Dr Nana Ato Arthurr, Head of the Local Government Service (LGS) has expressed appreciation to the Government of Japan through the Japanese Embassy in Ghana for their continuous support to Ghana.

He said the Japanese government had supported Ghana in many areas of the country's economy including; Health and Education which closed gaps in those sectors.

Dr Ato Arthur made the remarks at a ceremony to sign a grant contract of US$ 83,105 approved for the construction of a CHPS Compound for the people of Abrem Berase in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region sponsored by the Government of Japan.

He said it was significant to note that the people of Abrem Berase considered the project as not only to ensuring healthy lives and promoting the wellbeing of all persons as per the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3) but also an attempt to address sustainable cities and communities of SDG 11.

"As a citizen of Abrem Berase and the Head of Local Government Service in Ghana, I am most grateful to the Ambassador and the Embassy of Japan in Ghana for making the grant available to the KEEA for the project".

Dr Ato Arthur said the project had come at a time that the world was facing the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic for which access to a basic health centre was a necessity, adding that, this project, when completed is expected to meet the health needs of over 4000 beneficiaries for which the Chiefs and people were grateful.

He assured the Donor (the Japanese Government) that the Recipient would use the grant judiciously and exclusively for the project; namely the CHPS Building, a Mechanised Borehole, Medical equipment and the External Audit fee and further assured that the project would be completed within one year after the contract date.

Dr Ato Arthur expressed the hope that the project would contribute to strengthen Ghana-Japan Relations as well as the development and prosperity of Ghana under the renewed leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He said the staff of the LGS benefitted from a number of scholarships and capacity building programmes in Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency including; his own participation in the Seminar on Government Human Resource Management for Senior Officials in Tokyo in June 2019.