Kumasi Metro to introduce ZIP code

The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is to start a code street addressing system under a Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP), which would tie in the re-numbering of houses to make it easier to locate.

Under the plan, the use of identification cards (ID) that would contain all relevant information and a street code for easy identification will be provided, Mr Kofi Bempah, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ASI Systems, disclosed in Kumasi on Tuesday.

Briefing the media and some members of the KMA on the plan, Mr Bempah said a directory of all streets in the city would be compiled and so, Kumasi has been zoned into four to make it easier for people to identify the areas of residence.

"We are developing a software that conforms to international standards. The software that would be used for handling the address directory would be able to produce reports on property ownership and business activities in each ZIP code area to facilitate the collection of property taxes and business license fees.

Mr Bempah said when the system becomes operational it would give the police, ambulance or fire service, the exact location of an emergency. He said the system would be very beneficial to metropolitan, urban and district assemblies by helping them to identify taxable properties, street names and house numbers.

The system, Mr Bempah said was good for land registration since it would put an end to land litigation, pointing out that it would lead to the creation of a fiscal registry.

Mr Maxwell Jumah, the Metropolitan Chief Executive, said the computerised system could put an end to the fraud in the land system in the metropolis, adding that what the KMA was doing was to catapult Kumasi into a new age.

He said it was going to help re-number Kumasi properly since a lot of properties did not have records and that this would bring Kumasi in line with any other city in the world.

Mr Jumah said already, the system was in place at Asokore-Mampong, Ohwimase and Denchemuoso, adding that what the KMA was trying to do was to simplify the lives of the residents of the metropolis.