Project proposal Project description Ablekuma Central Municipal Assembly was created by a legislative instrument 2376 on 19th February 2019. Previously it was part of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly as one of the 8 Sub metros. The Municipal capital is Laterbiokorshie which is a highly urbanized mixed community with residential and commercial functions. The capital has close proximity to Accra, the national capital and has functional relationship with other key urban centers of Accra. The Municipality is an urban environment dominated by build environment and human ecology with very minimal natural ecology. The Municipality is highly urbanized. Municipality is constituted by Seven (7) Electoral Areas namely; Laterbiokorshie, Nmemeete, Mataheko, Gbortsui, Mambrouk, Adwenbu and Abossey Okai. As an urban municipality, it has contiguous settlements with no boundaries between localities. The Municipal economy is dominated by three sectors and subsectors comprising of commerce/retail trade, services and industrial sectors. The scale of economic activities is dominated by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in all the sectors and subsectors. As an urban commercial hub, there are key centers of commercial activities with petty trading and medium scale trading dominating economic activities. Trading is the main economic activity in the municipality with the Abossey Okai Spare parts market as the main hub for trading. As one of the large markets in Accra, the Abossey Okai Spare parts market has become a busy centre of commercial activity, attracting patrons and traders from all over the region and beyond and generating over 50,000 trips daily. The trading sector is the biggest sector in the Municipality, and generates the highest employment and revenues to the citizens as the Abossey Okai Spare parts market alone is a source of livelihood to over 25,000 people. There are several stores ranging from ‘table top’ to kiosks and walk in shops dealing in retail of diverse goods and offering variety of services. Also present are Fashion and design enterprises dealing exclusively in clothes as well as barber and hairdressing saloons. Currently, there are three substandard Markets in the Municipality which comprise the Zongo market, Shukura Market and Mataheko market. These markets have a very small land area comprising tables and a few stalls which is very insufficient for the community they are located in. Consequently, people within the Municipality are forced to patronize the Kaneshie Market which borders the Municipality. the Municipal Assembly has lost a lot of revenue as a result of the relocation, and people within the Municipality who took advantage of this market to trade have been left stranded and some many now doing their trades at illegal locations (pavements and pedestrian walkways). Nonetheless, there is a pressing need for an Ultra-modern Market in the Municipality given the high economic potential of the Municipality and the fact that it is a trading hub and situated at the heart of the Accra. This project will serve all persons within and around the Municipality and will also help give a lot of unemployed youth and women in the Municipality a viable source of income. It will also go a long way to take of all trading activities off the street and centralize it at a particular point. The Construction of a Three-storey ultra-modern market facility will be situated at the economic heart of the municipality which is the site where the Takoradi station and other taxi stations operate currently. This project will be aimed at providing a huge economic avenue for all persons within the Municipality and it will serve as a Municipal market as those existents currently are very small in size and area and cannot meet the demands of communities they exist at. The project is therefore necessary, especially after the relocation of the onion market which was a primary economic means for a lot of individuals in the Municipality within the value chain. The project will comprise of a variety of spaces comprising stores, Officers, Conference rooms, Pharmacies, Training Centers, Bus Terminals, Taxi and Trotro Station, Drains, Pavements, Bath houses and Toilet facilities. The dynamism of this market facility is aimed at meeting not only the economic needs but also a place of convenience for meetings of market unions and groups as well as pharmacies to serve as health facilities to give first aid attention and advice to all who visit the facility or operate nearby. Since market places are avenues for the spread of airborne and communicable diseases, the pharmacies are essential in combating and providing treating to these conveniently before proper medical care is sought. The project will have more than 200 stores for use by traders, 7 pharmacies at various points for convenience and to prevent overcrowding there, as well as 27-bathroom units and 30 toilet units in total on both floors. Scope of the Project Project Goal and Objective The main Goal of the Project is to Provide an Ultra-Modern Market Facility that meets the economic needs and service of individuals within the Municipality. The project goal is guided by specific objectives aimed at achieving project success which are as follows; To add a strong Internally Generated Revenue source to the Assembly. To provide job avenues for individuals and reduce the unemployment incidence in the Municipality. To