Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, said uniformed personnel would be deployed to the area to commence the process.

[contextly_sidebar id=”aRRoFQ3o9R5kdU8Z2UfOtOI4VODpXCCu”]“The company that we have engaged the services to execute this, I am aware that they will start operating [today, Tuesday] in the Adabraka enclave,” he stated.

Last week, the AMA served notice to businesses within Accra of its intention to charge them for using specific streets that will be earmarked for parking of vehicles.

Car owners are expected to buy a sticker for GHc8 to allow them to park on designated spaces along the streets in the metropolis, and subsequently pay an amount of GHc4 every day per vehicle.

Other guests visiting companies who park in those allotted spaces and do not have the stickers will pay GHc2 for every two hours.

The letter to the companies, which was signed by the Metro Coordinating Director, Sam Ayeh-Dartey, said the Assembly had granted private firm, Messrs Colums Park Investment, the right to collect the monies for “on-street parking” within the Adabraka area in the Osu Klottey sub-metro beginning January 2018.

Levy to extend to Osu

Mr. Adjei Sowah assured that adequate studies have been carried out before the rolling out of this programme.

He also said, “at the moment, we are still doing the studies at Osu. When we finish, we will extend the services also to Osu.”

Failure to comply with the stipulated directives will result in charges significantly higher than the daily levies.

“Once you fail [to pay the levies], towing vehicles will tow your vehicle, and once we tow your vehicle to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly yard, the charges are going to be a bit higher,” the AMA boss warned.

Resistance from Adabraka car owners

But some vehicle owners at Adabraka have vowed to resist the levies which they consider too high.

According to them, they AMA’s levy is unnecessary, considering that they already pay other tolls imposed by the assembly.

We’re open to negotiation – AMA

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly [AMA],  however says it is open to some negotiations with companies within Adabraka that may want to offer some relief to their workers or patrons when the collection of on-street parking levy starts.

The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, noted on Eyewitness News that even the Ghana Revenue Authority [GRA] office in Adabraka, had written to the Assembly for some reprieve.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Metropolitan Chief Executive of the AMA, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, noted on Eyewitness News that even the Ghana Revenue Authority [GRA] office in Adabraka, had written to the Assembly for some reprieve.

[contextly_sidebar id=”CsE5y1b1HiybTY9aPtq4S67FOP8Dcnit”]”Our offices are wide open and they are serving the people of Accra. We are serving the various institutions, so once you come with genuine concerns, we can always negotiate with you… I know that the Ghana Revenue Authority had written to us that they are appealing to us to waive it for them because they are a government institution so we are looking at it,” the AMA boss noted.

The AMA will begin the implementation of the levy today [Tuesday], and as things stand, Mr. Adjei Soway stressed that “if you have a company with multiple vehicles, you have to pay for all of them… If you have a company with about four or five vehicles, you have to pay for all.”

Resistance from Adabraka car owners

The move has bee met with some resistance with some vehicle owners at Adabraka expressing their displeasure with the levies.

According to them, they levy is unnecessary, considering that they already pay other tolls imposed by the AMA.

But Mr. Adjei Sowah insisted that “we are only saying that once you don’t have [a parking facility], we are providing you with the facility, pay for it and I don’t think that is a problem.”

Background

Last week, the AMA served notice to businesses within Adabraka of its intention to charge them for using specific streets that will be earmarked for parking of vehicles.

Car owners are expected to buy a sticker for GHc8 to allow them to park on designated spaces along the streets in the metropolis, and subsequently pay an amount of GHc4 every day per vehicle.

Other guests visiting companies who park in those allotted spaces and do not have the stickers will pay GHc2 for every two hours.

The letter to the companies, which was signed by the Metro Coordinating Director, Sam Ayeh-Dartey, said the Assembly had granted private firm, Messrs Colums Park Investment, the right to collect the monies for “on-street parking” within the Adabraka area in the Osu Klottey sub-metro beginning January 2018.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Street parking levy: We’re open to negotiation – AMA boss appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to them, they levy is unnecessary, considering that they already pay other tolls imposed by the AMA.

