‘Circle Dubai’ Nkrumah centre turns ‘white elephant’

Seven months after its commissioning, the recreational facility at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle is yet to earn the country any revenue.

The facility, which was part of the €74million project commissioned by the former government, was supposed to have a restaurant, a library and other facilities to generate income for the country.

But on a visit by the DAILY HERITAGE reporters, they found that the recreational centre had been left idle and was yet to be used for its intended purpose of generating income and creating jobs.

The caretaker of the place, Mr Kuntu Blankson, said the facility had so far been opened to the public for free, but managers of the place intend to generate revenue from it in the future.

“For now the public can come and take pictures here for free, we are not taking anything from them, unless maybe you want to organise a programme.

“Our only source of revenue now is through these event organisers and not from proceeds from the gate. So far, we have organised two events here and that’s the only money we’ve generated from this facility,” he said.

On how the facility is maintained, the caretaker said they rely on spare parts that were brought during the construction, saying “after the construction we had some spare parts so when some parts are faulty we replace them.”

Jobs

Mr Blankson told the DAILY HERITAGE that they were yet to employ anyone to work at the recreational centre.

He explained that plans had been made to ensure that the facility employs more Ghanaians to reduce the unemployment situation in the country.

During the inauguration of the facility last year, former President John Mahama reiterated that the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange was expected to create thousands of jobs.

He said the project would open up the country to its neighbours for improved trade, as well as reduce the time Ghanaians spend commuting to work.

According to him, the project was also expected to contribute greatly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Ghanaian economy.

“With the opening of this interchange, we believe that several thousand more jobs will be created as a result of the trade and economic activities that this project will facilitate.

“Time is a precious invaluable commodity and once spent, it cannot be recovered. Effective use of time, therefore, has a direct impact on our economy and must be calculated as a contribution to our GDP,” he stated.

Background

The Kwame Nkrumah interchange is one of the major projects under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress administration.

The facility, which has three flyovers, also has a recreational facility, a library, a bus terminal, a restaurant, fire, police and ambulance stations.

It also has a fountain and a statue of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, which is expected to attract tourists.

The project was funded with a loan from the Brazilian Government.