AMA Takes Stock, Maps Out Strategies

As part of activities to ease congestion in the city centre, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is to enforce a decongestion policy that would keep the city clean and enhance free movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

The policy would among other things ensure that vehicles are clamped down when drivers park at unauthorized places, whilst four inter-urban terminals would be provided to help the bulk of residential communities whose daily demands on these terminals are dispersed in distant locations.

These were contained in a session address delivered by Mr. Solomon O. Darko, Chief Executive of the AMA, at the first ordinary meeting of the fourth session of the assembly in Accra.

Commenting on what the assembly has been able to achieve over the previous year, Darko explained that the assembly collected a total of ?26.56 million from traditional sources, showing an increase of 30% over the year 2000, adding that though fees, rates and charges were not revised over the year.

He further explained that the impressive performance of the task force and selective privatization policy adopted late 2001 had a tremendous increase in revenue for toll collection from the parks and markets out of which ?1.97 billion and ?2.13 billion were collected indicating an increase of 34% and 64% in these areas respectively.

Darko attributed the increase in revenue to measures that were introduced which checked the leakages in revenue collection, daily reports on revenue collection and payment as well as police checking malpractices.

According to him, a house-numbering and new property identification exercise for valuation as a short-term measure for revenue collection is underway for this year.

This, he said, would ensure a more effective mapping for property identification and revaluation that would later on be introduced as a long-term measure, adding that the assembly had already taken on a number of developmental programmers.

Dilating on the flood situation in the country that had in the recent past destroyed property worth millions of cedis, Darko explained that steps are being taken by government in collaboration with donor agencies to minimize it as the rainy season is fast approaching.

He was also of the view that since floods are caused by blockages due to irresponsible dumping of refuse into gutters and river beds, the AMA would embark on a massive campaign exercise to sensitize the public on the need to maintain clean environment, adding that buildings that have been built across natural drainage channels and on river beds would be demolished.

The Chief Executive also gave the assurance that AMA would in due course enact bye-laws that would keep hawkers off the city's pavements and ensure that, excessive noise-making by drinking bar operators and some religious bodies is minimized.

In a short remarks, the presiding member of the assembly, Mr. Ben Annan observed that the assembly had problems in its administrative duties due to last year's elections that made many top officials in the assembly lose their positions but was quick to add that those problems have been solved.

He, therefore, called on the Assemblymen in the various sub- metros to go about their work diligently assuring them that more funds have been allocated to them by the government to help in their day-to-day activities.