CITYSCAPE: FOCUS ON TEMA.

By Nii B. Andrews.

The aesthetics of the cityscapes in our major urban areas leave a lot to be desired.

Tema in this regard, gives me a daily kick in the teeth.

Every single day as I leave my lair, I am immediately confronted with an open gutter that appears to have been constructed by marauding adolescents with no knowledge of geometry.

I thought long and hard about displaying the photo and concluded that with all the scandals swirling around us, we must all be convinced by now that only the naked truth will set us free.

 

And the gutter leads to nowhere; it ends in a larger drain situated at right angles and located at the border of the Sakumo Ramsar site – an internationally protected transit point for over 200 bird species.

The site (located to the west of Tema) with its once pristine lagoon, sandy beach and income generating potential, is now yet another wreck; it has fallen victim to our relentless penchant for destruction of almost anything and everything of value.

That list is a long one; recounting it burdens the soul of this pugnacious Ga man and argumentative old git.

The once leisurely scenic drive along the beach road to Tema’s city center is no longer possible.

For now, the coastline has been turned into a ghetto of ramshackle eateries with the absurd designation of resorts and restaurants by their totally clueless owners and regulators.

You will certainly be assailed by a terrible foul stench just before you reach the railway crossing. Surely, another lavender hill in the making in this country where less than 1% of the sewage is treated?

Where is Trump when you need him with his colorful gut bucket vocabulary?

And the stench is right next to the multi billion dollar port expansion and within jogging distance of a heavily patronized beach.

 

Once you turn off the beach road, the kiosks reign supreme – sometimes 2 to 3 deep next to the open drains and the streets without sidewalks; taxi ranks, banku sellers and vulcanizers.

Quite often there is a heap of garbage in clear view.

In spite of the battalions of unemployed, there has been no robust attempt to maintain lawns, create and nurture vibrant flowerbeds or line the streets with trees.

No public space can be described as manicured.

Indeed, it is not at all uncommon to see grand trees being felled indiscriminately in order to make way for the ubiquitous kiosks.

 

There is not even one public fountain, tree lined street or gardened boulevard.

By the time you arrive at the oil refinery area, you will indeed have reached purgatory. There is thorough madness at this location – a piece of theater.

Clearly, the city walls have been breached.

Anybody who in the last 20 years has had oversight responsibility at the Tema Development Corporation and or the Tema Metropolitan Assembly should hang their head in utter shame.

Surely, they are not so ignorant as to willingly admit to their stewardship in civilized company.

 

The lame and laconic statement, “it is better than in Accra” must be treated with the utter contempt that it deserves.

What needs to be done?

The comprehensive laws on our books need to be enforced by true patriots.

We also need peaceful, sober, transformational leadership – leadership anchored in facts, evidence and reason.

 

The evidence to date shows that the lightweights or babbling overgrown toddlers, dispatched to us from the various party HQs, only lead us into oblivion and sadly, they are not even smart enough to save themselves.

Osagyefo’s planned city – Tema, is now a pale shadow of itself.

The question then is when shall we be able to consider let alone realize the (?afro)futuristic urban dreams of Body Isek Kingelez…or the doable version that is today’s Kigali?