Accra, Dec 5, GNA - Dr. Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, Chief Executive of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has pledged that efforts would be made to transform Accra into a modern city that could be able to meet challenges of contemporary times.

The Accra Mayor said he would ensure that Accra had regular water and electricity supply, clean environment and good roads, effective drainage system and good private and public toilets.

Dr Vanderpuije was speaking at the first joint four-day meeting between AMA and a delegation of the Earth Institute of the Columbia University, to deliberate on how to develop Accra into a Millennium city, which commenced in Accra on Saturday.

He said challenges were opportunities that could be turned into benefits and profitable events and noted: "we live in the 21st Century and we cannot deny our people development. AMA has a responsibility to drive the edges and bring development to our people"

The Mayor told the delegation that Accra had problems including AMA's inability to manage solid and liquid waste and said: "it is so embarrassing how liquid waste is disposed off in the country".

Dr. Vanderpuije said this resulted in the malfunctioning of sewage lines, constructed since Ghana's Independence, which needed to be replaced. He said AMA had a seven-point vision for Accra, which included the decongestion of the city and improving sanitation, housing, health and education.

Dr. Vanderpuije expressed worry about the standards of public schools, saying that the shift system impeded academic work and that 2000 more classroom needed to be built to accommodate more than 70,000 pupils in the metropolis.

He said that: "We are committed and will roll our sleeves and tap into your rich experiences to make Accra a city befitting it status" The Accra Mayor said that efforts would be made to ensure that the people in the city conducted themselves well, there was effective transportation system, modern hospitals and good housing programme to meet the accommodation needs of the people.

Led by Dr. Susan Blaustein, Co-Director of the Millennium City Initiative (MCI), the delegation would identify practical solutions facing Accra and examine the current situation in Accra as well as study its history.

Based on knowledge that would be acquired and thoughtful exchange, the experts would derive a set of policy recommendations that would capitalizes on both teams' wide ranging technical expertise, as well as newly available technologies to ensure that the development of Accra becomes a sustainable urban landmark.

The MCI is a set of activities initiated by the Millennium Project, which was inaugurated by the former United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan to recommend operational strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed upon by world leaders at the 2000 UN Summit. It is presently being implemented by the MDG Support Team in the Poverty Group of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Millennium Villages Project is working in ten sub-Saharan countries (now including Ghana) at the community level, to advice city authorities on how to implement an integrated set of rural interventions aimed at helping sub-subsistence farming communities to achieve the MDGs. The MCI is initially focusing on advising the cities in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), with a view to creating employment, stimulating domestic enterprise development and fostering sustainable economic growth.

Dr. Blaustein, who designed the MCI together with Earth Institute Director Jeffrey D. Sachs and Co-Director Karl P. Sauvant, said the MCI was an innovative set of intervention aimed at helping African countries to attract sufficient income generating investment to enable them to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

She said the partnership would work especially in the areas of health and education and noted that a pilot study on these areas had started in Kumasi with low cost intervention in neonatal mortality and early childhood education.

Dr. Blaustein said there was an investment component to the partnership.

"A New Accra for a Better Ghana", Campaign was launched by the Mayor on December 3 this year, where he announced that Accra had been selected to be transformed into a Millennium City by the Earth Institute of the Columbia University.

Under the project the Earth Institute will partner with the AMA to address some of the city's urban and environmental challenges and help residents achieve the millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The initiative is being directed by a development economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, who is expected to declare Accra as a Millennium City on January 15, 2010. The delegation would tour "Accra by night" on Saturday and "Accra by Day" on Sunday 6 December.