meet the economic needs of people and provide alternative economic avenues. To provide a common market place for all traders within the municipality to market products. To provide a common market facility to all who live within the municipality. Geographical location The proposed ultra-modern market facility will be located at Mataheko in the Ablekuma Central Municipal Assembly. The land area to be allotted for the project is … square km. landmarks at the area include the Kaneshie overhead and the Takoradi bus terminal. It will be situated opposite the Kaneshie market with the main Busia highway being the boundary. Project Stakeholders & Target Beneficiaries The proposed project will have a capacity of more than 200 stores to be occupied for trading activities. The project will be implemented by Debagio Trading Enterprise, box Km 176, Kumasi with close coordination with the Municipal Works Engineer of the Municipal Assembly. The Municipal Participatory Project Monitoring team would as well be deeply involved in this project as a stakeholder Monitoring team to check the activities and progress of works quarterly. Due to the widely concentrated nature of this team, it would make up a clear representation of major community and institutional stakeholders and partners. This will in turn ensure success and community support for the progress of this project. Target beneficiaries majorly will be composed of women and unemployed youth in the Municipality who can explore this big opportunity to showcase and probe into economic activities for a sustained livelihood after the Onion market was relocated outside the municipality. Other beneficiaries will include traders operating on pedestrian walkways and pavements as they will be removed and given an alternative place to ply their trades to free the roads and walkways and prevent overcrowding in the environs around the site. Project implementation Some components of the projects need to be addressed before the Project will be implemented. Local Authorities such as the Municipal Chief executive and the Honorable Assembly members will be engaged intensively to adopt and form a part of the project as major stakeholders. Traditional and Religious leaders, Market queens, Youth groups and other economic groups in the Municipality will also be engaged to foster community ownership of the project given the enormous gain that will be benefited after the project is complete. Project timeline for stakeholder consultations, procurement and contract awarding will be pegged in 2023 with the whole month dedicated to intensive stakeholder deliberations. Stakeholders will be taken through the opportunities and benefits of the project and the need to play an active role in ensuring the project’s success. Construction of the project will begin in the third quarter of 2024 with the rest of the year dedicated to completing various processes and due diligences in accordance with the National Building Regulations 1996 (LI 1630) and the Ghana Building Code 20 Project work schedule Activity Stakeholders’ consultation Procurement and contract awarding Labor mobilization & materials procurement Site preparation Structure construction External works Completing various process and due diligence Jan.- June July -December 1st - 2nd quarter 3rd - 4th 2023 2024 2023 2024 quarter 1st - 2nd quarter 2025 3rd - 4th 2025 quarter Project Architectural design & layout (Structural design, technical specification and infrastructure requirement) The proposed three storey market design can be described as grid pattern. Grid pattern design can be expressed as a rectangular arrangement of shops that generally run parallel to one another with a circulation access in front of the shops. such a design provides consumers with flexibility and speed in finding out required product in a given store. Each block of shop will be designed to accommodate a row of shops both on its back and front oriented North and south with the two extreme ends of the block East and West left blank. The facility will maintain higher standards of hygiene, improved handling, more economical use of space and lower costs for heating or air conditioning with all operations confined to one building. In terms of structural design summary, there is a simplistic blend of glazing, steel and a concrete material giving the design a touch of modernism. Also, the choice of steel trusses and huge concrete columns gives a feel of structural integrity. The walls will be smooth and waterproof, clockwork of dense concrete blocks preferable for the main walls to provide a good base for smooth washable finish; exposed steelwork will be protected against corrosion and coating will be applied to prevent condensation. Steel reinforcement will be 40mm of concrete. Floors will be hard-wearing, non-porous and well drained. Ideally, a suspended ceiling is desirable for this kind of project due to its smoothness and unbroken Surface that can be cleaned easily. The design of the mall employs a combination of both passive and active ventilation systems. Thus, few open spaces in the food court zone employ passive system to aid natural ventilation, hence reducing energy consumed and also giving a sense of relaxation in this particular area. The markets also employ the barrel roof system to aid the escape of hot air from the interior spaces. Artificial lighting has been employed to the maximum in most spaces including the anchor shops, retail