The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), in collaboration with the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly on Tuesday, would undertake a decongestion exercise within the capital city.
The decongestion exercise would begin from Okaishie through the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange and Kaneshie.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive of AMA, Mr Michael Kpakpo Allotey, said that the decongestion exercise was to address the issue of traders who sold on the streets, pavements, and footbridges and to also improve sanitation in the capital city.
Mr Allotey warned that the Assembly would not tolerate any form of resistance from traders and owners of unauthorised structures during the decongestion exercise as it has already engaged all stakeholders, including the Ghana Police Service, market women, and the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU).
“The streets and pavements are not for selling. They are places meant for cars and pedestrians to use. As the Chief Executive of the Assembly, I cannot watch this happen. We are not coming after anybody or because we have the power, but it is because we want to keep the city clean,” Mr Allotey emphasised.
“We have engaged the market women, the GPRTU, and the police, so you have to move from the streets and pavements before Tuesday. We will not tolerate any form of resistance or behaviour from traders during the decongestion exercise,” he stated.
Furthermore, Mr Allotey indicated that the market leaders, during his engagement with them, had informed him that there were a lot of spaces in the market for the traders to operate.
He, therefore, urged the traders to get in touch with their market leaders to ensure that there were provided spaces in the markets for them to transact their businesses.
Mr Allotey said that the AMA intended to employ about 1000 individuals to monitor how people in the Greater Accra metropolis comply with sanitation laws in line with the 24-hour economy policy of the government.
He also added that the Assembly intended to make available waste bins for the collection of waste in the metropolis where the decongestion exercise would be taking place.
This, he said, was to ensure that traders did not return to the streets, pavements, and footbridges to sell, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the decongestion exercise.
BY BENJAMIN
ARCTON-TETTEY
