Tema Station traders pose problems
Drivers at the Tema Station in Accra have expressed their displeasure with the activities of traders at the station.
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According to them, traders plying their trade at the station are fast becoming an impediment to their operations.
The current situation, they said, was causing a lot of inconveniences and vehicular traffic in and around the station.
This complaint comes in the wake of an accident that claimed the life of a child at the station last week.
According to reports gathered by the Daily Graphic during a visit to the station, the accident occurred when a porter at the station left her child unattended to, and in the event, a vehicle accidentally crushed the child.
Drivers unhappy
In an interview, Mr Abdella Debrah, a driver who plies the Nima- Mamobi road from the Tema Station, said drivers at the station had to fight with traders and porters for space on a daily basis.
According to him, he and his colleagues had in the past taken measures to drive the traders away from the station to sell elsewhere “but each time, they come begging to be allowed to operate at the station again”.
“The economy is difficult at the moment. We are aware that that is their source of livelihood, but their operations are presenting us with so much discomfort. The authorities should immediately help to relocate them to reduce the traffic at the station,” he said.
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Traders’ perspective
Many of the traders who spoke to the Daily Graphic expressed dismay at the turn of events, especially with regard to the drivers’ position.
One Micheal Boafo, a trader who sells casettes at the station, said the news came to him as a shock.
“It’s fascinating how the drivers at this station think. We are the same people who pull others here to buy goods, and after their activities, they board their respective vehicles home at this same place. Without us their activities are non-existent. So why plot this mischief against us?” he asked.
He observed that traders at the station were not causing any inconveniences as speculated by the drivers, and added that they pay tolls to the authorities to be allowed to operate at the station.
The authorities
Briefing the paper on the situation, the Chairman in charge of the New Tema Station, Mr William Ocquaye, said the situation at the station was worrisome.
“When you get to the car park, you can see cars loading, and these people place their items right in front of them to trade with buyers. Drivers have to painfully alert them before they take their stuff away to pave way for the drivers to leave. This situation is very uncomfortable to drivers and their passengers.”
Mr Ocquaye recalled instances where some buyers had been knocked down by vehicles in their quest to buy items at the station.
He indicated that his outfit had on many occasions ordered the traders out of the station, but they had always come back pleading to be allowed to sell there again.
“The fascinating thing is that when we clear them from the station, our business comes to a standstill. This is because most of the buyers who come to purchase goods from them end up boarding vehicles at the station,” he added.