Osei Assibey-Antwi, Mayor of Kumasi
Ghana would ensure value for money in the execution of the second phase of the Kejetia/Central Market Redevelopment Project, the Government has assured.
Mr. Emmanuel Akwasi Gyamfi, Member of Parliament (MP) for Odotobri, who also chairs the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, said the state-of-the-art edifice was of strategic economic importance to the people.
“We intend to monitor and supervise every stage for quality work since many benefits are expected to be derived from the painstaking initiative to modernize our markets,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi.
This was on the sidelines of a visit by some Parliamentarians to inspect the progress of work on the 248 million-Euros Project, being undertaken by Messrs Contracta Construction Limited, UK.
The delegation comprised members of the Parliamentary Select Committees on Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as Works and Housing and Finance.
The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on May 02, 2019, cut the sod for work to commence on the second phase of the Project.
It is being financed by the Deutsche Bank of Germany, with an export credit guarantee from the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF), and expected to be completed within 48 months.
Upon completion, the redeveloped market would have 6,500 leasable commercial spaces, 5,400 closed doors, 800 kiosks, 50 restaurants, 210 fishmonger and butcher stores, 40 livestock stores and 1,800 square metres of community facilities.
Additionally, the project would also provide other essential facilities such as a waste treatment plant, police and fire stations, and first-class roads.
Mr. Gyamfi said the location of the facility was appropriate in view of how trading and other commercial activities contributed immensely to the growth of the local economy.
“Though there have been some delays, we think what the contractors had done so far is a good indication of their resolve to deliver the work on time,” the Odotobri MP noted.
Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, the Mayor of Kumasi, indicated that the project was intended to help address and mitigate the underlying causes of fire outbreaks, which had devastated many business enterprises over the years.
It was also meant to improve the safety and security of traders and consumers, while providing better conditions for mobility in the area.
The Mayor said allowing traders to receive their merchandise, and customers to access the market in a safer and more organized manner was a priority of the Government.
He was hopeful that the project upon completion, would transform, hitherto, the largest open-space market in the West African sub-Region, which attracts tens of thousands of merchandise and traders from across the Region on a daily basis.
