The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has said the provision of decent accommodation for the police remains a top priority of the government.
Mr Amissah-Arthur, who is also the Chairman of the Ghana Police Council, gave the assurance when he handed over four blocks of flats to the police administration at a ceremony in Accra yesterday.
Shortage of residential and office accommodation for police personnel has for years remained a major challenge of the Ghana Police Service which has been adopting various measures such as collaborating with the private sector to find a solution to the problem.
The handover of the houses built at the Cantonments Barracks in Accra, brings to seven such facilities, comprising 42 apartments for police officers. The latest blocks of flats contain 24 apartments.
Vice-President Amissah-Arthur said the next meeting of the Police Council would focus on improving on accommodation for police personnel.
He said the Police Administration had on its drawing board a major project which was aimed at providing 2,000 units of houses for its personnel.
“Even as we wait for this major project, we will examine at the next Police Council meeting the improvement of accommodation and the provision of quality accommodation for police officers.”
For the sustainability of the flats, he urged the police personnel who would occupy them to ensure its maintenance, while the police administration also pursues a regular inspection of the place. MoU in 2008
The Director General of the Technical Division of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Frank Adu-Poku, said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the project was signed between the police and private investors, Gold Key Properties and Alema Properties Limited, in October 2008.
The three-phased project, he said, comprised the construction of the seven-block modern housing unit to replace 22 old bungalows, development of the Cantonments police station with office accommodation for the various units of the service and the redevelopment of the available land for commercial purposes.
He pleaded with the government to enter into more agreements with private investors to develop land for the police such as those in Accra Central and Airport, to reduce the accommodation problem facing the service. Replacing old bungalows
The Director of Gold Key Properties, Mr Joseph Torku, explained that the company was tasked with “mobilising financial and technical resources for the replacement of the 22 dilapidated bungalows”.
He expressed interest in venturing into more of such projects with the government to solve the housing needs of public workers. Tour of Police Hospital project
Later, Vice-President Amissah-Arthur toured the £4 million police hospital redevelopment project aimed at improving healthcare delivery in the metropolis.
The project, which is being undertaken by the International Hospitals Group on a turnkey basis, was started in 2003 but work was halted at a point as a result of lack of funds.
The local contractor, Mr Harry B. Sintim-Aboagye, promised the Vice-President that the project would be completed on schedule in April 2016.
He said adequate funds had been secured for the completion of the project on schedule.
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