Skip to main content

JICA develops framework for 8 districts in Kumasi



By Fred Yaw Sarpong
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has prepared and submitted a Spatial Development Framework (SDF) and Structure Plan (SP) for eight districts of Greater Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for government’s review and final consensus. 
The eight districts are Kumasi Metropolitan, Afigya-Kwabre District, Kwabre East District, Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, Asokore-Mampong Municipality, Bosomtwe District, Atwima-Kwanwoma District and Atwima-Nwabiagya District. 
The SDF and SP have been prepared under the Ghana-JICA Technical Cooperation Project, implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Science Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD).
A consortium of consultants comprising Oriental Consultants Company Limited, CTI Engineering International Company Limited and Almec Corporation helped in preparing the SDF and SP.
The goal of the project is to contribute to the promotion of efficient and effective development of the sub-region.
In order to get feedback from stakeholders, JICA in collaboration with TCPD of MESTI recently held the final national seminar at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi. The objective of the one-day meeting was for the consultants to present the final draft of the SDF and SP to high-level government officials and decision makers and to seek consensus. The feedback from the seminar was incorporated into the final draft.
The Chief Representative of JICA, Mr. Jiro Inamura has said that “The issue of the urban development of Greater Kumasi is critical. Kumasi is projected to be a huge metropolitan city with the population of five million in 20 years. This means that the Kumasi area should play a bigger role for the economic development of Ghana as a whole, while accommodating such a huge urban population. In this regard, Kumasi and its environs should have well considered development plan.”
He stressed that in order to shift ourselves smoothly to the implementation stage of the Comprehensive Urban Development Plan, the earliest government’s authorization of SDF and SP is necessary, so that the authorization can facilitate the participation of sub-projects or spin out projects by various Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MDAs) and Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
In his presentation, the Study Team Leader, Mr. Sasaki noted that the Ashanti Region’s economy and its central city’s economy have declined largely, compared to the Greater Accra, Central and Volta Regions. 
He mentioned the rapid population increase in the Kumasi city, the sub-region at the growth rate of over 4.6% and traffic congestion is particularly severe in the city centre; hence, the prospects of the Greater Kumasi sub-region were not bright enough at the moment.
As one of the solution of these problems, the SDF and SP have proposed a new outer ring road to ease traffic congestion in all corridors leading to the Kumasi City centre, among other modern development features.
According to JICA, Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), National Development Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) supports the Comprehensive Urban Plan.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ABL launches chibuku super in Bolgatanga

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong sarpong007@gmail.com Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has officially launched the Chibuku Super drink at Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with the aim of reaching a lot of customers. Mr. Thomas Nii Ponku, Supervisor in charge of Chibuku Super at ABL told Daily Express that the management decided to launch the Chibuku Super drink in the Upper East region because they’ve realized it is similar to a traditional drink in the region. “Chibuku is like a well developed pito, a traditional drink made from fermented millet or sorghum in the Northern part of Ghana. So the idea is to provide them with similar drink,” he added. Mr. Nii Ponku disclosed this when members of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) toured the facility of ABL to acquaint themselves with the expansion project at the factory. He mentioned that after a feasibility study, they realized there is a potential market for the product in the northern part of Ghana ...
Post a Comment
Read more