Redevelopment of Kumasi Central Market to begin next month


The redevelopment of the Central Market in Kumasi is to begin tentatively on the 31st of next month. The project, to be executed in three phases, with the first phase taking between 24 month and 30 months to complete.
 
The Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Kojo Bonsu announced this at a media briefing in Kumasi. He said a company has been employed by the contractors to do the registration of the traders. Therefore the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly is designing a strategy to enable it to capture the rightful owners.
 
To this end, a biometric registration would be carried out with the bio-data of the rightful owners captured and stored on a database that cannot be altered. 

From Kumasi, Radio Ghana's Correspondent, Razak Baba reports that in 2014, Parliament granted approval for a loan facility to redevelop the Kumasi Central market into a modern market. 

The project has been awarded to a Brazilian firm known as Contracta. The contractor is on the ground doing all preliminary works to see to the commencement of the actual construction for phase one. 

Geomapping has been concluded and various institutions that have key roles to play are doing the necessary works that are supposed to be done. The project will be executed in three phases. 

Phase one will see the construction work at the Kejetia Lorry Terminal, which would last between 24 months and 30 months, while Phase two and three will commence after the completion of the first phase and these will take place at the Central market itself. 

The Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Kojo Bonsu said a project of this nature will call for the relocation of the traders to enable it to take off successfully. Consequently, the Assembly and Contracta had identified the Adehyeman and the Royal markets for that purpose. 

He emphasized that only traders plying their trade in various shops at the Kejetia lorry terminal who will be affected by Phase one of the project will be located to these alternative markets for free, without paying any amount of money as rent for the shops they are going to occupy. 

The Kumasi Mayor said for now, traders at the Central market will only be relocated when Phase two and three and assured store owners that upon completion of the market, they would be given the first option for the stores before any other consideration.
 
According to him, transport operators at the Kejetia lorry terminal would equally be relocated to various sites which include the old race course, Afia Kobi market and Sofoline. 

Mr. Bonsu emphasized that legal owners of the buildings that would be affected would be compensated. 

He said the processes are being pursued to have a holistic valuation of all such properties. 

To ensure the success of Phase one of the project, the Kumasi Mayor said the KMA had started with the publicity and sensitization campaigns, with the Assembly recently meeting with executive members of the Central Market Traders Association, the Transport at Kejetia among others to sensitizes them and also seek their inputs and support for the project. 

GBC