Government has reached out to a Singaporean Architect and Planner Dr.Liu Thai Ker to help redevelop Accra into a modern city as part of the transformational agenda.
Dr.Liu Thai Ker was in the country for a brief visit to assess Ghana’s capital city, Accra.
A team from the government of Ghana including officials of the Ministry of Finance had earlier met with Dr Liu Thai Ker in February.
After a short deliberation, he expressed interest in helping to redevelop Accra to be one of the modern cities in the world.
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo tells JoyBusiness that Ghana may be entering into an agreement with the planner to begin work by next year.
“We as a country face infrastructure challenge and there’s the need to address it in order to achieve the cleanest City target… We’re hoping to sign an agreement with the planner if all plans go well by the first half of next year.”
He noted that the congestion in the city has been a source of slow growth for the economy.
“When the city is highly congested, the economy suffers because productivity is slowed,” he said.
In an interview after a short presentation to the Ministry of Finance and some investors, Dr.Liu Thai Ker said a good planning of the city will benefit many generations.
He said, “Urban planning involves many interconnected disciplines. The main areas of focus for this are sanitation and cleanliness, housing, transport and greenery and public spaces.”
Adding that” the timeline for the project will also depend on the kind of information I get from the stakeholders; I will require many details to be able to understand the dynamics of Accra”.
Dr Liu is expected to have a meeting with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and some local authorities in the Greater Accra region to begin the process of the project after which an agreement will be signed with the government.
Source:Myjoyonline