Accra, Sept. 17, GNA - The Mayor of Accra, Mr Alfred Vanderpuije, on

Friday asked private developers and investors interested in market

development in the Metropolis to present concept papers to the Accra

Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in two weeks for consideration. This, he said, would give the AMA the assurance that they were interested in a partnership to modernise markets to conform to the

Millennium City Initiative of the Assembly. Speaking in Accra to private developers and investors, he noted that the conditions of the city's markets left much to be desired and it was the duty of AMA to make markets safe and healthy. The initiative, he said, was to make all markets a one-stop shop for

residents so that they would not have to travel long distances to shop as well as decongesting the Accra Business Centre. Mr Vanderpuije asked the investors to be mindful of the provision of

light, improving security, eliminating unhygienic conditions and the

provision of lavatories, parking lots, stalls and shelves to eliminate the selling of food items on top of tables and the ground. "The health and safety of the public should not be compromised," the Mayor stressed. In designing the markets, he asked the investors and developers to interact with the market women to know their needs, as well as AMA to know exactly how they want each market to be. He gave an example of London Market in Accra and said it was the desire of the AMA to turn it into an Abattoir to do away with conditions at James Town and around the beaches, adding that the potentials of the markets were great so no investor would lose. The Social Investment Fund, he said, had taken the lead and had agreed to carry out works on Malam Ata, La, Osu and Tuesday and PWD Markets. Mr Sydney Casely Hayford, Financial Controller of Business in Ghana and Dr Patrick Quainoo of Patriq Green Ltd who spoke on behalf of the group, asked the Mayor to extend the time for them to do a thorough job. However, the mayor insisted that the two-week deadline was enough

for them to come up with something that would show that they were

indeed interested in the project, after which it would be taken to the

next level. They also requested the mayor to remove bottlenecks and

bureaucracies that often impeded the work of private investors, adding

that they were hopeful that the partnership would be with the AMA only. The Mayor replied that the partnership was between them and the

AMA but the Ministries involved would be duly informed.