Industrial Activities in CBD to be relocated(June 9, 2009) Centre Spread

Story:Michael Donkor
SOME commercial and industrial activities in part of the central business district (CBD) of Accra are to be relocated to Adjen Kotoku to facilitate the completion of work on the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP).
Places to be affected include the Agbogbloshie Market, parts of the Timber Market and squatters around the KLERP.
The Chief Technical Adviser at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Sam Baidoo, who disclosed this, explained that the exercise was to halt the dumping of waste into the upstream canals and the catchment areas of the Korle Lagoon.
He said the main work on the KLERP had been completed and would be handed over to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in June next year after the redevelopment of 800 acres of the land at Adjen Kotoku for the resettlement exercise.
Previously a clean stretch of water that flowed into the Atlantic, the Korle Lagoon was, at a point, described by environmentalists as one of the most polluted places on earth as the natural depression was converted into a cesspool for most of the city's industrial and human waste.
Owing to the pollution, no living thing, animal or plant, has been able to grow in it for years and its stench has enveloped adjoining suburbs whose inhabitants, because they have no sanitation facilities, have turned the lagoon into a giant latrine.
Speaking during a working visit to the project site by the sector Minister, Mr Albert Abongo, yesterday, Mr Baidoo said what the contractors were doing was just a maintenance of the lagoon.
He said a unit would be established by the ministry by June next year which would be placed under the AMA to maintain and manage the lagoon.
He said as part of the overall project master plan, the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministries of Tourism and Local Government, acquired about 800 acres of land at Adjen Kotoku, about 25 km from the CBD on the Accra-Nsawam road to develop a new commercial and industrial area to facilitate the relocation of commercial activities from Old Fadama.
He explained that the location was chosen for the project because of its proximity to both the Accra-Nsawam road and the railway line, as well as the availability and fairly level nature of land.
He said when completed, bulk food transported from the northern part of the country would be intercepted at Adjen Kotoku to help ease the traffic situation in the centre of the capital.
Briefing the minister, the Project Engineer, Mr Ewan Techblanche, said the redevelopment of Adjen Kotoku, which was the fourth stage of the project, was being tackled in earnest.
He said the main components of the fourth stage of the project were the construction of roads, the provision of potable water and the extension of electricity and underground sewerage infrastructure.
He said currently the construction of roads was near completion and the entire project was expected to be completed in June next year.
Mr Abongo commended the contractors for good work done so far and urged them to speed up work for the early completion of the entire project.
He gave the assurance that the government would assist in any to ensure that the project went on smoothly.
The project is being undertaken with funds from Kuwait, BADEA and the government.
The original objective, as captured in the terms of reference for consultancy services in 1994, was to address the main cause of extensive and widespread flooding which had affected the entire drainage network in Accra, resulting in serious perennial flooding for the past 20 years, leading to loss of lives and property.