The engagement was in fulfilment of a directive issued by government to all metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives to organize 'meet the press' in their vicinities to bring to the fore government's flagship programmes.

Mr Felix Mensah Nii Anang-La, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, announced during the meeting that to ensure prompt responds to sanitation issues three dedicated lines had been made available for residents to engage the Assembly on their sanitation and environmental concerns.

Mr Anang-La urged residents to partner the assembly in its quest to ensure good sanitation by calling or sending pictures and videos through watsup to the dedicated numbers are 0551353524, 0559829887 and 0559822018.

According to him, in line with their quest to have a clean Tema, his outfit had formed 'Restoration Ambassadors' which is made up of young and enthusiastic men and women who clean, and sweep the business and major parts of the Metropolis as well as clean drains along the major roads in the area.

He announced that the Assembly was working round the clock to secure funding to undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation of the Tema Sewerage System adding that the rehabilitation would see the replacement of the entire piping network, as well as the revamping of the pumping stations, and the waste water treatment plant.

He added that in addition a compost production plant would be constructed as part of the rehabilitation project to produce organic fertilizer in commercial quantity to support the government's flagship 'planting for food and jobs' programmes.

Security wise, the MCE said residents of Tema had enjoyed so much peace over the years adding that "we have not allowed politics to derail the prevailing peace and economic opportunities. I am happy to note that security strategies put in place by MESEC have yielded positive dividends".

He announced that about 3,000 streetlights had been procured to be fixed at various locations in the metropolis adding that 1,000 had so far being either installed or repaired.

Touching on its finances, he indicated that as part of strategies to ensure efficient revenue mobilization, under his watch, structures including the introduction of Integrated Revenue Management System, Revaluation of all properties in the Metropolis, use of National Service personnel and the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) staff for the collection of BOP data.

He however revealed that the Assembly's Internally Generated Fund (IGF) revenue declined from GHs 28,142,150.64 in 2017 to GHs19,061,258.29 due to the carving out of Tema West Municipal Assembly from the TMA.

The MCE and its departmental heads answered questions on the Free SHS programme, adolescent pregnancy issues in Tema Manhean, state of some of the public basic schools in the Metropolis, poor road networks, dipping revenue, and alleged financial malfeasance of the previous administration as well as security at the Tema Community One market, the abandonment of a morgue facility at the Tema General Hospital and sanitation, among others. 

Mr Anang-La scored himself eight out of 10 saying looking at his works and the restoration agenda he introduced, he was doing well as an MCE saying that the TMA dropped on the District Assemblies League Table from a first position to the sixth mainly because of high mortality rate recorded at the Tema General Hospital.

He explained that due to the referral status of the hospital which is located in the Metropolis, pregnant women with complication from other localities were referred to the TGH with some being pronounced dead on arrival, a situation which negatively affected the TMA's ranking on the league table adding that they were working on improving maternal health in the area.

Pictorial banners of projects either completed or still under construction were also displayed during the engagement as evidence of work done since the government took power in 2017.