Create new national capital — Dr Mustapha

Page 16, June 5, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayawaso East, Dr Ahmed Mustapha, has suggested the creation of a new national capital to ensure that Accra is decongested.
He stated that efforts by authorities of the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) to decongest the city would come to nought.
Alhaji Mustapha was contributing to a statement made on the floor of Parliament by the MP for Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, on the intended decongestion exercise to improve sanitation in the capital city.
Explaining his suggestion to the Daily Graphic later, Alhaji Mustapha cited the example of Nigeria and La Cote d’Ivoire where new national capitals had been created to decongest the old ones.
In his statement, Mr Chaie stated that that was not the first time that a new mayor of Accra had announced his presence with the decongestion and improvement of sanitation in the city.
“At the end of the day, it becomes a mirage and the situation is made rather worse. The tax payers’ money is thrown down the drain”, he said.
The MP stated that the future of the youth was bleak and there was therefore the need for bold and pragmatic decisions to be taken to save the situation, which politicians had failed to tackle head on.
Mr Chaie however, suggested that in taking such a decision, the mayor should create conditions which would enhance trading activities in the markets, collection of refuse in the city, installation of traffic and street lights to ease vehicular traffic and improve security of the residents.
He advised that bus stops should be created where necessary to avoid the illegal parking of vehicles while public education on environmental cleanliness must be sustained and bye-laws of the assembly must be enforced.
Mr Chaie appealed to traders, hawkers and the general public to do the most honourable thing by vacating all unauthorised places in the city to avoid the action to be taken by the assembly.
“Now is the time for the entire nation to tackle this menace once and for all so as to save our environment for today and the future”, he stated.
At yesterday’s sitting, the MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, raised an issue bordering on quorum which generated into a heated debate between members of the two sides of the House.
The mention of the celebration of June 4 during his submission brought the Majority Chief Whip, Mr E.T. Mensah, on his feet who said that the limited number of MPs in the chamber could be attributed to other factors and not the celebration of the June 4 anniversary.
When he caught the eye of the Speaker, the MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu-Ankomah, said that it was difficult for him to commute from Achimota to Parliament yesterday due to road blocks mounted by the police as a result of the June 4 anniversary celebration.