By Laudia Sawer
Tema, June 13, GNA – Mr. Abraham Lartey, a social activist based in Tema, has called on the TDC
Development Company Limited and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to provide children
within the communities with a playground to boost their health.
Mr. Lartey told the Ghana News Agency that all the children’s parks, which had hitherto provided
them with space to play were now being used for other activities, including drinking spots, to the
detriment of the children in the metropolis.
He said there were playgrounds at Communities Seven, Four, Eight, Nine, and Five, adding that all of them had disappeared, with only the one at Community Five remaining but in poor shape.
He said a children’s park would help reduce screen time for children, which experts had been sharing about its effect on the development of growing children.
He said when the parks were available, parents could easily monitor the whereabouts of their children within the community, adding that it also gave them the opportunity to easily access the behaviour of their children as they socialised with others to pick up any developmental issues.
Mr. Lartey added that other benefits of community playgrounds included engaging in physical and mental activities that would help reduce obesity and other lifestyle diseases among the young ones, who would grow up to take over the running of the communities from their parents.
He said that by playing together, they develop oneness and a sense of belonging to the community, which serves as an asset they could rely on in the future to develop their communities.
He, therefore, reiterated the call on the TMA and the TDC, who respectively had the mandate to develop and plan the communities within the metropolis.
He said the lack of such a facility meant parents who wanted their children to engage in outdoor activities had to rely on private ones, which tend to be expensive, and therefore most people could not afford them.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lartey, under the Right to Act, 2019 (ACT 989), has sought answers from the TMA and the TDC on the state of Community Nine, the Metro Children’s Park, and the specific laws that permit the two organizations to permit the sale of such lands.
In a response to the request, a copy of which is available to the Ghana News Agency, the Information Officer at the TMA indicated that “access is hereby refused.”
While the TDC reply signed by Ms. Alice Abena Ofori-Atta, Managing Director, stated that there
was no provision for a children’s park per its records and layout for community nine.
It added that, per the records, the Tema Children’s Park had been allocated to the TMA since 2012.
GNA