shops and mini mall. The consideration given to natural lighting is approximately 15% In terms of active ventilation system, the facility will use a central air-conditioning system with its high energy requirements provided by six high wattage generators of capacity 1000kva each to power the building due to electric power fluctuations. The facility will also have outdoor systems, such as the cooling towers, concealed in the large roof attics and gutters. Air-conditioning distribution ducts and other service ducts are well hidden in the ceiling spaces except at the subbasement level and service corridors where they are exposed rendering such spaces untidy. Generally, service rooms, pipes and other service gadgets will be well integrated into the structural and aesthetic components of the facility. Most service ducts will be concealed in the ceiling space, sub-basement level and cavities at the rear of the edifice. customer parking will employ a parking relation of 4-6 car/100m2 of retail space which produces the requisite area for a number of parking lots in a commercial complex. The staff parking will be located at north-western end of the sub-basement level of the edifice, whereas the service parking will be situated at the north-west end of the ground floor level and is closer to the anchor stores. The proposed total area for service floor parking is average 1125m2 with adequate circulation space of average 570m2 facilitating entry, exiting and turning. Other service facilities of the facility are service corridors of proposed width 2200mm which start from the service yard and branches to the various retail shops. These service corridors will house sanitary facilities and service cables in the wall recesses and cavities as well as the ceiling space respectively. Ramps will design to a gentle gradient of 0.8 % at the entrance and service yard. Also, a panoramic lift has been provided making the commercial complex very user accessible. waste generated will be dominantly cardboard used for packaging goods and sewage. The pieces of cardboard will be kept in wire mesh cages for disposal whereas sewage is channeled to the water treatment plant for recycling. The sewage treatment plant is planned to be located on the outskirts of the facility with the control panel pin-pointing at the frontage of the building. Metallic vent slits will be installed into the walls that enclose the generator rooms in order to aid convective cooling of the generators. Located at the top of the slit vents are the generator smoke spouts to direct smoke from the generators to the exterior space. Fire extinguishers, water hoses (spaced out at intervals of 5m) and smoke detectors will be located on the walls and ceiling material, respectively, to combat fire promptly. Fire escape staircases are planned to be positioned at fire prone areas such as the service yard and kitchen areas of the anchor shops. Proposed Installed sprinklers to cover a standard area of 30m2 /sprinkler to quench fire effectively. These will be mostly located at the sub-basement parking level. Also on this level are extractor fans to suck out smoke from any outburst of fire. Utilities The market will be divided centrally north and south by Busia highway with two main entrances, a parking lot near each of its two gates, with utilities that comprised of public convenience, restaurants, mini shopping mall, banks and disability friendly stairs. There are two main parking allotments mainly for customers, staff and service vehicles. The customer parking space is located at close proximity to the main entrance, enabling easier access to the facility. Below is the breakdown of the utilities within the premises; Ground floor Number First floor Number Second floor Number Stores 147 Stores 302 Stores 303 Pharmacy 2 Washroom 16 Auditorium 1 Restaurant 5 Stairs 7 Vocational 1 training center washroom 16 Conference 1 Washroom 16 Bar 2 Stairs 7 hall Mini shopping 1 mall Office 2 Stairs 7 Environmental And Social Safeguards In terms of sustainability, Since the Market Facility is going to be allotted to traders for economic activities, damages made and repairs needed which are not a setback after construction will strictly have costs settled by tenants in affected stores. This will be strictly enforced by the manager of the facility with those who do not adhere evicted from the stores. With the broad stakeholder engagements throughout the construction of the project and after, community ownership of the project will be prime and this will in turn ensure the continuity and sustainability of the project as major stakeholders will assume responsibility of issues as they arise and find proper ways to come to terms and settle them for the success of the continued project. Periodic multi-stakeholder monitoring of the will be encouraged so as to ensure that project environment is sound and safe and businesses assessed to ensure best conditions are made available for them to thrive. The success of implementing the project can be attributed to good management and collaboration with partner stakeholders. Risk management will occur if the Government will not hear and give priority on the clamor of current occupiers of that site that are to be relocated and the general public as a whole but take action for the greater good. Ethical due diligence will also be done in the form of evaluating the project to avoid mismanagement in the implementation report.
