By Christine Naadu Lartey
Tema, Sept. 29, GNA — Madam Ebi Bright, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), has called for stronger collaboration between the private sector and metropolitan authorities to address urban challenges and restore Tema’s status as Ghana’s premier industrial hub.
Madam Bright stated that sustainable management of the metropolis required coordinated efforts among state institutions, local government and businesses that relied on shared infrastructure, including roads, drains and utility corridors.
She made the call at a TMA stakeholder meeting with private-sector operators on the theme “Strengthening Inter-Sectoral Collaboration for Sustainable Development and Effective Service Delivery.”
She said although Tema remained Ghana’s core port and industrial city, a breakdown in formal inter-institutional communication in the past had hindered efforts to address some pressing municipal challenges.
Madam Bright outlined the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s (TMA) flagship vision, “Resetting and Restoring the Pride of Tema: A Sustainable 24-Hour City at the Centre of the World”, anchored on three priority areas: Sanitation First, Revenue Enhancement and the Tema Facelift Campaign.
She said the Tema Facelift Campaign would involve stricter enforcement measures, including the removal of unauthorised kiosks from green reservations, impounding stray animals, regulating billboards and establishing designated parking areas for heavy-duty trucks.
The MCE warned that illegal temporary structures on utility corridors were damaging the city’s green buffer, which, she said, was originally planned to help absorb industrial emissions.
She also reminded business leaders that security zones declared around schools, hospitals, security installations and government facilities since July 21, 2025, would be subject to strict enforcement of by-laws against encroachment.
On sanitation, she said the assembly had purchased 10 new skip containers and was undertaking the dredging of the Chemu Lagoon and Osorko Stream to help mitigate flooding.
She noted that the assembly also planned to register informal waste collectors and construct a new animal pound.
On revenue mobilisation, Madam Bright disclosed that a single digital database covering properties and commercial entities in Tema was being developed to plug revenue leakages, streamline payments and ensure equitable property rating across the metropolis.
She said civil and building permit processes were also being streamlined through a new one-stop service centre under the Spatial Planning Committee Secretariat.
Madam Bright urged corporate entities to align their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives with the city’s broader strategic priorities rather than undertaking ad hoc donations.
She assured stakeholders that the assembly was upgrading its client service unit to improve the handling of complaints and would issue outcome notes and maintain regular progress-tracking sessions with private-sector operators.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Christine Naadu Lartey