TDC DAMMED FOR ABANDONING PROJECTS (PAGE 30)

The Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hanna Louisa Bisiw, has toured some facilities and projects of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to acquaint herself with the extent of work done by the company.
She inspected the Tema Town Centre project, the Community 25 site, recreational centre and the TDC guest house project which was started in 2000 but abandoned in 2001.
Dr Bisiw, who was conducted round by the acting Managing Director of the TDC, Mr Joe Abbey, said it was disheartening for a development company to abandon its project for about nine years, leaving air conditioners and electrical gadgets to rust.
The cost of the project was not immediately known but the three-storey guest house, which comprises 34 self- contained rooms, is 70 per cent complete.
She tasked the management of TDC to look for funds to complete the project.
At the Community 25 site off the Ada road, the minister observed that some streets had been named after some famous Ghanaians such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Mr Kofi Annan and others but expressed doubt over the street which had been named after a 'Banson' and said she would find out who that personality was.
After inspecting the Tema Town Centre project, which is also referred to as business park, Dr Bisiw expressed satisfaction with work done so far in the area.
She called on the corporation to re-develop slum areas in the town.
She said the TDC had a bright future and called for co-operation between the workers and the management to make the company viable.
Mr Abbey said the corporation was set up to develop Tema into a modern city.
He said management had set up a technical committee to revive all its abandoned projects.
He said management was initiating schemes to redevelop the city after completing its projects at communities 22, 23 and 25.
He said there were about 770 plots at Community 25, 70 of which were yet to be disposed of because of litigation over them.
Mr Abbey said the re-development scheme would cover the sites in communities 1 and 2 which were the first communities developed in Tema.
He said efforts were being made to complete the abandoned guest house in the next six months.
He gave the assurance that TDC would go about its duties in earnest.
The acting managing director said there was no conflict between the company and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.