DECONGEST CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (PAGE 29)

One of the biggest constraints facing the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis is how to ease the congestion within central business district.
The problem has been compounded with the recent commencement of work on the Old Glamour Lorry Station near the market circle opposite the Zenith Bank. Because of the ongoing works vehicles load on the streets around the market.
The old station was given to a private investor to be developed into a modern bus terminal but no provision was made for an alternate parking lot for motorists.
Under normal circumstances, before a contractor is given a contract to embark on a particular project, the said contractor should have included in his plans the provision of an alternative place to relocate or divert traffic to ensure that there is no obstruction.
The metropolis has been poorly planned, and therefore, there is no open place now where the metropolitan assembly team can readily move to develop into a modern station.
The peri-urban communities of the metropolis have a link to the metropolis; therefore, there is a serious demand for bus terminals and parking spaces for other private motorists.
The assembly has been left with no option but to introduce the outlawed mode of parking – that is on street parking - and this is creating problems everywhere. Sometimes motorists have to park on both sides of the road.
At present, more than 100 “trotros” park on the streets around the metropolis, which is not only causing problem for motorists, but also traders in and around the CBD with unending queues of vehicles that keep increasing and waiting for their turn to load.
Traders complain that commercial vehicles have occupied the streets thus denying their customers the opportunity to drive through to make purchases. “Sometimes we come to the market or shop, and wait forever, close and go home without making any sales. If they have relocated the drivers to the streets, they should have relocated us as well because we are all in the business of “from hand to mouth.”
A check at the assembly revealed that the traders have to get used to the current arrangement, since the reconstruction project would last for the next 18 months.
The decision to relocate them to the street for work to commence on the old station is not the best.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer for the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), Mr John Laste, acknowledged the problem associated with the on-street-parking arrangement where vehicles going to various destinations have to clamour for their passengers.
He said the biggest problem facing the metropolis was land, or space to develop into a lorry station.
“It will be difficult, but the assembly is doing everything possible to ensure that some form of sanity prevails under the circumstances.”
“We are searching through the metropolis to see areas where the assembly could reclaim and develop more and better social infrastructure for the public and definitely we have to take a hard decision to repurchase some properties, demolish them to make way for development of the metropolis,” he said.
“There is no doubt that population has increased, and the demand for social infrastructure will not be the same as it used to be some years back, and we have to find a way out,” he said.
He said the acquisition of land for development in Takoradi was not only a headache for the assembly but some corporate bodies who had expressed interest in building modern office buildings for themselves as well.
“We plan to buy some properties at transit quarters and those at vantage points for redevelopment after relocating the inhabitants,” he added.
Asked if they were aware the congestion within the CBD would compound after the relocation of drivers to the street, Mr Laste said there was no doubt about that, and that the problem was the attitude of the drivers and the commuters.
“When the drivers are moved to a place that is far from the main station, the commuters would refuse to patronise their services, then in the end the drivers will also move to the street corners to compete for the passengers,” he said.
The Public Relations Officer said if the people realised that the change was a difficult pill to swallow and was the only solution to the problem on hand, “we will be better positioned in our quest to develop with the support from the public”.
“I can tell you that in today’s development drive, the development agent and the beneficiaries have a role to play, therefore if the people would not change their attitude we will always find ourselves doing new things the same old ways,” he said.