Traders who have been relocated from Takoradi Market Circle to Jubilee Grounds have appealed to authorities to find solution to the issue of Security and Inadequate protection against the rains as part of the major challenges affecting them at the temporary Market.
The relocation comes following parts of measures by the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly to enforce president’s social distancing directive within the metropolitan area.
According to the Traders, the Assembly’s call for relocation is a step in the right direction but there are loads of concerns which have been left unattended to including inadequate place of convenience, Protection against rains, security and many more.
Some of the market women shared their concerns and what they expect authorities to do to ensure proper business environment that will facilitate their trade. They spoke with beachfmonline.
Maame Araba, a trader, spoke about adequate place of convinience, the confusion which had erutped during the sharing of space among the market women at the Jubilee grounds. She called on authorities to resolve the issues with Queen Mothers of the various Market groups.
“The leaders are trying to protect our health which is a good thing, but we are also concerned with a place of convenience. Again the queen mothers are expected to lead the distribution and allocation of spaces for their subjects but as I speak some fish and plantain sellers are currently fighting for space and we need authorities to ensure that sanity prevails “
Florence Appiah Popularly known Esi Grandmum called for improved security and proper protection against the rains at the Jubilee grounds
“The authorities said we should go to jubilee park but where are we going to store our products when the closes?, when it rains what are we going to do?, where is a place of convenience in this case ?, We were not also informed early enough so that we could prepare, it is government’s directive therefore we would have to follow suit but these are the issues of concern to us”.
Nana Grace also shared concerns that the lack of a gate at the entrance from the kwesimintsim cemetery is a worrying situation for the safety of their goods after close of a business day.
“They said we should relocate for the purpose of protecting our health but my issue is that though I believe the place is spacious, if it rains it is going to be a challenge. I have noticed that there is a place of convinience but the challenge is after the close of a business day the storage of our good is going to be a challenge at the jubilee grounds. As we speak the entrance to the market from Kwesimintsim Cemetary doesn’t have a gate which makes security questionable”
The public Relation Officer of the Sekondi Metropolitan Assembly on Monday 30th March announced directives to reduce congestion in the major markets in the Metropolis.
Read the statement below
In respect of the meeting with the leadership of various markets, the following were some of
the decisions taken to reduce congestion in the major markets;
- For Takoradi Market Circle, all bulk breaking activities will be relocated to the
Takoradi Jubilee Park with effect from Wednesday, April 1, 2020 till further notice. - No trading activities will be permitted at the inner and outer perimeters of the market
circle. All traders who will be affected by this exercise at the market circle will be given
a temporal space at the jubilee park. - For Sekondi Market, the following decisions were taken to reduce congestion during
the Tuesdays’ market;
a. All second-hand cloth and shoe dealers are being relocated to Ekuasi Park with
effect from Tuesday, March 31, 2020 till further notice.
b. Other traders selling within the median from Commercial Bank to Star Night
will be relocated to the park close to the Independence Circle (Enamasi). Thus,
no one will be allowed to sell or display goods within the median.
c. Other traders selling outside the market will be directed to observe the social
distance protocol. - For Kojokrom Market, all bulk breaking activities will be relocated to the Kojokrom
Community Park (close to the Methodist Church) from Wednesday, April 1, 2020 till
further notice.
a. Dealers in some selected commodities will be relocated from the market to other
locations in due course.
Story by Kwame Offei
