URBAN LIVING: COMMUTING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE

The sun hasn’t changed its position of rising, the moon hasn’t altered its time of appearing and the stars certainly has no reason not to shine brighter and these in the bluntest form are symbolic of the constant nature of God’s persona. Conversely, man’s gimmicks, ambition and curiosity are new every morning like the timeless hymns belts.

It is certainly no news that we have evolved. Thanks to what civilisation connotes, we have become enlightened enough to know what being primitive means. Our eating privileges have succumbed to culinary manners (chew on a calcium giving bone, and you might end up behind bars of peoples opinion of you) utterances more skewed to sounding more intelligent than the person in the next seat and committing social faux pas without sounding politically correct will not get you odd stares but leave an eternal imprint.

The spirit within the cities immediately rubs off on anyone who crosses the border from remote areas or villages. The implication can be ascribed to an indigenous Ghanaian whose accent changes the first week of arriving in the States. Interestingly, the makeover becomes immediate. Whereas the acclimatization process for some is gradual, others adjust immediately. For a newbie, the feeling can be a tad overwhelming.

With lots of labyrinths streets, honking of cars, fumes strong enough to knock out a bull, whistling and jostling by hawkers to purchase their wares, pseudo traders whose adept fingers can frisk and stealthily swipe your phone, wallet or both and sun sweltering enough to make people wonder your nationality again…. Welcome to Accra, the hub of dreams and expectation.

People naturally desire to have the best life can offer, live the life of riley. Philosophically, life doesn’t give what you do not first offer and how best can we give by nurturing and harnessing that special desire on the fertile ground of opportunities that the cities auspiciously proffer. Some make it, and yet still others get swallowed by the vagaries of situations.

Paradoxically, Accra happens to be the smallest region in Ghana yet the most condensed and populated city. Well, you would naturally expect that in a capital city, however the question which one is tempted to ask is: Was the city ever ready to take on the task and burden of the influx? What was the motivating element which drove the proponents to take that initiative? At first glance, the initial though will be poor planning, and the afterthought will be lacklustre initiatives and non-proactive gestures.

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Someone might say “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, with complacency and oversight trickling in from the beard on governance to the feet of the citizens. Although there are quite reputable and visionary few with strong view to better the drainage and planning systems in the country, their voice is being drowned by the conundrum of polarised sects and the medias’ alienating agenda setting propaganda.

Streets naming initiatives are being veiled by slums, town planning structures and bill passing is busy nursing the wounds and egos of defeatist and nonchalant few. Walk through the city of Accra and you will find graffitied on walls “REMOVE NOW BY AMA”. People build with impudence given by negligent authorities. And you can’t blame them without cutting your nose to spite your face.

Full proof directives, staunch resilience in seeing to the execution of these proposals, constant and consistent monitoring of projects, evaluation and implementation of housing laws will bring sanity to our cities and make it a tad liveable.

By Angela Ashong -PE Media