It is always in my opinion that “There Is An Ant In Every Giant.”
The ant represents either of two things: One is negativity, as in being a bully and at the same time weak. The size of an ant makes it easier to be crushed. And the other is the orderly and hard-working nature of this insect, which makes it achieve results.
Goliath was a giant and had in him the negativity of an ant. Despite his size, that he used to bully anyone who came his way, he was crushed by David who comparatively was like a pygmy to him.
In Ghana today, there is a giant who is using his stature to bring out the positive nature of an ant to achieve positive things for society.
Hon Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, is a tall and heavily built man of a giant, and he has served notice that he is determined to extinguish unruly natures in his region. That is very laudable.
The Minister started off by clearing traders off from the space between the dual carriageway in the Kantamanto section of the Business District Area of the capital. That space was meant to be greenery for relaxation, but had been turned into a market square with makeshift stores springing up by the week.
Hon Henry Quartey has started something which is long overdue; tidying up the capital. His predecessors could not tackle this neither did the chief executives of assemblies within the capital, even though we were lately told that Accra was going to be the cleanest city in Africa.
The Minister has a very tall list to tackle; clearing traders on the walkways or pavements; provision of litter bins on every sidewalk for people to put their trash in; sealing of all open drainages to put a stop to people dumping rubbish in them; constructing of open and underground storm drains to drain away rain water which would have created floods; winning marshy lands and lands liable to flood to stop flooding; enforcing and maintaining traffic law and order and punishing unruly drivers, riders and pedestrians; enforcing of bye-laws that will mandate landlords and landladies to provide bathrooms and places of convenience in apartments they rent out.
Also public places of convenience must be constructed all over, especially at the beaches, market centers, bus terminals, and areas where lots of people usually gather.
The Hon Minister must also make sure that all the city roads are tarred with asphalt and all traffic lights in working order; the roads maintenance department must be made to always go and inspect the roads and make repairs where needed.
There will be the need to construct a circular road around the city so that those intending to move from say East to West will not have to pass through the city center but use the fast-lane circular road.
The Hon Minister Henry Quartey has a huge task ahead and he must be supported by all indigenes and residents in the Greater Accra Region. He should not only deal with Accra, but deal with every city, town and village in the region.
Two things are most important: clearing traders off the pavement or sidewalks, and bringing discipline among motorists.
Today the sidewalks have been turned into markets and shopping centers. This forces the pedestrians to compete with the motorists on the roads. People with disabilities have to also always force themselves onto the road at the mercy of motorists. And here accidents do easily occur.
Also the sidewalk stores conceal the bigger shops from the public, thus resulting in poor sales for people who will pay good taxes.
The indiscipline on our roads is above comprehension. The guiltiest are the motorbike riders who choose to ride anyhow irrespective of what the traffic laws state.
The other day, when posed with a question as to what the police and Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD) are doing about this, a senior police officer implied that nothing can be done when he said going after the motorbike violators of the traffic laws was very risky. In my opinion, this could be checked and sanity brought on our roads.
Larger and slower vehicles will choose to ply the inner lane which is for smaller and faster cars and this also clearly violates traffic laws. This must be checked and put to a stop.
As one of the high crime hotspots in the country, deployment of police and army at almost all corners at all times would be most appreciated.
Hon Henry Quartey, kudos to your efforts, however, there is a lot to be done if the ant in your giant structure is to be hailed as a positive one.
Hon Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
The post There is always an Ant in a Giant ; The Profile and Agenda of a Regional Minister appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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