The Assembly at the end of the first quarter distributed about 21,250 bills out of the total of 25,000, representing 85 per cent.

The total capital expenditure budgeted for 2019 was GH¢ 8,242,749.17 and so far it had spent GH¢ 466,550.92.

Mr Anthony K.K Sam Metropolitan chief Executive, who made this known to the GNA in an interview in Sekondi, said payments under Capital Expenditure were expected to soar in the second and third quarters.

On the expenditure, he noted that the Assembly's control measures were bearing fruits and that barely five months old, almost all the expenditure items were within their targets with the exception of consultancy services and other allowances which saw some spill-overs from the 2018 financial year.

The MCE attributed the success story to effective bill distribution and monitoring which he said were adhered to and thereby contributed to the performance to a large extent.

He added that in August 2018, the Assembly gave approval for a 100 per cent increment in market tolls, from GH¢ 0.50p to GH¢ 1.00 which was backed by a massive sensitisation exercise by the budget team winning the attention of the populace.

According to him, his outfit also received the third quarter allocation of its share of the 2018 District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) and the second tranche of the 2014 District Development Fund (DDF) which was used for the payment of projects and programmes already approved by the Assembly.

Mr Anthony Sam hinted that the Assembly's estimated total expenditure for the year 2019 was GH¢ 24,767,885.24 with the main components as compensation of employees, use of goods and service, and expenditure investment (capital expenditure)

He pointed out that his outfit would leave no stone unturned to ensure that it achieved its revenue target for the year and called on the business community, staff of the Assembly and the populace to work hard and contribute their quota for the rapid growth of the Assembly.

He also mentioned that the Assembly was making all its payment on the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform though there were some few network challenges,adding  "we will  do everything possible to comply with this critical government initiative, which is also in conformity with the Public Financial Management Act, Act 921".