The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, has said the Regional Co-ordinating Council (ARCC) will at the end of March launch a face-lift programme for the Kumasi Metropolis.

It will involve the floral beautification of the metropolis to restore its lost glory as the "Garden City" of West Africa, and the provision of good sanitation and streetlights. The Regional Minister announced this when he met the press in Kumasi on last Saturday night.

Additionally, he said the pace of development in the region would be accelerated through the provision of health, education, potable water and electricity.

"In this connection, heads of departments responsible for pre- and post-contract administration will be required to sit up and work honestly while contracts will be awarded to only qualified, competent registered contractors and not mere party card holding faithfuls," he added.

Mr Boafo said specific projects to be tackled by his administration will be the reactivation of the GIHOC Footwear, GIHOC Fibre company, the Lake Bosomtwe Development programme and the Fumesua Inland Port project to create more employment avenues for the unemployed.

He pledged to undertake investment promotion activities to attract foreign investors, including Asantes resident abroad, as well as local investors to come and do business in the region.

"Ashanti Region is endowed with tremendous natural and human resources. Therefore, it should lead the way to President John Agyekum Kufuor's promise of Golden Age of Business in Ghana," he added.

Mr Boafo noted that, to move the region forward requires the co-operation and support of the media.

Mr Boniface Ablekpe, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, assured him that the media would do its best to project development programmes in the region.