THE Elevators in the abandoned tower block of the State House, popularly called Job 600 are gradually rusting away as a result of its exposure to the environment around its location along the coast in Accra.
The elevators, as well as steel reinforcements, the drainage and roofing systems have virtually turned brown, revealing its deteriorated state.
When the Daily Graphic visited the premises of the building yesterday to assess the building’s current state of firmness, it discovered that contrary to talks of rehabilitation of the building, work had actually long halted and surroundings of the building were overgrown with weeds, and some portions being used as a refuse dumps where pockets of refuse were often burnt.
The complex which was built by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and hosted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit in 1965, under his chairmanship subsequently been earmarked to serve as offices for Members of Parliament pending its refurbishment, which had still not begun.
Recommendations from a report on an assessment of the building’s firmness made by the Mr Addo Abedi , the Managing Director of Twum Boafo and Partners, a civil engineering company, to the leadership of parliament since January 29, 2008 had since not received any attention.
The report indicated that the building when rehabilitated would be solid and could still serve as offices for Parliamentarians but Members of Parliament till date do not have offices they operate from and other office assistants to help them to discharge their duties effectively.
Public Relations Director of Ghana’s Parliament, Mr Jones Kugblenu also told newsmen during the swearing in of the new Parliament in January 2009 that a $25 million Dollar loan had been secured for the rehabilitation of the project, and work would soon begin for completion.
He further noted that preparatory work on the project had been completed with respect to the structural integrity of the building and said actual work was going to commence soon.
The Daily Graphic also found out during the visit that work had since not begun as clothes belonging to squatters in the building were seen hanging in some parts of the building.
Series of interviews conducted with some members of the public after the visit indicated that they were interested about the rehabilitation of the project which they said had so far, since its abandonment, stood the test of time.
Mr Samuel Asante, a self employed business man appealed to the government to ensure that all recommendations and measures adopted to rehabilitate the building were adhered.
“It is such a big building we can not let it rot away”, he stated and pointed out that he had always known about the on-going rehabilitation but had never bothered to find out it was true because of the location”.
He expressed optimism that the rehabilitation and completion of the building would reduce the workload of Members of Parliaments and also enable them to co-ordinate their activities for the total development of the country as a whole.
Mr Ekow Moses, a journalist with the Ghanaian Voice said though the previous administration had attempted to rehabilitate the project it could not do much to complete it as envisaged, pointing out that he believed the building in the next four years can not be completed considering the attention being given to it by government.
“It had become a huge resource left to waste, and parliament instead of concentrating on how to complete and occupy the building are talking about other issues”.
He also attested to the fact the completion of the building would greatly enhance the work of Parliament and Members of Parliament.
Caption: Pix-1 Parts of the ceiling of the elevators in the abandoned tower block of the State House, popularly called Job 600.
Pix-2 Surrounding of the of the buildings overgrown with weeds, with some portions being used as a refuse dumps where pockets of refuse were often burnt.
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