Sekondi, older and larger, was the site of Dutch Fort Orange (1642) and English Fort Sekondi (1682). It prospered from a railroad built in 1903 to hinterland mineral and timber resources. Takoradi was the site of Dutch Fort Witsen (1665) and has an important deepwater seaport, Ghana’s first, built in 1928.
Sekondi, now a joint city of Takoradi (Twin-City) being the third largest city in Ghana was the Capital of the then Western Region and had a lot of companies and activities ranging from fishing, trading, transportation (rails) and government operations among others until the pendulum was swinged to Takoradi.
However, since the Sekondi Central Market was put up in the 1900’s, it has not received any major facelift until recent times when it has gained the beckons of the two main political parties namely, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
President Akufo-Addo addressing residents of Takoradi, mainly traders and market women at a durbar held in his honour as part of his two-day tour to the region stated categorically that the Sekondi Sub-metro of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) will get a separate ultramodern market befitting the status of the Twin-City.
The President said, the project will form part of the second phase of the Takoradi Market Circle Redevelopment Project which he recently cut the sod for the commencement.
He announced that the redevelopment of the market and its associated infrastructure will limit the cause of predominant fire outbreaks through appropriate specifications including fire detection and combating systems and give a facelift to the drainage system to alleviate flooding and sanitary conditions.
Meanwhile, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Vice Presidential candidate of the NDC has also assured the chiefs of Sekondi that the next NDC administration will rebuild the Sekondi Central Market to enhance economic activities in the area.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang gave the assurance during an interaction with the members of the Sekondi Traditional Council as part of her campaign four-day tour of the Western Region.
Responding to a number of requests by the chiefs, she hinted that the upgrading of the Sekondi Central Market and roads in Sekondi-Takoradi has been catered for in the party’s manifesto.
She further explained that those projects would be undertaken with funding from the party’s 10 billion dollar “Big Push” for infrastructure development when it is voted into office in the upcoming December polls.
However, it must be stated explicitly that the Sekondi and its residents deserve better than mere rhetorics which seeks to secure their thumbprints in the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Political parties and their governments should be alive to their promises made to the electorates during electioneering campaigns and not to take them for a ride, while the electorates should also be discerning in their decision to make the right choice.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
