The Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim, has said the Government of Ghana intends to build 261 markets one for every district as part of the 24-hour markets initiative under its flagship 24-hour economy policy.
Answering questions before Parliament’s Committee on Assurances, the Minister noted that the technical timeline for completing the markets is being pushed well ahead of the contractors’ original schedule.
“The construction is supposed to take 36 months, but we’ve told the contractors that government doesn’t have 36 months to be in office,” he told the committee.
He added that government has asked for the project to be fast tracked, as it intends to fulfil its promise to Ghanaians before leaving office.
“Even though you have 36 months, we want you to be able to build it within 18 to 24 months, because we want to commission them before the contract Ghanaians signed with us expires,” he said.
Asked about the importance of the markets across the 261 districts, the Minister said the aim is to promote indigenous Ghanaian businesses. He cited malls such as China Mall and ShopRite, which operate extensively in Ghana but are foreign owned.
“Almost all our prime business lines are being taken over by multinational corporations and other foreign companies, so the Ghanaian businesswoman has been pushed out,” he stated.
He said government wants to address this, which is why the markets are being built.
“The state must create befitting places, at minimal cost, where our sisters and our mothers can go and do business,” he added.
Source: Desmond Adom/wontumionline.com