Assemblies urged to invest in development of model markets

Tamale, Jan. 31, GNA - Minister of Trade and Industry Ms. Hannah Tetteh, has urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to go int= o Public-Private-Partnership ventures to acquire the needed investment to build modern market facilities in their communities.

She said returns from such an investment would not only bring profits to the private investors, the Assemblies and landowners but would also help accelerate the development of the Districts. Ms. Tetteh said this when she opened an exhibition mounted by the Ministry on the development of model markets for regional and district capitals in the country in Tamale at the weekend. She was unhappy with the unhygienic and poor infrastructural conditions in which the current markets were and said the new models sought to construct markets that had modern facilities such as banks, day care centres, parking places, sanitation facilities and access roads for the eas= y movement of fire tenders in case of fire outbreaks.

The Trade Minister said the development of the model markets could be done in bits considering the weak financial positions of the assemblies and urged the assemblies to adopt the models that would suit their environment. Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, said markets were a major source of revenue generation, noting that by expanding and modernizing the markets, the assemblies would be rendering a deserving service to the users of the market who actually paid the market tolls. He entreated partner stakeholders to develop the model markets to play their respective roles to make the innovation a success.