Ho Municipality Commence Three Major Projects

Mary Anane Features Dec - 10 - 2014 , 22:49

The Ho municipal assembly has started implementing three major projects under the Ghana Urban Management Pilot Project (GUMPP) targeted at transforming the municipality into a modern city to woo more investors. The three projects are a modern market, an abattoir and bio-digester, as well as a land-fill site all estimated at 8million euros.

What Is GUMPP

GUMPP is being implemented in three metropolises; namely Tamale, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi and the Ho municipality.

Financed by Agence Francaise de Developement (AFD) with a loan facility of 80million Euros, the GUMPP project, which started two years ago, is aimed at increasing investment and infrastructure in the four cities to bridge the infrastructural backlog.

Under GUMPP, markets, lorry parks, sewage systems, abattoirs, landfills and roads would be constructed in the three metropolises and the the Ho municipality in of five years.

The project is expected to be replicated in other districts across the country.

Contractors, who have been assigned to execute the projects in Ho, have moved to the sites working steadily to complete them by the end of November next year.

Team From France

A technical team from the Local Government Ministry and representatives of AFD from France, led by Mr Fabien Manguy, were at the three project sites recently to inspect the progress of work.

The head of the Urban Development Unit at the Ministry of Local Government, Mr Sylvanus Adjornu, who was part of the team, acknowledged that the efforts of the municipal assembly looking at the speed and the importance it had attached to the execution of the project to give the regional capital a facelift.

He mentioned that a technical team from the ministry was on the ground to monitor the smooth execution of all the projects.

‘Apart from the physical structures, there are series of consultations ongoing under this programme to have a 20-year development plan for Ho which would boost the capacity of the assembly to have a proper revenue collection system to finance other needed projects in the municipality,’ he disclosed.

Though GUMPP would be expanded to other districts across the country after the success of the pilot programme, Mr Adjornu called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to integrate some of the policies and project ideas into their medium-term development plans.

Modern Ho Central Market

Prominent among the Ho projects is the reconstruction of the central market, which had become an albatross around the neck of the assembly and the government, because the people, especially market women and the media on many occasions had mounted pressure on them for such a modern facility to be constructed.

The continuous pressure had resulted from the decrepit state of the market, which had been in existence for over 35 years, and also a promise by the President two years ago to the people that it was one of the topmost priorities in the regional capital.

The commencement of the market has brought some excitement to the people, especially traders, who, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, could not believe the project had startred in view of the many unfilfilled promises.

The secretary to the market, Mr Benjamin Adjinor, stated that they were ready to collaborate with the assembly for the contractors to complete the market in time.

‘We are happy that this project we fought for decades has finally taken off. We welcome this with open hands as it is going to boost our businesses,’ he said.

The traders have since been moved to the Rural Training Centre (RTC) park to pave the way for the construction, but not without a little confrontation with the assembly over the issue of security, which had since been solved with the provision of street lights.

Details of the Market

The market project, estimated to cost GH¢4,262,349.65 is designed to have 231 stores, a clinic, police post, fire station, a warehouse and a crèche.

Three construction firms have been contracted to execute the project, which has been divided into three lots.

Two of the companies - Santa Baron Construction and Big Omen Construction - are to construct 115 and 116 stores respectively while Al-Iddisah Construction Company would build the other facilities such as a clinic, police post, fire station, a warehouse and a crèche.

Landfill abattoir

The landfill project is being constructed by a Chinese company, Yangtse Rivers International, and it is located at Akrofu. It has facilities such as an administrative block, weigh bridge for vehicles, mechanical shop, and one arterial road with six feeder roads. It is estimated at GH¢7,897.302.73.

The completion of the project would address sanitation issues in the municipality and other surrounding districts.

The GH¢4,358,520 abattoir with a bio-digester is also situated at Sokode and being executed by Sey Construction Limited.

According to the contractor, Mr Kwame Sey, the abattoir is a modern one which has facilities such as place to keep animals, cold room, and modern slaughter equipment.

It would also enable butchers to get hygienic place to slaughter their animals and sell their products.

The three projects would employ about 5,000 skilled and unskilled labour.

The municipal GUMPP manager, Mr Cornelius Fugah, disclosed that apart from the infrastructural development, the assembly would benefit from 100 skip containers, 300 refuse bins being provided by the French donor. Already 30 of the skip containers and 100 of the bins had been supplied. In addition, staffs would be trained on how to manage the projects.

France Team Impressed

The leader of the team from France, Mr Fabien Manguy, told Daily Graphic that he was impressed with the zeal and rate at which work was moving.

‘The Ho municipal is well-mobilised for the work to move swiftly because there is a strong expectation of the people to see the infrastructure built,’ he stated.

He pledged that the agency would offer all the needed support to have the job done as scheduled and urged the assembly ‘to keep the spirit’.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Mrs Fafa Adinyira, observed that the commencement of the projects had brought a great relief to her and the assembly and further expressed the hope that the contractors would do a good job and within time.

‘’Some of us have been under pressure from all angles to have these projects done but I am happy we have finally started’, she said.

Mrs Adinyira believed that in few years to come Volta Region would become a hub for investors.

‘It has always been our dream to change Ho municipality into a big city with economic prospects. This is just the beginning of better things to come,’ she said optimistically.