[contextly_sidebar id=”RlbbiVhPznFoJ2GoJsYNyvpBt9rnmg53″]The Accra Metropolitan Assembly [AMA], in a letter last week, served notice to businesses within the metropolis of its intention to charge them for using specific streets that will be earmarked for parking of vehicles.

Car owners are expected to buy a sticker for GHc8 to allow them park on designated spaces along the streets in the metropolis, and subsequently pay an amount of GHc4 every day per vehicle.

Other guests visiting companies who park in those allotted spaces and do not have the stickers will pay GHc2 for every two hours.

But some vehicle owners have kicked against the plan.

“How do you expect me a business owner if we have about 10 workers and they all own cars, are we expected to pay 4 cedis for each to the Assembly? If you want to generate revenue for the Assembly, there are more creative ways of doing that than choking the few ones who are still honouring their tax obligations,” a vehicle owner told Citi News.

“We are not going to allow this. This is daylight stealing. We will not tolerate it. I will not pay,” another vehicle owner said.

But the Metropolitan Chief Executive for Accra, Mohammed Agyei Sowah, has justified the move, saying funds realized from the levy will be used to maintain roads in the capital.

He told Citi News that “the whole essence of having an on-street parking is to create order that these are places designated for parking and you pay for it. When we get the money, we use the money to ensure that we maintain the streets of Accra.”

AMA to charge cars Ghc4 daily for on-street parking

Before this move, the AMA barely allowed on-street parking, and would often clamp down on cars in some areas for using available spaces for parking.

In other cases too, especially in the not-so-busy areas, cars park freely without any action by AMA security guards.  The Assembly only has a few designated and properly regulated parking spaces off the streets, for instance in the Central Business District of Accra, where cars are charged for going to pack there.

According to AMA, the new move is to “ensure sanity in the environs.”

The letter to the companies, which was signed by the Metro Coordinating Director, Sam Ayeh-Dartey, said the Assembly has granted private firm, Messrs Colums Park Investment, the right to collect the monies for “on-street parking” within the Adabraka area in the Osu Klottey sub metro beginning January 2018.

“The permitting regime covers all institutions whose parking is within the public right-of-way reservations, streets and lanes.”

“The Assembly wishes to bring to the attention of all institutions that parking on pedestrian walkways and areas designated as ‘No Parking’ are against the Assembly’s bye-laws and the Road Traffic Act 2004 (Act 683), and where these occur, the Assembly through its parking management partners shall take steps to enforce such situations,” the letter added.

AMA in the letter said it has adopted such a move as part of its transportation planning and development mandate under the Legislative Instrument 1961, and the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936).

It further said “all institutions who have parking needs will be engaged by the Assembly to find the best arrangements that also ensures sanity in the environs of their parking locations (both on-street and off-street).”

Road markings

The AMA has in recent times painted some streets within the metropolis allocating parking spaces.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Over  150 lives were lost on June 3, 2015, at the fuel station amidst a heavy rain and a subsequent explosion.

A lot more others also sustained various degrees of injury.

Speaking at the second anniversary of the June 3 disaster, officiated by Rev. Ernest Bruce of the Methodist Church at Adabraka, the Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, said government is committed to solving the major sewage challenges in the country.

According to him, government will partner some investors to improve infrastructure in the capital.

Wreaths were laid at the venue of the accident in memory of the departed souls.

Some of the survivors of the disaster are yet to fully return to normalcy as they are nursing their wounds, and also struggle to earn a living.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Memorial service held for June 3 victims [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to some residents [At Abossey Okai], the body of the man whose identity is it yet to be known, was seen floating in the gutter on Saturday afternoon.

One of the residents, Kweku Nsiah told Citi News that he saw the body of the man floating from the Kwame Nkrumah circle direction of the river towards their end.

“We saw his body in the morning we quickly called the police but they have still not been able to come for the body,” he said.

Accra devastated by floods 

Many parts of Ghana’s capital, Accra, was devastated by floods following one hour of rain on Thursday evening.

The situation made it very difficult for some motorists to continue their journeys due to the pressure of the flood waters on highways.

Residents in areas including Adabraka-Sahara in the capital, were left frustrated as they spent several hours into midnight salvaging their properties and scooping out rainwater that had flooded their houses.

