AGBOBLOSHIE KAYAYEI GET ACCOMMODATION FROM ZAKMUS
Editor/ Publisher: Bismark Oppong
Zakmus Enterprise, a construction firm, has put up a dormitory for head porters (Kayayei) in Agbogbloshie.
The company has also constructed an ultra-modern bath house and public toilet for the Agbogbloshie community in the Central Business District of Accra.
The storey building, which cost about GH¢500,000, was inaugurated over the weekend.
The 40-bed porters’ dormitory attached to the facility offers affordable accommodation to the Kayayei to protect them from the dangers of sleeping in the open.
The Agbogbloshie project brings the number of such facilities built by Zakmus Enterprise to eight, and are located in deprived communities in the Central and Greater Accra regions.
The project is part of a private sector initiative to support the government’s efforts to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 relating to sanitation for underserved communities.
It is also to complement the government’s plan to build a 600-bed hostel for the Kayaye.
The Deputy Minister for Defence, Major Derek Oduro (rtd), in his remarks as the Guest of Honour at a ceremony to commission the project said: “This beautiful edifice will go a long way to bring relief to our brothers and sisters who do business as kayayei, traders and customers in this place.
“Everything is security. If we improve sanitation and provide decent accommodation for those on the streets, then crime will also go down,” he stated, before moving to cut the tape to inaugurate the facility.
He commended Zakmus Enterprise for contributing to the SDG on sanitation. He noted: “Sanitation is such an important matter that everybody in this country must be concerned about.”
According to him, large numbers of people flock into the cities of Accra, Tema and Kumasi without sufficient accommodation, explaining that “these people then live in wooden structures, kiosks and concrete houses, with no toilets and baths in them.
These people, therefore, result to open defecation and disposing of refuse in the open, causing sanitation challenges for the city authorities,” the Deputy Minister said.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Zakmus Enterprise, Zakari Musah Kobina, indicated that he put up the facility to help solve the accommodation problem among the Kayayei especially, and also to tackle open defecation.
He stated that the users would have to pay a fee of one Ghana cedi daily to sleep in the dormitory, and fifty pesewas to use the toilet.
The spokesperson of the Kayayei, Hajia Adisa, urged them to be of good behaviour and keep the facility clean.
Story by Carlos Afanou
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