AMA starts house numbering and street naming exercise

Accra Nov. 18, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has started a house numbering and street naming exercise to facilitate revenue collection.

Mr Stanley Nii Agyiri-Blankson, Chief Executive Officer of AMA, at the launch of the programme said the 22 billion cedis exercise would capture the whole of Ayawaso constituency by the end of the year and the whole of Accra by the end of 2006.

The Mayor Accra said mapping out the whole city would enable the Assembly to monitor revenue collection from the office through a computerized system expressing concern about some revenue collection officers who pocketed taxes they collected.

"The AMA sits on a gold mine and with needed logistics we can access the gold," he said.

Mr Agyiri-Blankson expressed the hope that the AMA would be rich when the house numbering and street naming exercise become effective. He explained that not all street names would be changed and said some streets like the "Asafoatse" street had a very significant history so it would not be changed.

He said a committee involving the various chiefs in Accra would be set up to ensure that traditional roads did not have their names changed.

Mr Agyiri-Blankson also said some streets would be auctioned for people and organizations to bid for them to be named after them. "A Street like 7th Avenue, would be auctioned to allow individuals and organizations bid and it will be named after the highest bidder subsequently," he said.

Mr Agyiri- Blankson said there would be a massive educational campaign to educate people on the use of street names and its benefits. Mr Kofi Bempah, Managing Director of Asi Zip Code, the contractors, reiterated the importance of the exercise and explained that with the computerized system, AMA officials would be able to know the number of occupants in a building and the type of businesses around particular vicinity.

Under the exercise Accra would be divided into Northwest, Northeast, Southeast and Southwest.

He said every township would have its own map and a zip code making it easy to find people around an area.

"The exercise will also make it easy for drivers of emergency vehicles and the National Ghana Fire Service, especially to easily locate a particular place," he said.

Mr Bempah said empty plots of land as well as parks would all be named and called for cooperation from all people living in the city to make the exercise a success.