Local Govt Minister Announces Resumption of Kejetia Market Phase II Project in October

Construction works on the Kejetia Market Redevelopment Phase II will resume in October this year, towards its eventual completion.

This followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and the firm executing the project, Contracta, paving the way for a roadmap towards the completion of the long-awaited project.

The engineering component of the project is currently at 99 per cent, procurement at 83 per cent, while overall construction works are currently at 68 per cent.

The facility has more than 7,000 stalls, a space for over 3,000 traders to engage in tabletop trading, 120 food courts, and a parking lot for 600 vehicles, among others.

The Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, made this known during a stakeholder engagement on the completion of the project last Sunday.

The engagement, which was attended by representatives of various market groups and the leadership of Contracta, provided an opportunity for the officials to engage the traders on efforts being undertaken to complete the project.

Financing
Mr Ayariga noted that under the original contract, there was still a balance of €38million of the contract that had not been utilised due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which stalled the project.

He indicated that the Minister of Finance was restoring it, but because of the delay in the implementation of the project, the cost had also increased, saying, “We also have some money that we have collected from the traders for phase one in the account”.

Assess works
The Project Consultant, Tony Yeboah Asare, said the contractor would, upon returning to site, assess the outstanding works and draw up a timetable for completing the project.

“As far as construction is concerned, the project can be completed within a year and a half”, he said.

Original Idea
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Richard Ofori-Agyeman Boadi, said the original plan was to generate sufficient funds from Phase One to finance the construction of Phase Two, with proceeds from Phase Two used to fund Phase Three.

Unfortunately, he said the funds raised from Phase One could not fund Phase Two, compelling the government to contract a €248 million facility to fund the project, and added that a lot of lessons had been learnt from Phase One, which would impact Phases Two and Three.

Source: Graphic

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