Some residents told Citi News that they had no option than to leave the area and search for safe grounds.

The aftermath of the downpour left pools of water on some major roads including the Abeka Junction section of the Achimota-Accra road, Mallam Junction, as well as the Okponglo section of the Madina-37 highway.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Body of drowned man found in Abbosey Okai gutter [Photos] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The residents called the Fire Service after they had alerted the driver of the car that the engine had caught fire, but it took the service about 30 minutes to reach the scene.

In between then, one of the residents, Freddy Reindorf, came up with the bright idea of resorting to the drain to fetch some runoff water because there was no water running through the pipes, and no one in the community was willing to sacrifice buckets of water to quench the fire of a stranger’s car.

“I entered the gutter and started to quickly fetch the water running through the drain for them. We got about three buckets. Then one other resident helped us with buckets and we got about four or five more buckets,” Freddy recounted to Citi News.

The fire started out mild, but the residents could only do so much with the slow supply of water from the drain. After about 7 minutes, there was a small explosion in the engine as the fire proceeded to spread to the rest of the car.

When the fire service finally got to the scene, the car had already seen extensive damage from the fire and some residents feel this could have been avoided if the fire service had arrived on time.

Indeed, as the fire truck’s sirens and it approached the scene, the residents started to hoot at the fire service personnel, clearly vexed at the fact they were arriving on the scene some 30 minutes after the fact.

An eyewitness, Emmanuel Mantey, spoke to Citi News and voiced their concerns. According to him, he could hear people trying to call radio stations and the fire service as soon as the fire started.

“If you look at this location, I know there is a fire station at Makola and another one at Circle. Looking at the distance from there to this place, if you are driving, you should be here in 5 minutes.”

“It took the efforts of the neighbours to try and quench this fire. Indeed, the fire service is here and not a single drop of their water contributed to the quenching of this fire… There have been several complaints about the response rate of the fire service. As a nation, we should get serious and work on this thing because it could be someone else.”

“The pace at which we were getting the water to even pour on the car wasn’t that good. People were fetching the [drain] water to quench the fire. If we had a very good supply of water, this car wouldn’t have been in this state,” he narrated.

The fire service did a short inspection of the vehicle and spoke to the owner of the car, who wished to remain anonymous.

After making some notes, they backed their truck away and drove off without an explanation as Citi News tried to get a response to the resident’s complaints from them.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Adabraka: Residents quench fire with gutter water appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The exercise comprised free dental screening, eye care, general medical screening and Hepatitis B and C screening, as well as vaccination.

Some beneficiaries of the exercise under the age of 18 as well as those above 60 were registered onto the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The annual event, according to the Finance Director of Accra Brewery Limited, (ABL), Graham Lurie, fulfils the company’s objective of helping to create a thriving world where incomes and quality of life grows.

Mr. Lurie added that, ABL will continue to support the acceleration of growth and social development through its value chains with such health interventions.

“Health is an essential component in the development of every community. At Accra Brewery, creating a thriving world also means, investing in people but most importantly it is investing in physical well-being which fosters prosperity for all” he affirmed.

Mr Lurie assured the Adabraka community of ABL’s continuous support and thanked its partners in the exercise – Graphic Communications Group Limited, as well as Voltic (GH) Limited, for donating natural mineral water to refresh the beneficiaries.

The Hepatitis B Foundation and the Accra Diamond Lions Club also provided free services.

The Managing Director of Graphic Communications Group Limited, Kenneth Ashigbey, expressed his appreciation to the community for creating a peaceful atmosphere for his company to thrive, noting that, the free healthcare is an expression of gratitude to the people of Adabraka for being a kind host.

Over the past years, ABL has undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at supporting health care delivery in the Ghana, in its quest to augment government’s efforts to attain the nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The company has been investing in an annual free HIV/AIDS screening for residents of Agbobloshie.

It has for the third year running, been engaged in a campaign to prevent alcohol consumption among pregnant women in a campaign aimed at reaching 5000 women this year.
This is the eighth collaborative health intervention between ABL and Graphic Communications Group Limited, for the Adabraka community and its environs.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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