Ashanti Regional Minister bemoans poor implementation of Kejetia market Phase I, promises to resolve congestion with Phase II
Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister has attributed the congestion in the Kumasi business area to the initial constructional plan for the Ketejia Central Market.
He indicated that phase I of the construction failed to allocate an alternative to the already existing lorry terminal being transformed into the central market area hence, causing congestion havoc in the vicinity.
However, during the Minister’s Press Briefing organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra on Wednesday, August 25, the Regional Minister promised, “If we can do any proper decongestion in Kumasi it’s this project that is going to solve it.”
“I’ve said it time and again and I said this during my last vetting, several questions were fired at me on this. I said most of the problems we witnessed, the congestion we’re seeing in the central business district area in Kumasi is the result of the construction of the first phase of that project. You see when there are projects, you have to analyze what we want to achieve at the end of the project. Anyone who has lived in Kumasi before knows Kejetia was a lorry terminal to support the central market. So if you want to change the functionality of that particular facility then, there should be an alternative facility to take up that function. This did not do that,” he bemoaned.
He further disclosed that the Phase II of the Ketejia Central Market project is going to solve many problems. He revealed a parking lot for shop owners will be created as well as a market space for traditional traders.
“This is not an alternative parking space and that is what I’ve said and I’ll say it anywhere I stand even at gunpoint that the project is like a beautiful box smeared with gold. But when you open the content it is dirty. So when we came we had to sit down with a consultant and a contractor to look at how we can solve the problem with this second phase. So what we’ve done now is that the whole ground floor will be a lorry park and the first floor will be meant for traditional market because my grandmother will not go and sell plantain in a shop, a lockable shop. Projects are done to change lifestyle of the people not one that is totally disjointed with the environment. So now we’re going to provide more table-tops,” he shared.