Accra, Jan. 16, GNA - Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) should use the declaration of Accra as a Millennium City to implement programmes towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A statement issued by the West Africa Media Network for Millennium Development Goals and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday by the Interim Chairman of the body, Mr Leonard Ackon, said efforts by the AMA to modernise the national capital should be guided by deliberate policies and plans to make the MDGs a reality in the city. The statement said the urban poverty level in Accra continued to increase making the slum situation a major development challenge to city authorities.

It said the struggle of city dwellers for access to clean water, quality health care, education and decent jobs kept increasing. It added that more than 5, 294 households in Accra do not have access to decent toilet facilities, adding that migration to the city continued to grow, thereby worsening the pressure of inadequate amenities.

It said this demanded that the AMA focus on promoting the MDGs by engaging corporate organisations, religious bodies, traditional authorities and individuals to outline a common agenda towards achieving the goals.

The statement said the network was of the opinion that the name change to Millennium City would not be a cosmetic affair but one that would be supported by relentless actions aimed at achieving the MDGs. "It is in this light that the network hopes that the AMA and its various departments will come out with a comprehensive policy leading to the attainment of the eight bound goals of the MDG's before 2015.