Local Govt Ministry turns streets into markets for Christmas trading

graphic.com.gh Dec - 18 - 2019 , 07:55 5 minutes read

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has closed selected streets in some metropolises, municipalities and districts in the Greater Accra and the Ashanti regions to serve as street markets.

The closure of the streets began on Monday, December 16, and will end on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.

The street markets will be opened from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

The initiative is a collaboration between metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service.

According to the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, the move formed part of efforts to ensure that buyers and sellers enjoyed safe trading activities this Christmas season.

A statement issued by Hajia Mahama listed the streets in the Accra metropolis as Station Road, Kimberly Avenue, Granville Avenue, Commercial Street (or Drug Lane), Clement Papafio Street and all roads located at Okaishie.

Streets in the Korle Klottey municipality that are closed are the Cooperative Taxi Rank at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the CMB area (Adjabeng) and the Tudu area from Kinbu SHS towards the Central Police Station.

Those in the La-Nkwatanang-Madina municipality are Nkulenu Street, the frontage of the old municipal assembly office and the Asante and Asante streets.

Streets in the Ayawaso West municipality that are closed are Garden Road at East Legon and the Adentan Shopping Mall and the Ogbojo Market streets in the Adentan municipality.

Other streets closed in Accra are in Ayawaso West, Ablekuma Central, Ablekuma North, Ga North, Ga East, as well as some in Tema.

In the Kumasi metropolis, the roads that are closed include that between Opoku Trading and the former Lands Commission building, Casablanca to Morocco Street, Achamfuor Market to MTN office area, edges of the Prempeh II street, Fuller Road or Afua Kobi road, edges of the Guggisberg Road, Launch Building to Kejetia, the frontage of the Adehye Market and the Allabar area.

Traders

Some traders at the Cooperative Taxi Rank at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra who spoke to the Daily Graphic yesterday said they were unaware that streets in the city had been closed for trading activities and commended the city authorities for the move.

A trader, Mr Moses Kweku Addo, who deals in men’s shoes, said it would help a great deal, as buyers could now easily have access to products on sale.

He said even though traders were not making many sales, he was sure sales would pick up by Christmas Day.

Mr Addo said traders were happy and willing to vacate the designated areas after the Christmas season, as directed by the authorities.

“This year people are not buying much. Our worry has to do with the influx of foreign shoes onto the market and which are sold cheaply. This is the season to make money and we hope to make the best of it,” he said.

Another trader, Mr Kyei Baffour, who also deals in shoes, said it was at this time of the year that patronage was high, but the situation this year was not encouraging, as people were not buying as expected.

Traders operating from the Fraga Oil Filling Station to the Las Palmas Restaurant at Lapaz in the Okaikoi North municipality too bemoaned the low patronage of their wares and the low sales they were making.

Mr Solomon Asamoah, who sells women’s jeans, said although sales were not moving as expected, patronage was better than it was at the beginning of the year, adding: “We hope that things will get better as we draw closer to Christmas.”

Mr Ebenezer Nkrumah, who sells men and women’s clothing, said people normally made purchases from December 20 onwards and so he was expectant of brisk shopping this coming weekend.

Ms Angela Yeboah, who sells cloth, said she was not doing badly and hoped that things would get even better as the days rolled by.

Another trader, Ms Ernestina Dedaa, said she was happy there was no “Aaba eei”, a term referring to city guards who went round to drive away hawkers or collected tolls from them, and commended the municipal assembly for designating areas for them to trade.

“However, it is barely a week to Christmas and we still don’t see people buying the way they did last year,” she said.

Below are the Street Hawking Markets

Accra Metropolitan Assembly