$110m shopping mall for Kumasi
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, last Friday broke the ground for the construction of a $110 million shopping mall in Kumasi with a call on chiefs to stop selling lands indiscriminately and reserve some specifically for investments that would yield employment for the youth.
Expected to be completed within the next 24 months, the mall project will employ 1,000 Ghanaians both skilled and unskilled, while a permanent staff of about 500 will be employed after completion.
The 15.43 acre project will consist of retail shopping mall components which will cover 29,000 square metres, a five-screen cinema complex, both for phase one. The phase two will include a 120-bed hotel facility.
The Kumasi Shopping Mall is owned by Delico Kumasi Limited. Already, ShopRite and Game are the anchor tenants with available spaces for over 60 line shops and restaurants, as well as a car park capable of accommodating 1,250 cars.
Other features of the project include a grey water harvesting system with filtration, piping and storage; collection tanks, landscaping use; building management systems; and waste recycling and waste separation storage.
Speaking just before cutting the sod, Otumfuo said he had to impress upon the investors to come to Kumasi because he felt the project would offer employment opportunities to the teeming youth in the region, who would in turn pay taxes for the development of the country.
Initiative
He explained that Asantes built their cities and villages from their sweat and hard work even before the establishment of government and wondered why people these days wanted to wait for the government for everything.
Otumfuo urged the people to take the initiative to develop themselves and the country and with such initiative, they could call for government support when necessary.
He paid glowing tribute to Mr Kofi Sekyere, the Director of Delico Kumasi Limited, and urged him to ensure that more of such developments were done in the region.
He said as the owner of all the lands in the Ashanti Kingdom, he would not hesitate to take away any parcel of land he had entrusted in any chief and make it available to any investor and added that in such instances, he would make sure the chiefs were given equity in the investment for the land as their share.
Race Course
Otumfuo announced that the Race Course land, which was meant for some development, had stalled because the initial investors were having challenges with their finances but gave an assurance that talks were far advanced with some South African investors to build another shopping mall.
He cautioned those who would be employed during the construction stage not to pilfer the construction materials, a problem he said could slow the completion process of the mall.
He announced that he had initiated a programme aimed at bringing Ghanaians from all over the world to bring their expertise, experiences and resources to build the country to ensure that more employment opportunities were created for the youth.
Mr Sekyere said the mall would contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, foreign direct investment and the development of the country through taxes from the shops and workers to the state.
