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Opinions of Friday, 2 October 2015

Columnist: Mercy Adede Bolus

Idealistic vision of our city!

Opinion Opinion

There are too many dilapidated homes all along the coastal views of Accra, Cape Coast, Keta and many more. Families must try and let go and move on into the modern age. In the way the sooner families start thinking of how they could do things differently the better they could cash in on the profit it would bring to them. Presently, whenever anyone takes a walk along James Town there is not much to tourist’s attractions in these areas.

I wonder what the views would be to those who live there and have some history. Even so is there any Museum for tourist to visit around that coastlines? People are living under the shadows of the great events that happen around the old Sea view hotel and others. The hotel has been neglected for decades and desperately need a investors and developers the whole area.

How can the coastal attraction be exploited and manipulated and those dilapidated homes turned into a cash cow business with o develop homes into luxury flats over looking the sea.

Although many families who have homes around may be there and caught up due to financial hardship and lack of financial independence. Many of these people will never have considered having open discussions with relations and thinking more strategically. This could be done by working with investors who are ready to transform those prime areas with the most dilapidated building to the negotiating table for business.

They could let the developers build flats and they could own some of those flat for themselves free of charge. There are foreign investors out there looking for lands to develop in the cities. There is simply no land left for such developments.

The smart family homes could easily be sold off to investors willing to transform our cities.

What is the way forward?

It is simply by going to the estate agents and strike a deal with property developers. These families’ members may need to be united as a one unit rather than trying to outsmart each other. The long-term focus should be the goal for families to work towards. Thus allowing developers to secure their lands through leasing the land and securing a flat for themselves within that complex or other arrangement.

Those neglected building in our cities are not scoring any points to tourist attraction and must be demolished one by one. In fact these homes often are unpainted homes, broken windows, and general lack of regular maintenance needs to be turnaround.

These homes I expect do not comply with any health and safety regulations and must be demolished to give way to skyrise buildings that any city demands. This stance would effectively help to transform areas like James Town, Bukom and have strategised planning focus.