize the various approaches being use to fight the menace of poor sanitation in the country.
Members could not hide their displeasure when commenting on a report presented by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development on the Annual report of the District Assemblies Common Fund for the year 2014 on the floor of the august house.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on MLGRD reading its report noted with worry the amount of monies being spent on sanitation in various forms and models from the DACF. Saying the situation does not only deny assemblies the needed funds to tackle sanitation challenges based on respective local needs, but also the disconnected and uncoordinated nature of the various approaches do not augur well for comprehensive and systematic resolution of the sanitation problems in the country.
A total sum of Ghc127, 359,270.00 out of Ghc828, 663,950.00 received by the office of the Administrator of Fund in the year 2014 was spent on sanitation related issues only. The following are the breakdown: Sanitation/Waste Management – Ghc51, 737,739.00, Sanitation Guards – Ghc22, 386,739.00 and National Sanitation/Highways – Ghc53, 234,792.00.
Another area the committee fined dishearten was the late releases to the fund by the Ministry of Finance. This situation does not only stifle the programmes and activities of MMDAs, but also undermines the spirit of the decentralization process.
He explained that for example the total receipts into the fund from the Ministry of Finance in the year 2014 covered releases from the third and fourth quarters of the preceding year, 2013 whiles in the year under review received only the first and second quarters.
The Administrator of Fund in the year 2014 received Ghc828, 663,950.00 and breakdown is as follows: 3rdquarter 2013 – Ghc202,702,189, 4th quarter 2013 – Ghc217,235,396.00, 1st quarter 2014– Ghc266,403,521.00 and 2nd quarter 2014 – Ghc142,322,844.00.
<<Print>>