President Nana Akufo-Addo has cut the sod for the construction and redevelopment of the Takoradi Market, popularly called Market Circle.

As part of his two-day tour in the Western Region, the President on Wednesday said, “I am particularly happy that this project, which is dear to my heart, is going to commence under my presidency”.

Addressing the gathering, the President noted that, over the few years, government had rolled out policies and interventions that have affected the lives and livelihoods of all Ghanaians in all parts of the country.

“We have expanded infrastructural developments in all regions of the country, and the West Region will attest to the following: construction of the Western Corridor railway line; construction of Essiama-Nkroful road; expansion and modernization of Takoradi Habour; construction and asphalting of inner-city roads in Sekondi-Takoradi and Tarkwa; and expansion of infrastructure in senior high schools across the region,” he said.

The construction of the Takoradi Market Circle is a €48 million project, which is being financed by an export credit from Deutsche Bank S.p.A Italy, with export credit guarantee support from SACE, the Italian Export Guarantee Agency.

It will be undertaken by Messrs Contracta Costruzioni Italia SLR and will be completed within 30 calendar months.

It will have the following 2,408 stores; 33 restaurants and food courts, bulk breaking areas, visitors parking, union offices, police station, fire station, post office, clinic, administrative offices, waste separation dock, and changing rooms for staff.

Indeed, the redevelopment of the Market and its associated infrastructure will yield the following benefits: address the underlying cause of fire outbreaks through appropriate specifications, including providing fire detection and combatting systems; upgrade of the drainage system to alleviate flooding and unsanitary conditions; improve social infrastructural facilities such as the toilets, covered drainage networks, and health post; and improve waste collection and disposal.

Additionally, the President indicated that the project, once completed, will reduce traffic congestion in the surrounding areas of the market by providing on-site bulk breaking facilities and taking such activities off the main Market Circle Road; increase in trading activity due to introduction of visitors parking within the Market Circle; increase the number of rentable shops in the City; and reduce number of vehicular and human points of conflict and congestion around the central business district in the metropolis.

According to President Akufo-Addo, it will “create between 400 to 500 direct jobs and between 1,000 to 2,500 indirect jobs; reorganise all the traders in the market, and formalize the informal economy of the central market; and improve safety and security”.

He, thus, urged the contractor to complete the project on time and on budget, and appealed to the traders and shoppers, currently in the central market, to provide a congenial working atmosphere for the contractor, to enable it deliver the project on time.