$300,000 Shaributu Mall In The Offing- Boye Laryea

Plans are underway for the construction of a $300,000 ultra-modern Shopping Mall to be named after the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Shaributu in the Okaikwei North Municipality.

The three story-underground facility to be built on a 2.04 acre land at Fadama Market in Accra when completed would among other things comprise of fire and police stations, parking space for customers, shops, clinics, pharmacy, enclosed rental spaces for social and public events, Day care centres and restaurants.

Mall

The Sheikh Shaributu Shopping Mall is also expected to accommodate more traders within the Municipality and other surrounding municipalities, enhance the socio-economic structure to help boost the economic activities of traders, provide sustainable source of revenue generation to the Assembly and provide improved, hygienic and safe environment for activities.

The Okaikwei North Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Boye Laryea made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with THE NEW PUBLISHER in Accra on the progress and changes of the Assembly on the sides lines of activities marking his first anniversary in office.

He said the Assembly would engage a private investor through Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement to execute the project through the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD).

According to him, the project falls in line with the Assembly’s Medium Term Development Plan for the period 2018 to 2021.

Cataloguing the achievements of the Assembly, the Okaikwei North MCE said the Assembly is not resting on it oars towards achieving its mandate.

“Over the past one year, we have been able to manage sanitation issues in the Municipality however, there is more room for improvement that’s why the least opportunity we have, we talk about sanitation. My target towards reversing the trend of insanitary conditions in the Municipality has been to go to schools to fix what went wrong” he said.

Mr. Laryea continued: “road network in the Municipality have not been left out of the development agenda of the Assembly, the Akweteyman road is ongoing, Korpevi storm drain project is under construction as well as the Kesseman market project while the construction of new dining hall for the Achimota Basic School is also nearing completion”.

The MCE said the Assembly is set to demolish and reconstruct the poorly constructed NDC Chips compound at Christian Village to a full mini hospital for use by residents in the vicinity.

In an answer to a question, Mr. Laryea was emphatic that the NPP would win the two parliamentary seats within the jurisdiction of the Assembly.

“The fact of the matter is that this Assembly has two Constituencies-Okaikwei North and Central, we are trying to look at it as a Municipality but not a constituency” the MCE noted adding that “we have a plan to get things done in a way to win the seats…As for the 2020 election there is no doubt that NPP will win the election, there’s no ambiguity about that”

Allow

Mr. Laryea said political interference is the biggest challenge to the execution of his mandate as MCE of the Assembly.

“Chiefs and politicians will come and plead with you on people’s behalf, it’s a big challenge coupled with the internal deficiencies, the staff not working the way you want them to” he argued indicating that “There are certain things as a political head you want done in a certain way and public servants do not get it. They don’t understand your drift”.

The Okaikwei North MCE however wants the freehand to operate.

“I will plead that people should just allow us to work instead of thinking that we have to listen to them all the time.”

He insisted: “This work, you need free hand to work, the inferences should not take center stage.  Everyone thinks you have to listen to him especially politically, you tend to be a bad person when you put your feet down at the end of the day and you may end up doing a shoddy work.”