Accra, Jan. 12, GNA - Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Mayor of Accra, on Tuesday said the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was ready to declare the national capital a Millennium City to pave way for its modernization. The declaration would be made by Professor Jeffery Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General, on Friday, January 15. Dr Vanderpuije announced this at the start of a float by the staff of AMA to raise awareness and seek support from the public.

The float, which began from the AMA offices, took the staff through=

some principal streets of Accra, including the central business district,= to Kwame Nkrumah Circle and back to its offices at the high street.

The declaration marks the beginning of the implementation of the "New Accra for a Better Ghana" agenda, which is a seven-point strategy to modernize the city.

It involves the provision of adequate infrastructure for educational institutions to end the shift system, upgrading of health institutions, improving the supply of electricity, turning waste to energy, upgrading Nima, Mamoobi, New town and Chorkor suburbs to prevent the perennial flooding of those areas.

Others are improving the road network, solving water and sanitation problems in Accra in partnership with the Earth Institute of University o= f Colombia. Dr Vanderpuije said 'This is the time to roll up our sleeves and lea= ve no stone unturned in making Accra a Millennium City". He pointed out that Accra had challenges but it was important that those challenges were turned into opportunities to improve the living standards of the people and called on all and sundry to join efforts at upgrading and modernizing the city.