The Sister-City relations between Tamale and Louisville in the state "of Kentucky" in the United States of America, (USA) is yielding positive results. The relationship, which started as far back as 1979, is likely to hasten the development agenda of the Tamale metropolis in the near future. Development challenges in the metropolis such as waste management, business/tourism development, public health, encouragement of exchange programmes between schools in the metropolis and the US have all been further enhanced through the relationship. Barely three weeks ago, a five member delegation from the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TAMA) led by the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Mohammed Amin Adam, visited Louisville to explore new areas of cooperation between the two sister cities. The delegation held discussions with the Mayor of Louisville, Mr Jerry Abramson, and other important city officials. The delegation also held discussions with the Waste Management Department in Louisville on how to improve solid waste management in Tamale. Following such discussions strategies are being evolved to establish a plant in Tamale to process solid waste into gas for power generation. Already there is a landfill site in Tamale. Unfortunately, however, it had been used to turn such waste materials into other forms for human use. Additionally, within the next six months the US Army is expected to airlift waste management equipment including street sweeper computers and television sets to augment waste management equipment in Tamale. It is also worthy to note that the Mayor of Louisville has agreed to assist in designing a strategic plan for Tamale, which will among other things ,set out the development goals as well as prioritise the means necessary to meet the set objectives. The plan would become a-blue print for investment attractions, especially those from the international market. At a press conference in Tamale after the delegation had returned from Louisville, the MCE indicated that the assembly was preparing an inventory of all hotels, a map of Tamale, pictures of interesting sites and other services for visitors. According to Mr Adam the plan would be submitted to a bureau for the designing of brochures that will meet international standards. “As a result of this initiative, the Assembly has started a process to undertake a comprehensive street naming and house numbering project estimated to cost GH¢300,OOO (¢3bn), to facilitate the preparation of city maps that will help boost Tamale, both as a tourist site and also as a gateway to other important tourist sites in the north," he further announced. It is heart-warming to note that the investment potentials of Tamale with particular reference to sheanut processing, maize, organic mango, sorghum, soyabeans and handicraft were also discussed by the delegation and officials of the Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Centre in Louisville. The exploitation of the large clay deposits, wood and metal fabrication for affordable housing in Tamale was also thoroughly discussed. On exchange programmes between educational institutions, Spalding University, for instance, has indicated its desire to link up with the University for Development Studies (UDS) to establish a faculty of education to train teachers. According to the MCE, the Mayor of Louisville would send a team to Tamale next month to concretise the agreement and kick-start the programmes. "In January 2008 we expect to host the Mayor of Louisville in Tamale. His team would include a business delegation. They are expected to be our guests during the CAN 2008 tournament", Mr Adam indicated. It is therefore hoped that the planned programme coming out of the business trip would be implemented to the letter. It is note that the aspirations of the peopIe is paramount hence authorities of TAMA should endeavour to make things go well to ensure that the development agenda of the metropolis is tackled head-on. Source: Daily Graphic