Ghana Districts: A repository of all Local Assemblies in Ghana

SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The Bekwai Municipal has 14 health facilities, out of this five of them are for the government, namely Bekwai Hospital and Kokofo Hospital, Dunkra health center, Asiwa health center and Gyasikrom health center. Four belong to missions, three private and two community initiated clinics. This include Ahmadiya Mission Hospital at Kokofu, S.D.A Hospital at Dominase, St. Mary maternity home at Yapesa, Akomaa Memorial Hospital at Kortwia.

The Bekwai Hospital is managed by three medical officers, three medical assistants, forty- six nurses of various grades and twenty six paramedical staff. While the health facilities in the Municipality are managed by 197 medical, nursing and paramedical staff and 354 trained community based surveillance volunteers. The most common diseases in the district are malaria, skin disease RTI, intestinal worms and diarrhoea.

There are 335 schools across the Municipality. These consist of 308 public schools and 27 private ones. The break down of this figures shows that, the district has 102 pre- school made up of 92 public and 10 private, primary 145,134 public and 11 private. Out of the 80 JSS in the Municipality, 76 of them are public schools while four are for the private, six are senior secondary schools. The district has one public vocational school.

Between 2002 and 2003, the Assembly completed 30 projects.This include the construction of 20 six units classroom blocks with offices, stores, sanitary facilities, aqua privy toilets, incinerators, police and nurses quarters. While between 2004 and 2005, the Assembly with assistance from IDA/ OG, COMMU, QUIP.ILP, completed 31 projects.

Currently, the Assembly has awarded five projects in the Municipality on contracts. This includes the construction of abattoir at Bekwai Zongo, three-unit classroom block, sanitary blocks and construction of ten seater aqua privy. The Assembly intends to build an industrial center at Denyase to house the various artisans like carpenters, mechanics, auto electronics, sawn millers and blacksmiths to boost the trade of these artisans.

The Assembly has already acquired land for the industrial center and is looking forward to any private investor who would partner the Assembly to provide the necessary facilities at the industrial center to make it operational, while plans to construct brick and tile factory at Ahuren is not left out. The main telephone exchange of Ghana Telecom is at Bekwai from the main exchange, telephone facilities have been extended to Anwiankwanta, Denyase, Essumeja, Kokofu and Amoaful.

There are 37 telephone booths at Bekwai. The total capacity of telephone equipment in the Municipali tyis 5000 lines. In 1985, 200 lines were in use. This has been increased to 1000. This means that telecom is operating at 20% in the district.

The Municipality has two post offices at Bekwai and Kokofu and two postal agencies at Poano and Dominase. Currently six communities in the district are enjoying pipe borne water. Some of these communities are Bekwai, Kokofu, Amaoaful, Essumeja, Kortwia and Adom.

Also 227 water points has been drilled wide under the community water and sanitation project II to provide potable water to rural communities. And most of the towns enjoy electricity from the national grid.

However, large areas of the Municipality are without electricity. Rivers and streams constitute the main sources of water for domestic utilization in the district. About 30% of the communities have access to safe drinking water. These comprise pipe borne water, boreholes and hand-dug wells. Out of the 30% of the community that have access to potable water, a significant proportion of the households continue to draw water from the rivers and streams due to inadequacy and unreliable facilities. The rest of the communities depend mainly on streams and rivers. During 2001 and 2004, 227 number of boreholes were drilled in 123 communities under the CWSP II projects.

List Of Departments And Agencies In The Municipality

Department of Social Welfare

Department of Community Development

National Disaster Management Organisation

Department of Co-operative

Ministry of Agriculture

Information Service

Statistical Service

Audit Service

Electoral Commission

Land Valuation Board

National Commission for Civic Education

Commission for Human Rights and Administration Justice