Is The $298 Million Kumasi Market Project Necessary?

What exciting news it was to read about the construction of a $298 million "ultra modern" market, which will include 45,000 shops and a number of vehicle stations. Exciting it appears because this project would increase the number of shops by 33,000. In the absence of project details, the quantities and capacities of the other facilities are not known. That notwithstanding, what make this project worthwhile and important is the number of "small" businesses, and by extension an increase in employment, it can create. The only question is how static or progressive would these potential businesses and jobs be?

The question as to whether CPP, NDC, NPP or PPP sympathizers will benefit from the market project diminishes in importance in my opinion. In the final analysis, all the shops will be leased out and the requisite employment generated, irrespective of the shop owners political affiliation. There are many potential advantages to this project. It could modify the city center. It could beautify the center of the city. It could make the entire city vibrant. This project could do a whole lot of good for the city, region and country. So the question is not what good this project, when completed, could potentially do for the city, region and country. The question is that is this project what the city and region need?

The city urgently needs a lot things. So once again, is this project what the city and region urgently need? This reminds me of when the alumni of a Ghanaian secondary school were debating the need for more dormitory accommodation. Contributions were made and the new dormitory was constructed to help address the lack of boarding rooms. The interesting thing is that there were no considerations for the expansion of the dining hall, classrooms and assembly hall, among other facilities and amenities. The analogy to the impact of this project is the corresponding effect of the project on infrastructure of the city.

As with all discussions, there were other suggestions regarding how best the contributions from the alumni of the secondary school could better be used to meet the urgent demands of the school. Was the dormitory the most urgent need for that secondary school, bearing in mind that the supporting facilities and amenities were not available and that the needed funding for the supporting facilities and amenities was going to be harder to come by. This is not to appreciate the construction of the dormitory, but was that the most important need?

Let's turn our attention to the needs of the city and the region. Is the construction of a larger market in a location that is already congested and lacking the needed infrastructural support the way to go? Are there other things that could be more beneficial to the city and enhance its future growth? And the answer is yes. But before getting to what others will deem as the the pressing needs, allow this digression.

In the mid to late nineties, some colleagues of mine wanted to bring voice mail systems to then P&T phone systems. This was going to provide voice-mail services to land lines, which.were the most prevalent at that time, and by extension to cell phones. The managers at P&T after talking for a prolonged time to the guys who wanted to make these investments, "finally" realized that the new phone system they were getting from Malaysia had voice-mail capabilities built into it. The financial benefits from the voice-mail project were going to be reaped entire by the P&T or the "new partners" of the P&T. Of course, P&T never installed a voice-mail system. As a result, the country did not get the technological and societal benefits from the use of voice mail. It wasn't until a few years ago that the cell phone companies in the country started making voice mails available to their subscribers. A decade and a half wasted for greed and lack of foresight.

Now to the proposed "ultra-modern" market for Kumasi. Are there other projects that could be more beneficial to Kumasi and the Ashanti region? There are several that come to mind. But the ones that are more glaring are the construction of the inland port and an international airport. These ports would create new industries, and thus jobs, for the city and region. The new market will not create new industries. These ports will also decongest the other port cities of Accra and Tema. They will also greatly benefit the central and northern parts of the country. The lack of discussion on these others needs of the city begs one question. Was the larger benefit of the city and region considered, and if so who did these considerations?

Why would anyone choose a market place over an inland port and an airport; especially, when the ports combined cost is less than the market? The cities of Dallas and Chicago grew to where they currently are as a result of having an inland port and an airport. Better shopping centers will come up as a result of ports. Ghana will develop faster with international airports at Kumasi and Tamale, and I know, at least, Kumasi is ready for international air traffic. This leads to the inquiry as to who is thinking for the larger good of the city and region? What are the members of parliament for the region doing to enhance the growth of the region? Are those making decisions for the city and region really thinking about the true progress of the area? The decisions made for the city, region and country make you want to pull your hair out.

As much as this project is appreciated from President Mahama's Ndc government, I think an International Airport and Inland port that was started during the Npp administration at Boankra near the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST) should have been a better priority to fulfil this administrations better Ghana agenda.

Justice Sarpong

(CARDINAL of TRUTH)