DON'T CONVERT JUBILEE PARK INTO CAR PARK (PAGE 18, NOV 23, 2010)

RESIDENTS in the Twin-City of Sekondi/Takoradi have expressed concern about the decision of the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) to convert part of the Jubilee Park into public car park.
They are of the view that the Jubilee Park which was constructed at over GH¢450,000 for national and public ceremonies would eventually be converted into a car park.
The STMA recently announced that it would convert part of the park into a car park in its bid to clear the metropolis of congestion.
The residents say converting the Jubilee Park for use by cars would defeat the purpose for building the facility.
Mr Kojo Nti, a resident, argued that like the Independence Square in Accra, the Jubilee Parks in the various regions should not desecrated fo any other purpose.
A search by the Daily Graphic indicated that, as a result of indiscriminate allocation and sale of land acquired by the government during the construction of the Takoradi Harbour, there is very little land left for any meaningful development.
Now that the need for land has become one of the biggest issues in the metropolis due to the discovery of oil in the region, there is an urgent need for the Regional Lands Commission and the chief of Takoradi to coordinate to ensure that some space is allocated for a car park.
Some residents are also questioning the rationale behind the sale of governement residential quarters for private people to convert into private offices and car parks at a time when the metropolitan authorities are having difficulty in finding appropriate space for a public car park.
There has been an increase in the number of corporate bodies and the population in the metropolis.
As a result, private homes in the metropolis have been converted into offices and shops and tenants are been ejected from their rented premises without prior notice.
This is because of the competitive offers coming from the corporate world to convert these buildings into offices, which are so enticing that landlords can not resist.
The tenants or the poor workers in the metropolis would have had some respite if the assembly had gathered some will to eject the tenants at the railways quarters which some companies have expressed interest in the place. Some of these companies have expressed their willingness to build alternative accommodation for the current occupants of these quarters.
At the moment, there are many applications, before the Metropolitan Assembly for the relocation of the people to ensure the construction of modern office includings multi-purpose car parks.
But successive Chief Executive failed to take these laudable initiatives to change the face of the metropolis.
Another issue of concern which is the talk among residents here is the provision of toilet facilities at the Takoradi Central Market. At the moment, there is neither a toilet nor urinal at the market, therefore most women who sell in the market and shops in the central business district have cups or chamber-pots which they use and empty their contents into gutters in front of their shops.
It is the hope of the residents that the assembly would find ways to solve the congestion problem rather than the conversion of the national symbol into a car park.