The meeting formed part of on-going constructive engagements aimed at enhancing the capacity of all participating Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Western Region to adopt the CoST approach to improve performance and derive better value for money in the delivery of public infrastructure.

The MMDAs included; Sekondi-Takoradi, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Ahanta West, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Nzema East, Mpohor, Shama, and Wassa East District

In furtherance of this, the CoST disclosure portal is being upgraded with an IAD and E-IMT to consolidate gains and stimulate data-driven demand for performance and accountability in the delivery of public infrastructure.

These tools are expected to enable stakeholders to participate in infrastructure delivery processes and strengthen grassroot participation in monitoring on-going infrastructure projects.

Mr Abdel Aziz Mahmoud, Assistant Project Coordinator, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the programme revealed that this was the first interaction they were having and intend to visit the remaining eight MMDAs in the Western Region.

He stated that “our discussion was mainly geared towards filtering information that is generated by the government, private sector, traditional authorities, women and youth groups. This information will help them understand what happens in a particular project so they can be part of the decision-making process”.

“For instance, if an assembly is implementing many projects, the information they usually release includes; the name of the project, contactor, duration, and cost. We cannot use this information to understand what happens in the project.

So, this engagement will help us gather more views from our stakeholders and design an analytical dashboard that communicates the entire story relating to a project an assembly is executing” Mr Mahmoud added.

CoST Sekondi Takoradi is a local chapter of CoST International based in the United Kingdom (UK) and their work is focused on enhancing access to information related to projects, contacts, gender, transparency, and accountability.