The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has given traders and hawkers who were previously selling along pavements on the streets of Accra up till the end of the month of January, 2018, to move into the authorized pedestrian markets.
The AMA claims it has made provision for the vendors to move in and sell their goods at authorized places yet some hawkers still return to the pavements.
The Head of the A.M.A Rapid Response Unit at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, Moses Abor, has however warned that at the end of the month they will not pardon anyone who is seen selling on the pavements.
“We are making sure we get spaces in the market for them to sell. About 80percent of the traders who are selling on the pavements were given a place to sell in the Pedestrian markets. But most of them do not want to adhere to the rulesâ€
“By the end of this month, we will make sure no one is seen on the pavement. They will all be thrown out, as we have been doing†he stressed.
He added that the AMA has been lenient but very effective in ensuring that the city becomes the cleanest in Africa. He said the traders were given enough time and notice before they begin the decongestion exercise and as such they have no excuse.
He further urged more traders to visit their office if they had any complaints or were ready to relocate to the Pedestrian markets.
Meanwhile, some traders who have moved into the containers provided by the AMA expressed that although the new structures are more comfortable, they pose a disadvantage to them when it comes to patronage.
According to them, it is quicker and more profitable to sell to consumers on the pavements.
One mobile money dealer explained that sales have drastically reduced as compared to when he was on the pavements, due to the fact that commuters prefer to do their business at the nearest spot than to walk to their containers.
Other traders expressed worry over the A.M.A’s decongestion exercise, saying that it has rendered several families and individuals jobless and helpless.
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