Some of the structures currently being constructed at the temporary site for the traders
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) will from Monday, February 15, 2021 start moving market women and other traders from the Takoradi main market to a temporary site being developed for them.
The move is to pave way for the commencement of the redevelopment of the Takoradi main market.
According to the assembly, all the traders would not be moved at a go but rather in batches.
“We are going to move them in batches and we are going to do that within February 15 and March 5, 2021,” Works Engineer at STMA, William Tei Kpoti made this known.
It would be recalled that somewhere December last year, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut sod for the re-construction of the Takoradi Market, also called ‘Market Circle’, to give it a facelift and to provide more space for the traders to do business.
The assembly has therefore come up with a plan that would ensure smooth movement of the traders from the old Takoradi main market to the temporary site to allow the redevelopment to take place.
Mr. Kpoti said even though the work done at the temporary site was 75 per cent, the assembly wanted to start the movement of the traders because “we cannot finish with everything before we move them otherwise we will end up not achieving any goal.”
He said so far, the contractor had been able to do the lockable shops at the periphery and constructed more than 400 shops at the new site.
“We have also prepared the surface and we are going to raise pavilions for the tailors and seamstress,” he said.
“We will also construct stores adjacent to the ECG office in Takoradi for those who sell fashion accessories to support their business. We have also created entrance and exit points at the new site.
“We hope that within the next three weeks, we will be done with everything concerning the temporal market,” he stressed.
For his part, Michael Gyisi, the Urban Roads Engineer for STMA, said the space at the temporal market place was smaller than the Market Circle.
“What we want to do is to create a pedestrian walkway from the STMA junior quarters area to Paa Grant roundabout so that pedestrians can move to and from the new site safely and conveniently,” he added.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi