Security officials at the site
FOLLOWING the decongestion exercise within the Central Business District (CBD) of the Greater Accra Region led by the Regional Minister, Henry Quartey last month, security officials are still working to ensure that hawkers do not return to the streets.
On May 22, the Greater Accra Regional Minister led a team of state security agencies including the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service among others to the CDB where they evacuated traders selling their wares on the pavements as well as scrap dealers stationed along the Korle lagoon.
The exercise was to allow for ease of vehicular movement and traffic within the district and also to improve upon the sanitary conditions of the city.
About a fortnight after the decongestion exercise, the place still looked quite deserted with little or no signs of traders in that area save for a few recalcitrant ones who threatened to defy the orders of the regional minister.
A visit by DAILY GUIDE to the business district of Accra showed that just a small portion of the decongested area – main Accra Central and CMB areas – had traders displaying their wares while engaging in brisk business activities.
However, a larger portion of the decongested area was still deserted with no signs of people or any business activity ongoing therein.
The place where the scrap dealers hitherto plied their trade was found deserted with no sign of life there when DAILY GUIDE visited the site.
A team of security officials were also sighted there enforcing compliance to the directives by the regional minister.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, leader of the team, Cosmos Gbetofloe, disclosed that his team had been on grounds since the day of the decongestion and had been working assiduously to ensure that encroachers or traders did not return to the place.
This, he remarked, had been largely successful as they faced minimal challenges from the affected traders.
He, however, called for an increment in their numbers given the enormity of the job, so as to allow them do their jobs fully and more effectively and also to ensure that the objective of the exercise is achieved.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio