Kotokuraba Traders To Be Relocated

About 1,178 stores have been constructed by the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly (CCMA) to accommodate market women at the old Kotokuraba market to pave way for the construction of a new ultra-modern market complex. The stores, which are about 95 per cent completed, will be ready by December this year for use during the period of the construction of the Kotokuraba Market. Inspecting the project in Cape Coast last Wednesday, the Central Regional Minister, Mr. Aquinas Tawiah Quansah, said the market would accommodate about 1,178 out of the total of 1,600 traders while a permanent structure would be established to cater for the rest. The regional minister therefore advised the beneficiaries who are solely market women to cooperate with government for the project to be successful. He added that the traders should not play politics with the project saying �it is not politics that will move the region forward but positive attitudinal change.� At a short interactive section with departmental heads of CCMA, Mr. Quansah appealed to them to help make Cape Coast and the Central region the toast of all other regions. His vision for the region, he said, is to make it one of the richest in the country. �My priority is to make the region an industrial hub to make it one of the richest,� he stated. He added that he wants to make the region the hub of toothpick production That, he explained, was due to the abundance of bamboo in the region while he also hinted that plans were underway to make the North Ola area in Cape Coast a light industrial area. �I have also tasked the Lands Commission to look for a suitable area to site a heavy industrial facility for the region to commence the manufacturing of products such as fruit juices and so on,� he stressed. The minister who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mfantseman said from next year, people will see development in the region, adding that consultations are on-going with the chiefs to make the Fosu Lagoon a mariner to add up to the tourism potential in the region. He revealed that all structures around the lagoon including the Metropolitan Hospital and Nurses and Midwifery Training College will be demolished to pave way for expansion for the mariner which will in turn create jobs for the youth in the area. He therefore charged the people to put all hands on deck and embrace anything positive that comes to the region.