Let’s stop litigating over Kejetia redevelopment — Parliament

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Dominic Azumah, has appealed to all parties fighting the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) in court over the redevelopment of the Kejetia and Central Market to withdraw the cases for out-of-court settlement.

He said the project held lots of prospects for the region and the country as a whole but the litigations could delay the progress of work.

Consequently, he appealed to the parties to withdraw the cases from the courts to allow for work on the project to progress smoothly.

Two associations have dragged the KMA to court over the project.

Visit

Mr Azumah made the appeal when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development paid a working visit to the project site in Kumasi last Tuesday.

The visit was to enable the committee members to acquaint themselves with the progress of work and also find out challenges facing the project.

Mr Azumah noted that the legal suits against the assembly could derail the project and pleaded with the parties to come to the negotiation table for an amicable settlement.

The team was impressed with the progress of work and commended the contractors for working to schedule.

Mr Azumah commended the Mayor of Kumasi, Mr Kojo Bonsu, for ensuring that the project took off in spite of the protests and agitations against it.

He said even though Parliament approved the loan for the project, it had no idea that it was that huge until the visit.

Mr Azumah impressed on all to support the project as it would benefit the whole country, particularly the business community in the Ashanti Region.

Progress of work

The Project Manager, Mr Carlos Gala, said already, the project was ahead of schedule and would be completed before the 30-month scheduled period.

He indicated, however, that the speed of work could be affected by the rainy season.

Giving details, Mr Gala said by the end of the week, the last of the structures earmarked for demolition would have been pulled down to make way for the project.

Meanwhile, he said the first phase of the work, which was the foundation work, was 100 per cent complete.

Challenges

Concerning challenges, Mr Gala said the biggest was to get the support of the local people for the project. He said to date, some people were opposed to it.

As part of the effort to make the project acceptable, the contractors had mounted an exhibition at the Centre for National Culture, showcasing a prototype of the new project alongside the old infrastructure.

Mr Gala said the exhibition was opened to the public from Tuesday to Sunday free of charge, stressing that so far, only foreigners had been patronising it.