Address challenges in Accra - Veep

Accra, May 23, GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has called on the city authorities to find solutions to problems militating against the development of the capital.

He said the problem of the rural urban migration and its attendant difficulty on the national capital must also be addressed.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur made the call when he received a delegation from the Global Alliance of Mayors, Microsoft Corporation and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at his office at the Flagstaff House.

The delegation which was accompanied by Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuje, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive informed the Vice President about the upcoming World Summit of Mayors planned for June1- June 4, in Accra.

The summit which is on theme: 'Economic empowerment between Africa and Diaspora' is expected to attract more than 10,000 delegates from 80 countries including African mayors and those from the Diaspora.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur expressed concern about the growing population of the capital as a result of increasing migration from the rural areas.

He said though it is good for government to improve facilities in Accra and other capitals however it is likely to attract more people from the rural areas from the cities and thus deepen the rural-urban dichotomy.

He therefore called for more investment in the rural area to stem the problem of the rural-urban migration.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur expressed delight that Ghana has offered to host the major summit of Africa mayors and those of the Diaspora since it would afford the country the opportunity to learn from the delegates how they had to manage big cities in Africa and abroad so as to improve the supervision of Accra.

He urged the AMA to continue with its intervention programmes in sanitation to make life better for the people in the capital.

Dr Djibril Diallo, Senior Adviser to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS and member of the Global Alliance of Mayors commended Dr Vanderpuje for being instrumental to ensure that Ghana was made to host this major summit.

He said the group chose Ghana because it is relatively peaceful and has a lot of history and culture in terms of slavery and emancipation.

Dr Diallo said the previous summit which was held in Colombia in 2011 attracted more 10,000 delegates from the countries that formed the Global Alliance.

He said the conference would provide opportunities for Ghana to strengthen its links with fellow Africans and Africans in the Diaspora in terms of exploring business prospects.

Dr Vanderpuje said the conference would be attended by city authorities from all over the world and chief executives from the local administration have also registered to attend.

He said the summit would be a platform for sharing best practices in terms of city management from all over the world.

He said the meeting would help the participants realise the need to create equilibrium in development between the capital cities and rural areas so that the people could have better lives no matter where they found themselves.

GNA