The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has embarked on a major endeavor to give new identification numbers to all houses and name all streets in the metropolitan area. The objective of the exercise is to make residential address identification in the metropolis easier, and to assist the AMA to distribute bills and collect revenue.

In an interview with Metro Mail yesterday, the Coordinator of the House Numbering and Street Naming and Identification Project, Dr. James Awaitey, said the AMA realized that the existing house numbering system the city authority inherited, made it difficult for people, as well as the assembly, to locate houses in the metropolitan area. The former system did not offer simple directions to specific properties and houses because street names were not incorporated in the addressing system of the city.

Dr. Awaitey, who is also the Metro Budgeting Officer said the assembly's efforts towards revenue mobilization was frustrated by the complex nature of the former system. Revenue collectors found it difficult to distribute bills or collect revenue such as property rates for the assembly. "Consequently, the assembly has lost huge sums of money that could have been used to finance some of the development needs of the city," said Dr. Awaitey.

In March of 2001, the AMA decided to renumber properties and identify names of streets using the civil numbering system. By this system street names are identified and properties along that street are numbered by giving odd numbers to houses on one side and even numbers on the other. According to Dr. Awaitey, "after this has been done, identification of such properties becomes very easy, and they can be located by the numbers and street names assigned to them." For example, a house with a number B123/ 45, under the new system, may become - Number 10, James Street, New Town. This is internationally acclaimed as the most efficient addressing system.

Dr. Awaitey said the AMA is seeking to further improve on the system by implementing a Zip Coding programme that would make much easier to locate a place, and also make service delivery such as courier, newspaper distribution to subscribers and other door-to-door activities in the city more efficient. Some of the areas where the exercise has been done include, Tesano, Dzorwulu, Cantoments, Labone, Dansoman, Mataheko, Adabraka, Kokomlemle, Achimota, Odorkor, Kaneshie, Osu and East Legon.

The Project Coordinator said, "unfortunately the exercise has not been completed yet, but the AMA is already facing serious problems from some property owners. Some of them do not realize or appreciate the importance of the exercise, and have started defacing the property numbers and street names on their walls." He said during occasions like funerals and parties, some of the houses are painted together with the inscriptions on the walls.

"Therefore, the assembly would like to advise property owners to desist from such acts of indiscipline of painting over the numbers and street names on their walls or face prosecution," Dr. Awaitey said. Where they need to paint their house, he said, the numbers and street names should be rewritten with clearly visible paint. In view of the huge cost of undertaking the exercise, he said property owners should bear with AMA for the current mode of writing on the walls.

Phase Two of the project that will cover the zip coding aspect, will include the embossment of numbers plates in the walls to make it permanent. The project coordinator called for the maximum cooperation of everyone in the metropolis to assist the AMA to improve identification of properties for the convenience of residents and visitors alike.