Tema is a coastal city situated 25 kilometres east of Accra, Ghana’s capital. The Greenwich Meridian passes through this city.
Until 1952, when the Government of Ghana decided to develop a deep seaport there, Tema was a small fishing village. Tema became an Autonomous Council in 1974 and was elevated to the status of a Metropolitan Assembly in December, 1990.
The Tema Metropolitan Area shares boundaries with the Ashaiman , Adentan and Ledzokuku Krowor Municipalities to the west; the Kpone Katamanso District to the east, the Dangme West District to the North and the Gulf of Guinea to the South.
Before independence, the government identified a small fishing village called Torman as the site for an ultra modern seaport for the new Ghana. Torman residents also grew the calabash plant (gourd), known as Tor in the local language; hence, the name of the village Tor-man (gourd-land), which was corrupted to Tema.
The government in 1952 acquired 166 square kilometres of land north of the harbour. The acquisition was entrusted to the Tema Development Corporation.
Tema is a planned city built as Ghana achieved independence in 1957 and was an icon for modernisation on the continent.
The construction of Tema as an industrial city was linked to the construction of the harbour at Tema. Doxiadis Associates designed the master plan of Tema for an eventual population of 250,000, and Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew designed the master plan for Tema Newtown, the relocated fishing village that originally occupied the site of today’s Tema port.
Sanitation
Tema is the only planned city in Ghana and the second in the West African sub-region aside Abuja in Nigeria, (which was built after Tema) but it is beset with over population that has led to insanitary conditions.
The Tema central sewerage system, which was constructed more than 50 years ago, is now a major challenge to the assembly, with frequent sewer burst and the flow of effluence from houses.
The current Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, in an interview reiterated the Assembly’s resolve to pursue a master plan to restore the old and damaged sewer systems in the metropolis.
The Assembly, according to him, is pursuing a master plan, which when implemented, will bring to a halt the continuous flow of effluence into the streets.
As part of its resolve, the assembly is undertaking the replacement of old sewer lines in a number of communities.
The Assembly, in the meantime, does regular repairs on the sewer system, but has a long-term plan to revamp the entire system.
Mr Odamtten said as a short-term measure, the assembly had provided logistics for personnel of the Waste Management Department to enhance the maintenance regime.
For the medium term, the Assembly is rehabilitating the sewer trunk lines and pump stations, while in the long term, he said, plans were afoot to incorporate a decentralised community treatment centre to tackle the challenges.
Roads
The road network in the Port City is not in the best shape currently. The Communities Two, Five and the industrial area roads are examples. Some of these roads have developed gaping potholes, making them extremely impassable, especially after rains.
Though the Metropolitan Assembly and the Urban Roads Department have made efforts to resolve the problem, a lot more needs to be done.
In February, last year, for instance, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly commenced work on the second phase of asphaltic overlay to improve its roads infrastructure in the metropolis.
The project included the Community 12 roundabout through to the frontage of the Tema General Hospital to connect Road 51 near the St Paul Methodist Cathedral.
These efforts, though commendable, do not appear to be responsive to the rate of deterioration of the roads in the metropolis.
The haphazard manner in which articulated trucks are parked along some major streets in the metropolis have also become a source of concern for road users.
The trucks are mostly parked on the shoulders of the roads near the Tema Port enclave and adjoining communities in the metropolis. Aside the danger posed to other road users and the damage caused to the road, most of these illegal parking places also serve as hot spots for anti-social activities by the truck drivers and their mates.
In a bid to curb the growing risks associated with the reckless parking of vehicles, especially heavy duty trucks, the Metropolitan
Assembly is working in partnership with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) to develop a permanent terminal for haulage trucks.
The MCE said his outfit was negotiating with the TDC on a land close to the Tema Labour Office and at Community Three to be developed into a terminal for the trucks. Already, the GPPA has developed a transit park for haulage trucks and is in use.
Health
Established in 1954 as the only health centre to take care of workers at the port city, the Tema General Hospital has diligently served its purpose and was among the best hospitals in the country in its hey days, after the two main teaching hospitals.
It caters for patients from the city and serves as the referral centre for other health posts in the South-Eastern part of Greater
Accra, providing emergency services for accident victims from industries and the Tema motorway. It is the health sanctuary for residents of Ada, Dodowa, Ashaiman, Teshie-Nungua and beyond.
At the time of construction, the facility was big enough to cater for the population, but over time there has been a need to construct a modern hospital on the vast land on which the current facility is located.
As observed by the Paramount Chief of Tema, Nii Adjei Krakue II, it is about time the government made use of the large tract of land set aside to construct a proper hospital for the metropolis to cater for the health needs of the residents and those in adjourning cities.
Housing
As Ghana marks another Independence Day, there is the need to redevelop the metropolis into a modern model city in the country to regain its lost glory.
The move appears to have been given a great boost. For some time now, the TDC, with the responsibility of managing the spatial development of the Tema Township, has been seeking to demolish the Kaiser and Segeco flats in Community 4.
Some block of flats were declared uninhabitable more than 20 years ago due to serious structural failures, while the other flats are getting weaker. The TDC is thus poised to prosecute its redevelopment agenda and has earmarked the flats to be pulled down.
That project, when implemented, will see the Community 4 area converted into a modern residential area with a shopping mall, recreational centre and other facilities that make a modern residential enclave complete.
Already, the TDC has constructed four blocks of eight-storey flats under its in-filling project at Tema Community 1 site three.
The TDC in-filling project is in tune with objectives of the Housing Policy to promote housing schemes that maximise land utilisation and accelerate home improvement, which includes the upgrading and transformation of the existing housing stock.
Writer’s email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh
