ASHAIMAN MARKET EXTENSION PROJECT BEGINS (PAGE 29, APRIL 1, 2010)

The Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has cut the sod for the commencement of work on a GH¢200,000 market extension project to decongest the Ashaiman Central Market.
The project, comprising the construction of market sheds, pavements and places of convenience to serve the traders, will on completion be named the Nii Adjor Market.
The deputy minister also inspected rehabilitation works at the Ashaiman Senior High School assembly hall.
Mr Ankrah was on a tour of the Ashaiman Municipality, as part of a one-day working visit to the Tema Metropolis to familiarise himself with projects being undertaken by the assemblies.
Speaking at a meeting with the core staff of the assembly and assembly members of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly, he said the Local Government Ministry inherited debts from the previous administration and pointed out that the government was streamlining the assemblies’ financial situation.
He said Ashaiman was of great significance to the country because of its cosmopolitan nature and pointed out that “if you touch Ashaiman, you would be touching every part of the country”.
He urged the assembly to work hard to ensure that the government’s effort at revamping the economy was made possible.
Mr Ankrah said the government was ensuring that agriculture was modernised to make food cheaper, which in the end would put money into the people’s pocket.
He urged the youth to be responsible, disciplined and be ready to take initiatives to help the government to build the nation.
He stated that block farming, youth in agriculture and the National Youth Employment Programme, were all aimed at providing jobs for the youth, and advised them to take advantage of those programmes to improve their living standards.
Mr Ankrah called on the youth to be law-abiding and patronise the government’s job-creation policies by training adequately to fit into positions which would need professional qualification, and cautioned that anyone who would want to hide under political cover to break the law would be dealt with.
The Ashaiman Municipal Chief Executive, Numo Adinortey Addison, said although the assembly inherited some debts in respect of refuse collection from the previous administration, its work was on course.
He said apart from decongesting, the Assembly was initiating projects to provide infrastructure for education, a library, pavements, drains and well-planned markets for trading activities.
Mr Addison later took the deputy minister through the principal streets of Ashaiman to enable him to have an overview of the decongestive exercise in the municipality.
Mr Ankrah urged the various heads of decentralised departments in the metropolis, as well as subcommittee chairpersons of the assembly and assembly staff to work hard to accelerate the pace of development in the area.
He said the assemblies and assemblymembers were strategic agents of the country’s decentralisation process, and pointed out that with the assemblies harnessing their resources efficiently, and with the judicious use of resources, the assemblies could achieve their goals in support of the nation’s efforts to become a middle income earner.
Mr Ankrah urged them to perform their core functions with diligence and avoid using their positions to abuse their offices,which may tarnish the image of the assembly.  
In Tema, Mr Ankrah commended the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) for working to achieve its targets and urged the assembly not to relent its efforts in addressing problems confronting the metropolis.
He said the government had set up an inter-sectoral committee to streamline levies  chargeable by the assemblies for consistency in the levying system and also announced that an electronic naming system would soon be introduced into the country, to help people locate places easily.
On waste management, the deputy minister pointed out that the period of constructing landfill sites was over and advised assemblies to contract investors who would import modern technologies for the management of waste.
The TMA Chief Executive, Mr Robert Kempes Ofosuware, enlightened the deputy minister on the assembly’s four-year development starting this year and said the TMA had initiated action to remove all unauthorised structures to maintain sanity in the metropolis and also develop green belts to beautify the city.
He stated that the assembly had taken steps to ensure that the public complied with the processes for the acquisition of permit and planning schemes through education and increased development control and task force operations for orderliness in physical development.
He said the assembly had bought one new vehicle for its works department, and employed 40 additional labourers to assist in cleaning the metropolis, and pointed out that 45 Metropolitan Guards were undergoing training at the National Police Training School (NPTS), as part of efforts to increase the number of guards for the assembly.
He later took the deputy minister round to inspect some projects including the Tema –Kpone road and school projects under construction.