Accra's decongestion: Regional Minister to reactivate task force

The Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) will reactivate the task force responsible for enforcing street trading regulations in Accra, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, has said.

The move, she said, was to sustainably decongest the city's streets, which were usually occupied by traders and improve the free movement of vehicles and patrons in the city’s Central Business District (CBD).

The minister was speaking following a tour of the CBD last Tuesday, after an earlier decongestion exercise led by the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive Officer, Michael Kpakpo Allotey, to evict traders using pavements and the streets as a market.

She said the task force would operate 24 hours and impose fines ranging from GH¢1,500 to GH¢2,000 on traders who crossed a designated red line that would be marked on the pavements and roads.

Ms Ocloo added that market leaders would also be charged with the responsibility to ensure compliance with regulations.

The minister emphasised the need to maintain proper order in the city centres and ease the congestion usually witnessed on the roads.

“Look at how beautiful and free the streets are after the decongestion exercise.

This is a place one can spend hours in a vehicle before making their way out of it. Days before, this place was impassable due to street trading.”

“Government is committed to bringing Accra back to its normal shape, and it is a good start by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly,” she said.

Alternatives

In response to concerns raised by traders about a lack of space in markets, the Accra Metropolitan CEO said most of the market women had spaces in the main markets.

He added that the AMA would, from next week, implement a new strategy to block some streets to allow market women to sell.

“There's a day we are going to block the streets and divert the cars to other roads.

We'll allow them to sell on the street, like a carnival, and just take our tickets.”

“This will also help solve the problem of others complaining that they do not have space in the market,” he said. 

Visit to Old Onion Market

The Greater Accra Regional Minister also paid a working visit to the former onion market at Old Fadama earmarked for the previous government's Agenda 111 project, a flagship initiative aimed at constructing 111 hospitals across the country.

The visit was to assess the site following intel that some traders had returned to the market and were raising illegal structures at the former onion market.

Ms Ocloo reaffirmed the government's commitment to utilising the site for the Agenda 111 project, despite its current occupation by traders.

She indicated that their intel suggests that traders had reoccupied the site after the recent elections, leading to the setting up of a committee to facilitate their relocation.

She added that some traders had been collecting money from private waste collectors and allowing them to dump refuse on the site.

To prevent further encroachment, the minister said the RCC, in collaboration with the Ablekuma West Municipal Assembly, would fix gates to complement the existing fencing around the site.

Ms Ocloo said a budget had been proposed for the gate's construction, and discussions were underway with stakeholders, including market leaders.

She gave an assurance that the government was working to address the concerns of the traders and ensure their relocation.