€48 million Takoradi Market Circle project to be completed in 30 months, Akufo-Addo says

President Akufo-Addo has assured the people of Takoradi that the construction and redevelopment of Takoradi Market, for which he has cut the sod so that work can commence will be complete within 30 months.

“Today, I am here to cut the sod for the construction and redevelopment of the Takoradi Market, popularly called Market Circle. I am particularly happy that this project, which is dear to my heart, is going to commence under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.”

These were the words of the president on Wednesday 19 August, when he cut the sod for work to begin.

Addressing the gathering, the president remarked that, over the past three years and eight months, the overnment has rolled out policies and interventions which have affected the lives and livelihoods of all Ghanaians in all parts of the country.

“We have expanded infrastructural developments in all regions of the country, and the Western Region will attest to the following: construction of the Western Corridor railway line; construction of Essiama-Nkroful road; expansion and modernisation of Takoradi Harbour; construction and asphalting of inner-city roads in Sekondi-Takoradi and Tarkwa; and expansion of infrastructure in senior high schools across the region,” he said.

The construction of the Takoradi Market Circle is a €48 million project. It is being financed by an export credit facility from Deutsche Bank SpA of Italy, with export credit guarantee support from SACE, the Italian export guarantee agency.

It will be undertaken by Messrs Contracta Costruzioni Italia SLR, and will be completed within 30 calendar months. It will have the following: 2,408 shops 33 restaurants and food courts, bulk breaking areas, visitors’ parking, union offices, a police station, a fire station, a post office, a clinic, administrative offices, a waste separation dock and changing rooms for staff.

Indeed, the redevelopment of the market and its associated infrastructure will yield the following benefits: address the underlying cause of fire outbreaks through appropriate specifications, including providing fire detection and combating systems; upgrade the drainage system to alleviate flooding and insanitary conditions; improve social infrastructural facilities such as toilets, covered drainage networks and a health post; and improve waste collection and disposal.

Moreover, President Akufo-Addo said, once complete, the project will reduce traffic congestion in surrounding areas of the market by providing on-site bulk breaking facilities and taking such activities off the main Market Circle Road; increase trading activity by introducing visitors’ parking within Market Circle; increase the number of rentable shops in the city; and reduce the number of vehicular and human points of conflict and congestion around the central business district in the city.

According to President Akufo-Addo, it will “create between 400 and 500 direct jobs and between 1,000 and 2,500 indirect jobs, reorganise all the traders in the market and formalise the informal economy of the central market, and improve safety and security”.

He urged the contractor to complete the project on time and on budget, and appealed to the traders and shoppers currently in the central market to provide a congenial working atmosphere for the contractor, to enable the company to deliver the project on time.

Click on the link below to listen to the president speaking to the people of Takoradi Market Circle.

Wilberforce Asare / Asaase Radio

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