“We will start a feasibility study with a plan to build a new city” – Mahama

To relieve the increasing traffic in the capital, National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer John Dramani Mahama has promised to start a feasibility study for building a new city outside of Accra.

Prior to a Tuesday, May 28, 2024, meeting with the European Union Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Mahama presented his idea for a new growth pole that would generate thousands of employments before and after construction.

Accra will continue to be the capital, but some government ministries, departments, agencies, and financial institutions need to be moved to the new city in order to relieve congestion in the metropolis, according to Mahama.

“We will start a feasibility study with a plan to build a new city,” Mr. Mahama said.  “Accra is getting grid-locked, the time has come for us to move some parts of the government services out of Accra.

Mahama envisages the future city spanning three regions—Greater Accra, Eastern, and Volta—and located near the Volta Lake. “Accra will continue to be the capital, but we will move part of it outside. There is land on the Accra Plains and there is land on the other bank of the Volta Lake and all that,” he added.

“Already, we are going to have a port terminal at Mpakadan to move cargo to the northern part of the country,” he noted. “There is a lot of land there, and we can move some of the ministries, agencies, and departments out of the city to decongest Accra.”

Mr. Mahama also acknowledged that the project would be a long-term project spanning 20 years.

“Because, Accra has expanded to its limits, the way it is going if we are not careful it will be difficult to continue to manage it as a viable city and so we will start the plan, and the design design and the feasibility. I believe that this will be a project that will take 20 years to fulfill but we need to start somewhere and so we will start and others will come to continue from where we leave off”.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com