I’m not under
political pressure – says AMA Boss
Accra, July 23, Ghanadot/GNA
- Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive,
on Tuesday said he was under any political pressure to halt
the decongestion exercise in Accra as speculated in some
section of the media.
At the “Meet the Press” series held in Accra for the
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD),
Mr Vanderpuije told journalists, he had the full support of
government for the decongestion exercise to rid the
metropolis of filth.
“In fact as we speak now, the decongestion exercise is
ongoing, and I have the support of government,” he
announced.
He implored the journalists to embark on excursion
throughout the metropolis to ascertain the facts for
themselves.
He expressed dismay at the idea some people held the view
that the decongestion was only to demolish unauthorized
structures in Accra and insisted the exercise was mainly to
educate hawkers and street vendors.
“Before we started the exercise, we told you that people
need to be educated on waste management and sanitation; we
never mentioned that the education would stop after the two
week period,” Mr Vanderpuje recalled adding that
decongestion was not only about demolition but education as
well.
He said it was sad that two of last Friday’s flood victims
were swept away by the rain water because they slept in an
unauthorized kiosk sited near water way.
Mr Vanderpuije said government had identified education and
communication as effective tools for carrying out its policy
to the citizenry and promised the AMA would continue to make
use of the tools.
“We will continue to partner the media in order to educate
the citizenry on the need to clean our environment and to
rid it of filth.”
On the issue of some faulty traffic and street lights in
Accra, he said, government had embarked on a project to
provide communities such as Dansoman, Mamprobi, Chemu and
Russia (suburbs of Accra) with street and traffic lights to
check nefarious activities in the night.
“I don’t understand why we should still use electricity to
power our traffic lights and street lights, instead of solar
energy which is more reliable,” Mr. Alfred Vanderpuije said.
Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of LGRD, said government
had identified deepening local level democracy, accelerating
decentralization as well as local development and
empowerment as crucial ingredients for good governance.
On the Town Hall meeting concept, he explained it would
enable Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives
to hold periodic meetings with people in their communities
to educate them on development programmes and policies of
government.
“It would also enable people at the grassroots to demand
accountability from those at the helm of affairs in the
districts,” he added.
Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, the Deputy Minister of LGRD, said
government had embarked on the Urban Management Land
Information System (UMLIS) pilot project to properly
demarcate and number streets in the metropolis for easy
identification.
He explained that the pilot when replicated across the
country would provide useful data for easy revenue
mobilization and collection.
He added that an individual could easily locate places
across the country with just a click on the phone by the
help of the global positioning satellite under the UMLIS.
GNA
