Old Accra breathes back to life

Accra, July 25, GNA - Government is rebuilding James Town and Ussher Town communities, popularly known as "Old Accra", which served as the hob of Trans Atlantic Slave Trade and colonialism into tourist attraction and to uplift the image of the national capital.

The project, dubbed: "Old Accra 2015 Strategy", would help to improve the sanitation and housing situation of the two communities, decrease illiteracy and unemployment and preserve the historical heritage of the area.


Nii Teiko Tagoe, Coordinator of the Project, announced this in Accra on Tuesday during the inauguration of an eight-member Steering Committee tasked with the responsibility of implementing policy decision, source for funds and facilitate the work of a yet-to-be established development agency, that would help to create consensus requiring collective ownership of the projects.


The membership of the Committee is made up of representatives of Ministry of Tourism and Diasporean Relations; Ministry of Fisheries; Ministry of Culture and chieftaincy and Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment; Ga Traditional Council and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).


Government through selected the Ministries is undertaking the project with assistance of the Amsterdam Municipality and the Royal Netherlands Embassy within the spirit of sister-city relations and it would be completed by 2015.


The inauguration also coincided with the signing of a statement of cooperation (a memorandum of understanding for financing the project) between the Ministry of Tourism, Royal Netherlands, AMA and the City of Amsterdam.


The Outgoing Ambassador of Netherlands, Mr Arie van der Wiel; the Tourism and Diasporean Relations Minister, Mr Jake Obestebi-Lamptey; Mayor of Accra, Mr Stanley Nii Adjiri Blankson and Mr Herman van Vliet of Amsterdam signed for their respective institutions.

Nii Tagoe said already the Royal Netherlands had given out 660 million cedis, while the City of Amsterdam had provided 200 million cedis with the Tourism Ministry committing 430 million cedis and AMA 120 million cedis into the setting up of a Development Agency that would be an organ to build institutional and operational nexus for creating the kind of consensus requiring collective or communal ownership of the projects.


Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey described the project as a window of opportunity, which would help to reduce poverty in the area that came about when the old harbour was transferred to Tema years ago.


He said when the fish port was finally developed and life was rejuvenated into the economic activities of the people "then poverty that has been a canker in the Jamestown community would be minimized". He, therefore, urged the chiefs and people of the area, particularly the youth to give their maximum support to the project and not to see it as a political venture aimed at scoring political point for any political party.


"The Youth in this area must be brought along to share in the dream of transforming Old Accra", Mr Obestebi-Lamptey said.


Mr Blankson said reengineering of Old Accra had been a subject of discussion for the past decade due to the importance of the area as the historical origin of the city, the declined economic opportunities, rapid population growth and general degradation of the urban fabrics. He, therefore, urged all the stakeholders to help to ensure that the project was completed on schedule so that life was restored into that important part of the City.


Nii Dodoo Nsaki II, Chief of Otublohum, who represented the Ga Traditional Council, pledged the Council's and the people's unflinching support toward the realization of the project, saying that the lives of the people depended so much on it.