The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 19th April 2023, commissioned the Kwabenya Police Barracks Project for the officers, men and women of the Ghana Police Service.
Addressing the gathering at the event, President Akufo-Addo stated that Government, since assumption of office in 2017, has launched several initiatives aimed at addressing Ghana’s housing deficit, which currently stands at some two million units.
Despite these measures, the President stated that rapid urbanisation continues to put immense pressure on our land resources, which has led to the degradation of prime lands, particularly in urban areas.
“That is why Government, through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Lands Commission, has embarked on an ambitious urban renewal programme, aimed at redeveloping prime areas in major cities across the country, including the Kumasi Sector 18, Marine Drive Tourism Development Project and the Takoradi Beach Road Redevelopment Scheme, amongst others” he said.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “This facility, which I am commissioning today, is the outcome of one such urban renewal programme, the Aviation City Redevelopment Project at the Airport enclave. It is to pave way for this redevelopment that these state-of-the-art facilities have been constructed, through a public-private partnership with Unique Development Company, for our hardworking men and women of the Ghana Police Service.”
The facility is made up of five hundred and fourteen (514) one- and two-bedroom self-contained flats, of which three hundred and twenty-two (322) have been completed and ready to be occupied. These units are fitted with modern facilities, and will serve as comfortable homes and afford a conducive working environment for police officers and their families.
In addition to the residential accommodations, this Project also provides a school with modern facilities, a clinic, an astroturf football field, a tennis court, a standby generator, a police station, a fuel filling station, a workshop enclave and other essential amenities.
This, the President said, “is further testimony of our unwavering commitment to provide decent accommodation and other facilities for our security personnel. Not only will this facility improve the welfare of our police officers, it will also enhance their capacity to serve our nation even more effectively.”
He, thus, urged the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the developer the Lands Commission and Unique Development Company, to work in earnest and complete the remaining one hundred and ninety-two (192) housing units, and other facilities that make-up the second phase of the project.
“I have been briefed that work is also far advanced on the construction of fifteen-bedroom self-contained flats for the Ghana Meteorological Agency, the Ghana Airport Company Limited, and the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA). The completion of these projects is crucial to the implementation of the Aviation City Project,” President Akufo-Addo said.
The President commended the developer, Unique Development Company Limited, for partnering with Government to put up these facilities for the Police Service.
“This, obviously, is a great step towards the redevelopment of the Aviation City enclave, which will give a positive facelift to our capital city. Let me assure you of my full commitment to the realisation of this Project towards the Ghana we aspire for. I am confident that, with God’s guidance and your support, we will achieve our vision of a developed, progressive and prosperous Ghana”, he added.